Fear, Surprise, and Ruthless Efficiency (Monster Girl Encyclopedia SI)

[Wishful Thinking]

Chapter 11.


The Succubus from before was right in front of me now, her face mere inches away from mine and our noses almost touching. Frozen in both surprise and fear, I could only watch as her delicate hand gently stroked my cheek, her eyes never leaving mine.

"My-my, aren't you just the most precious little thing?" The second arm circled around my shoulders, and I was easily pulled out of the closet. Her arms didn't even shake under my weight, "Nothing to be afraid of, sweetie, Big Sister will make all your worries go away."

She paused and glanced at the wall as if seeing right through it into the adjacent room.

"On second thought, I think I like your idea more," I was pushed back into the wardrobe, a barely visible purple haze surrounding its surface before it suddenly grew much more spacious, "I hope you don't mind if I join you in there?"

With a lazy beat of two leathery wings, the Succubus floated inside my former hiding spot, its door closing right behind her. The only remaining source of light was the soft purple glow coming from everywhere, its mystifying radiance somehow accentuating the curves of the monster sitting in front of me.

"Why the silent treatment?" She smiled and pulled her knees up to her very sizable chest, "Don't tell me you have nothing to say to such a wonderful visitor. Though, I guess, it is a compliment in its own right, so thank you."

"B-blast," I stammered. I needed to find a way out but there was no way out. If she could affect space on any level whatsoever, her power was way beyond what I was capable of. And that's forgetting that she could simply overpower me through physical means. And, even if that wasn't the case, I was still surrounded by demonic energy from all sides, and a whole cohort of Succubi was having fun right behind a wall, "So this is it, huh? Caught by a Succubus in the middle of nowhere, of all the rotten luck…"

"You sound like you're upset about something," The monster pouted, her expression a mocking caricature of a child who just had her favorite doll taken away. Then, her lips twisted into a sly smile, "Would you like me to help with that? Some… consolation, perhaps?"

"Quit your games, monster," I hissed, clenching my hands into fists in order to hide the trembling fingers, "It pains me to say so but I find myself at your mercy, figuratively speaking. And since I lack both the means and the resolve to finish myself off before you get to me… I highly advise you to do it with your own hands."

"Kill you?" The devious glint in her eyes shattered into a million pieces, replaced with honest confusion, "No-no-no, I have an idea of what that Order of yours drilled into your pretty little head but that is completely wrong. Mamono don't kill humans!" She suddenly blushed, "Well, sometimes accidents happen, of course, especially when some of the more aggressive ones get too excited… Oh, you don't have to fear anything from me though, we Succubi take extra care making sure that everyone is happy!"

Was she for real? True, monsters rarely killed anyone in person but was she incapable of seeing the greater picture?

"Are you mad?"

"Hey now!"

"Even if you don't kill humans, you are killing humanity! Your obsession with procreation will lead an entire race into oblivion! Monsters give birth only to more monsters, and with every human kidnapped, our species loses potential lineages worth of population. Your inability to keep it in your pants doomed my kind to extinction!"

I was panting after that outburst, a surge of adrenaline causing my mouth to run rampant. Even so, I was thankful. Every second I won by stalling increased my chances of survive. This particular Succubus appeared to be docile enough, maybe I could talk her into wasting more time?

"No!" She disappeared right before my eyes, and, before I realized what happened, I was already lying on my back, her hands pressed into my shoulders and her eyes tearing up, "You don't understand, the Demon Lord plans to change that! Once we are all united in love, she will have enough power to allow mamono to have incubi children! No one is becoming extinct, you hear me? No one!"

Her face descended closer to mine, pink hair falling like a waterfall around us until nothing in the world remained but a beautiful face and blue eyes full of worry. She stopped just short of our lips touching, her hot breath tickling my nose.

"Nobody is in danger… Everything will be fine…" I felt something soft brush against my chest while her tail coiled around my leg. My heart was beating faster than ever before, a quiet voice in my head begging me to reach forward and kiss her growing ever stronger, "There is no one to protect because no one is in need of your protection. You can rest now…"

"You said…" I managed to breathe out, "You said that the Demon Lord will make it so incubi could be born. Are you sure that is the truth?"

"Yes, I am," The Succubus smiled again, something playful glinting in her eye, "Though, if you don't believe my words… We could always confirm it ourselves. What do you say?"

I am not going to lie. I am not a being of purity or virtue, not a paladin whose willpower is enough to resist the temptations of the Devil himself. No hero to face Death itself and smile. I was no Ollanius Pius.

So, yes, I was tempted, so very tempted. Never had a girlfriend in my entire life, always thought it was a waste of time. Even when I stared at the blank ceiling lying alone in my room, I knew that such ties would only impede my life on the road I wanted to take. I quietly laughed at those who cried after breakups, mocked those who found solace in another's embrace.

One didn't need friends. The notion of being incapable of doing anything alone was ridiculous. If you could lift couch by yourself, you just weren't strong enough. Inability to invent something meant not being smart enough. There was no deed one couldn't do on their own if they were fit enough, in a Darwinian sense.

But maybe, just maybe, I was only jealous? Jealous that no one would cheer me up when I was down, jealous that no one would share my joy when I succeeded… Jealous of being loved by anyone outside family.

My soul begged me to reach up. My body trembled, and my hands already circled around the small of the Succubus' back.

"I…"

"Shhhh… No words." She leaned even closer and I stilled, as even the slightest of movements would seal our lips together.

"I…"

I saw her draw in the gust of air I breathed out and smile in adoration.

"Delicious. Come now, let me taste you for real this time…"

My muscles spasmed. My entire being ached and groan, tearing at the remaining chains my mind cast around it. I wanted to ask her what she was waiting for. I wanted to ask her to lean in because wasting even another second trying to do so myself brought me pain. I wanted to accept her, to forget about everything else and to lose myself to an ocean of please and Love. I wanted-

Pathetic. I am so pathetic. Look at me, begging for someone's attention. Oh please, kiss me, love me, never let go! What a waste of space. If that's who I truly am, becoming this whore's pet really is mercy. Just think, the mighty Damien, future scientist extraordinaire, losing a battle of wills to a promise of not being alone anymore. Weak. Weak, weak, weak, weak!

"I…"

And just like that, it's all gone. Dreams, hopes, aspirations, all lost to a vortex of desire. And after all that bragging, too. Oh, I don't need no girlfriends! I can easily live my life alone! When you'll be worried about the kind of ring to buy for your wedding, I'll be breeding monsters in my secret underground labs! I guess I should rejoice then. Even if the lab part won't come true, breeding monsters still remains as an option.

Yay me.

"I…"

"Are you alright? Did… did you hurt yourself in some way while I wasn't looking?"

Hm? Why am still resisting? I want this, right? Go on, worm, fall into her embrace. Tell her you love her the most. Tell her that you've finally found Love. Oh, and don't forget to introduce her to your parents when you invite her back to Earth. I'm sure they will be thrilled. My friends, too.

"My…"

Oh, I'm changing the tune? Nice, that broken record was starting to get on my nerves. What was I going to say though? My body is ready? Heh.

…

Disgusting. I guess my flesh prevailed over my spirit after all…

…

"My body…" I whispered hoarsely, "You may take my body…"

Hmmm?

"But you shall never have my mind!" I roared and flooded every ounce of holy energy I could produce at a moment's notice into storage runes.

My robe bulged. Then it strained. And then, my world was filled with flying body parts, blood gushing everywhere. Feathers, scales, chitin, blades and tentacles, every single trophy I stuffed inside this robe on my way to the village was released at the same time.

The wave of gore smashed into the Succubus, her eyes widening at the sudden development, and throwing her against the opposing wall of the wardrobe.

My mind still reeling from pressure and drowned in conflicting feeling, I barely managed to prop myself up and push towards the closed doors. My body slammed into the wood, violently throwing the door open, the booming sound silencing everything else for an instant.

As I dropped onto the floor and began to crawl in the direction of the window, the doors to the room opened and a dark blue mop of hair peeked in.

"Elibeth, is that you?" I saw her blink in confusion at the open wardrobe before slowly following the trail to where I was heaving on the floor, "Oh. Oh! My-my, what a find! Would you care to join us in the room next door? I promise you won't regret it!"

She hopped up to me and gave me a wink. Then she paused and looked at my shaking hands.

"Ah, my bad! I didn't realize you were hurt, sorry! Here, let me help you," The Succubus crouched down and picked me, though her hands gave in a little when my full weight dropped onto them, "All better?"

Wait a minute.

I looked at her in bewilderment, a sight that caused her to giggle and lean in to brush her nose against mine. I ignored the way my body pulsed in response, and instead focused on the way she felt.

Something was wrong. She wasn't as strong as that Elibeth physically, and she didn't possess even half of her energy! She was…

She was a Lesser Succubus.

A weak chuckle sneaked past my lips, a sound that made her pause and lean in even further.

"Did you say something?"

"Yeah," I wheezed, "You're new, aren't you? You all are, except that Elibeth of yours… Newly turned, still weak… Lesser Succubi."

"Oh, yes!" She smiled and nodded vigorously, "I'm still new to this whole mamono business but it's plenty fun, let me tell you! I've never thought that life could be so… so… worth it."

I felt the tethers of demonic energy woven into the wardrobe I just escaped twitch. Whatever the properSuccubus was wasting her time on, she was about to stop. I needed to get out of here, now.

"You know," I began weakly, "You seem nice enough, so why not. This whole Order business was too stressful for me anyway."

"Yes, exactly! I'm so happy to hear it, you won't believe me! Let's go, I'll introduce you to the rest and we can spend some bonding time together," A blush began to spread around her neck, as the chest pressing into my side dug in even further.

"Actually…" I made a show of averting my eyes, "I was wondering if we could go outside. I've always loved nature…"

"Well…"

"And it would be my first time…"

The energy surrounding the wardrobe went berserk but the Lesser Succubus was already flying above the houses with me in a bridal carry.

"A-ha!" She landed somewhere close to an idyllic-looking lake. I vaguely remembered passing it by a few minutes before our group first reached the village, "This spot is wonderful, don't you think? I used to hang out here all the time as a kid. You could say I grew up in this place. I'm Rita, by the-"

Tuning her out, I condensed whatever energy I could gather and pushed it into her brain. Being just a newborn Lesser, she had barely more power than a normal human, and I could easily overpower the passive defenses her demonic energy tried to put up. In a flash of gold and violet, the Lesser Succubus dropped like a sack of potatoes.

"Fuck my life," I groaned, rolling over on my back. Everything hurt. And it wasn't the pleasurable ache now either, it was actual pain. I hated pain, "Not literally though… I just got out of that particular predicament."

A distant clap of air caused me to snap my mouth shut and speedily make my way under one of the nearby bushes.

Please don't notice me, please don't notice me…

Something gently landed beside the lake.

Dang it.

"Rita…" There was a sob, "You didn't deserve this, any of this… Poor girl, you just wanted to make people happy, didn't you? I'll find him. I'll find him for you, and make sure that your wish comes true. I'll make him happy if that's the last thing I do!"

I tensed my ribcage to prevent the lungs from drawing in air. I was a stone. I was the ground. I wasn't alive, not truly, just an unrelated piece of the landscape-

"So, please, don't resist. I know what you may think but this is for your own good. You'll thank me later, my word," Elibeth spoke. Her words were solemn, yet they still carried a tint of eagerness. She was sad at her friend's death, undoubtedly so, but not enough to let it cloud her… reasoning? Whatever she had for reasoning, I guess.

Worse yet, she knew I was here. Or maybe she wanted to me think she knew I was here!

"We've been through this already, and you do remember how it went last time, yes?" Of course i do, you gave the jumpscare of my life, you crazy woman. Now go away, there's nothing to see here.

I was doing my best to suppress the twitching of my chest desperately trying to suck in some air when an exasperated sigh rang through the clearing.

"You know I can see the edge of your robe, right?"

I left it there to knock you off my trail!

"It's twitching."

Distraction!

I moved to summon a stone with the conflagration rune inscribed on it but came out empty. A chill ran down my spine as I remembered that I cleared out my inventory, including the two other robes I had there.

"Goddammit." I was lifted by an invisible force and floated right up to the pouting Succubus, "Just so you know, my mind is clearer now. At last, all too well I can see where you all soon will be. Dead."

"Was that a quote?" She cocked her head.

"Not one you'd recognize, barbaroi." I sneered.

"I have to say," The Succubus narrowed her eyes and licked her lips, "You are much more interesting when you're talking. I daresay… You would make an excellent partner for some lucky girl. Still pure, too…"

"Forgive me if it sounds all too familiar to you, but we've been through this already," I clicked my tongue, whatever fear I had giving way to exhaustion and annoyance, "You tried, and failed, to screw with my brains. So either do something or leave me here. I won't repeat myself, my mind belongs to me!"

"I think I have a better idea," I was levitated closer, and Elibeth turned her back to me, then leaned on my shoulder. As a result, I was given a rather interesting view which I gave a brief moment to appreciate, then rolled my eyes and raised my eyebrow at her, "You're no fun. Anyway, I think the best way to help you change your mind is to give you a front-row seat to the action! So, I'm thinking of gathering everyone in the tavern and, well, putting on a bit of a show for you. No acting, of course, only the most realistic of plays in our theater."

"You…" I didn't even bother to conceal disgust, "Sick. You're sick."

"Don't be like that, there's nothing to be ashamed of," I was dropped into her waiting arms and we took off into the skies. I subtly probed her for energy and had to suppress a shiver at the veritable sea of corruptive power. Even without coming in direct contact, it felt sticky and mucus-y to my senses. Yuck.

The Succubus pressed me closer to her chest as if to shield from the cold air. I growled. She giggled.

We quickly reached the familiar window, and I could even catch the glimpse of the wardrobe with its doors smashed open. However, I was carried around the building, and hauled in through the main entrance where dozens of Lesser Succubi were waiting alongside their… eager partners.

"Ah, everything is in order, it seems," Elibeth exclaimed upon entering and was answered with sultry and cheerful nods.

"If everything were in Order, you'd be burned at the stake," I whispered mostly to myself. Her response was a light shake.

"Shush, adults are talking," She reprimanded me with a smile and then turned to her audience, "Today we are gathered here to-"

"I'm eighteen," I interjected.

There was a moment of silence.

"Good," The Succubus grinned and slightly lifted me up, like a child showing their Christmas gift to the parents, "As I was saying, we are gathered here to show this perfectly aged prude how people with a heart have fun. It is our duty to-"

"I have a wonderful four-chambered heart, I'll have you know. Unlike whatever mutated ball of taint you have in your chest."

"Oh, and would you like to know what 'mutated ball of taint' exactly do I have in my chest?" I didn't even bother resisting when she pressed me against herself even further. Succubi strength was… unfair, really, "I don't mind, you know? Anyway, you can have your fun but please stop interrupting. I'm doing important work here. Where was I again? Oh, right. We'll show our dear guest what it feels like to be truly happy with your beloved one."

I was gently placed onto a chair, to which I soon found myself bound with dark purple tendrils of smoke. The runic array on the inside of my robe heated up a little.

"Since we want to him to come to the right conclusion on this matter by himself, you are not to engage in any untoward activities with him. You just need to show him how wonderful it is to Love and be Loved. Could you do that for him?"

A choir of excited voices answered her, among which I heard a few familiar ones. I dared to spare a single glance in their direction and saw my former team, wide smiles on their faces, support a harem's worth of Lesser Succubi that were leaning on them. I cringed at the thumbs up Pelo shot me and turned back to look at Elibeth.

"You know I won't be broken, right?"

"Of course you won't, no one will break here! And no need to be so aggressive you are in no danger whatsoever! I could, naturally, show you the pleasures you've only dreamed of myself but I'd really appreciate it if you asked me to do it," She bowed until her face was on the same level with mine and slowly breathed in, "And don't think I'm not aware of the more defensive uses of that amulet you're trying to hide. I'm not going to lie and say that I can take it off right now… But with enough demonic energy in the air, I'm fairly confident that I could free your mind from whatever is holding you back. Don't worry, though, I will personally nurse you back to full health once your mental chains are broken. But, for now, I shall be upstairs, waiting to come at your first call… Make sure to not keep a lady waiting, will you?"

"Your attempt at torture is pathetic and you should feel ashamed of yourself," I spat but then smiled sweetly, "Why don't you come with me and I'll show how real professionals do it?"

Her eyes widened.

"Y-you know the Butchers?" Came a whisper. I almost missed her finger twitch.

"Interesting term, though I can't say I've heard it before," I straightened and raised my eyebrow in curiosity, "Would you care to attach any names to that title?"

"That's what mamono call the more… zealous ones of your Order," She breathed a sigh of relief, "But if you don't know what I am talking about then you should be fine. Trust me, you'd understand if you ever saw them."

The Succubus shivered.

"A-anyway, please, enjoy your stay!" She turned to the staircase and began to move away from me, while the future orgy around me kicked into gear.

"Not even gonna ask about the body parts?!" I screamed after her, halting the party to a stop.

She looked at me and gave a strained smile.

"What body parts?"

What did she mean what body parts? Was she blind, or just delusional? Though, maybe the latter was closer to the truth. She did look a bit paler than usual, after all. Interesting.

"The ones you all will soon be joining," I taunted her, "I'm going to hack you into itty bitty pieces, take everything useful, and then sell the rest on Amazon, you hear me?!"

Come on, you monster, get angry. Feel pity for your desecrated comrades and strike me down. I'd prefer to keep my mouth shut and stall for time if this were any other case but this was a den of Succubi. There was no way she'd actually let me survive the night unmolested. She'd get bored, or frustrated, and if she took the matters into her hands with all seriousness, I knew that there was nothing I could do. If I was going to die anyway, it better be now, before I witness the infamous Succubi debauchery.

"You won't," she shook her, smiling sadly, "Because deep inside, you don't feel that hatred that you want me to think you have. You're a better person than you can imagine."

I stared at her back as the Succubus sashayed her way up the stairs. when vanished beyond the ceiling, and the moans picked up again, I ground my teeth together.

A better person than I imagined? Maybe. But I'll be damned if I let a bit of sweet-talking change my mind. Even I felt bad, even if I didn't really want to do something a 'bad person' would, I'd still do it after that particular tidbit. Because us humans?

We had one very interesting emotion that most people tended to forget about. Clingier that grudges. More empowering than love. Capable of causing destruction greater than wrath or hatred ever could.

Spite.

"And I'm going to torch this whole place to the ground, simply to prove you, oh Elibeth, wrong."

An especially sharp moan triggered my reflexes and my eyes blitzed to the right, where Terry and some busty Lesser were starting to get more excited than necessary.

Groaning, I gathered whatever holy energy I could sneak past my shackles, and did the only thing I could do.

I tweaked the runes to completely shut off my vision.

Out of spite.

 

[Wishful Thinking]

Chapter 12.


I knew that vision was an integral part of the way humans perceived the world. If I'm remembering correctly, it is even considered the main sensory input we possess. What I didn't know, was just how vitally important it really was.

Some… time has passed since the 'party' around me began in the earnest. Groans and moans, screams of pleasure and ecstasy, it all blended together into a cacophony of pure carnality. Eventually, it became background noise. The only noise, granted, but still background. Perhaps it's been minutes, perhaps hours. Maybe even days, though I doubted it.

Time was a bit hard to track when you couldn't see proof of things happening. I was just there. Floating in a black void filled with hedonistic screams. Of course, I could still feel the wooden chair under me and the rare breeze brushing against my face but all that paled in front of the sheer quantity of information my ears fed to the brain.

I was blind to the world. I was effectively deaf to the world, as well.

Even worse was the fact that I couldn't fall asleep to skip all this crap. Despite all that training, I still couldn't drift away until all major sources of light and sound were eliminated. Usually, I reached the desired result by soundproofing my room and then shutting down my eyesight. Here, the former wasn't an option, and so I had to power through.

Although, to be honest, it was much easier than I expected. Turns out that without visual confirmation, reproductive instincts were way more difficult to activate. It made things less awkward, sure, but didn't exactly help me in this predicament.

At some point, I felt something cool poke against my lips and automatically opened my eyes and turned on the eyesight. Elibeth's pouting face greeted me as she continued to poke a spoon with some soup in it against my mouth. I little tweak to the runes ensured that I could only see in a direct line, sparing me the pain of watching what was happening around the room.

Cold metal touched my lips again.

"Really?"

"You need to eat, dummy!" The spoon went deeper and lightly scraped my teeth, "And I'm not letting you starve yourself, so open your mouth and eat up! I made the soup myself if that helps."

"It doesn't-," I tried to sigh but then realized my mistake when the Succubus capitalized on the opening and force-fed me, "Curses. Fine. Can I do it myself at least?"

"No can do!" She blew a raspberry at me, the monster, "You might try something fancy, and we don't want you to leave before the main event, do we now?"

"Speak for yourself," I grumbled, swallowing another spoonful. The food was obviously spiked with demonic energy just like everything else but I doubted that she put anything worse in it, like special Demon Realm products. And I couldn't exactly not eat if I wanted to be at my best when the opportunity to escape presented itself. And yes, I was aware that that window was shrinking as rapidly as demonic energy was gathering in this room.

And let me tell you, there was a lot of it. The purple miasma was visible to the naked eye, streams of power coursing the air, coiling around whatever they could grasp. Some even tried to ensnare me but the combined forces of the amulet and robe pushed them back time after time.

I could feel both artifacts grow hotter and hotter with every passing moment, the amulet giving me flashbacks to when I first unlocked my spirit energy. I had to endure the pain, however, because, well, I simply had no other choice. Even I could take it off I wouldn't because that meant speeding up my transformation into an incubus.

Judging by the smile on Elibeth's face, however, the moment wasn't too far off.

"Did you like it?" She asked after I was done eating, "I had to consult the cookbooks in the kitchen but I think it was pretty good!"

"I've had better," I rolled my eyes then blinked, "Props for trying, though… I guess?"

"Oh, you're so sweet! I knew you had it in you!" The Succubus hopped on the spot a couple times, her tail bending into a shape of a stylized heart, "Aaaah, I can't wait to take that filthy collar off of you! Don't worry, it's not going to take long. The night is almost over but we're almost done too. Just a couple hours and you can finally join in on the fun!"

Several hours left? It took me weeks to get here on horseback, and unless the Evervigil have some teleportation devices or something, Father Klaus is going to be late. Well, to be fair, the real question was whether they'd use those devices or not because I was fairly certain that they existed.

Still though, just a couple hours? The sheer hopelessness of the situation was a bit annoying but if video games taught me anything it was the fact that the game was never over until it said Game Over. In other words, as long as one was alive, things could change very quickly and very drastically.

So, my lips pressed into a thin line, I continued glaring at the eager Succubus.

"Alright, I'm going to wash this now," She picked up the dishes, "Oh, by the way. I hope you're enjoying the atmosphere. They're really trying, you know? Usually, having so many people together is a bit embarrassing even for us. Give them some appreciation, okay?"

She winked at me and moved out of the tunnel of my vision. Without a word, I shut it off again.

…

Can you please shut the fuck up?!

In a vain attempt to drown attempt the headache-inducing sounds, I began to drum a random beat on the chair. It wasn't anything specific, just sounds that formed a pattern instead of the utter chaos that surrounded me.

Slowly, the rhythm began to change into something familiar, a melody that was very dear to my heart. I felt somewhat dirty for bringing it into this room at this time but as the song started to play out inside my mind, the worries drifted away.

With the steady beat of drums, the song that introduced me to the fantasy genre, the song that lifted up my spirits whenever I felt down, the song that whispered that somewhere far away there was an exciting adventure waiting just me, played inside my head.

Spoiler: The Song

"Far over…" I whispered under my breath, "The misty mountains cold…"

The strength holding my neck straight disappeared, and my head dropped to the side.

"To dungeons deep… and caverns old…" The noises around me were dwindling, the screams and moans getting more and more quiet until the only thing remaining in the empty void was the sound of my own voice, "We must away… ere break of day… to seek the pale enchanted gold…"

The land of hopes and dreams. The land of fantasy and magic. Where dragons soared over the clouds, and great terrors lurked deep beneath the waves. Where dreadful necromancers summoned armies of the damned, and brave heroes kissed their family last goodbyes before going into the unknown.

The unexplored land of the unknown. The land where I could mean something.

"The dwarves of yore… made mighty spells…" I slightly raised my voice, the hot feeling in my chest tightening with every word, "While hammers fell… like ringing bells…"

I, Witch Hunter Damien of the Evervigil, have a dream. To live a life worth living. To die with a satisfied smile on my face and fulfillment in my heart. And what better way to do that that achieve something great? Something worth telling generations after?

Good or Evil, it matters not. In the grand scheme of things, our planet, our world, humanity, mamono, none of that meant anything. Dust on the face of the universe. So was it really wrong to want being remembered?

"In places deep… where dark things sleep…" Me being picked up by the Evervigil was a blessing in disguise. Sure, they were sociopathic maniacs but the opportunities they offered were immense. I could reach unimaginable heights, maybe even save this world alongside Earth! In order to leave my mark in history… I would not give up in the face of a mere Succubus. Of a mere Demon Lord. Dust, everything was dust, including myself! Everyone was equal before the gaze of dying stars! "In hollowed halls beneath the fells!"

I continued singing my heart out, fists tightening until blood began to drip from beneath my fingertips. My role was to protect humanity. And that's exactly what I was going to do!

Clicks and hisses echoed from my neck. The heat given off by my clothes was now unbearable. I could feel the smoke infusing itself into my lungs with every breath I took. The tips of my fingers and toes were tingling, a pleasant soreness spreading throughout my body.

"…Far over… the misty mountains cold…" Soft fingers traced my collarbone and circled around the chain on the amulet, "To dungeons deep… and caverns old."

I returned my vision to look directly into Elibeth's eyes and scowl.

"Do your worst."

The amulet hit the ground with a clang.

Immediately, everything blurred. Since I couldn't produce holy energy by myself, with the amulet gone, the runes were de-powering. My perfect eyesight was gone. The protections offered by my robe were extinguished within seconds, cut off from the energy supply. Completely defenseless, my flesh could offer nothing to resist the tidal wave of demonic energy that rushed into my every cell.

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from moaning as the air turned to sweet nectar and a bouquet of aromas was stuffed directly into my nose. I could understand the turncoat slightly better now because demonic energy made you feel good. Never tried any myself but I was more than sure that any drug created by my people didn't even begin to compare.

Against my will, my eyes swerved in every direction, drinking in my surrounding. Everything looked so beautiful. However blurry, all the faces were beyond what was humanly possible, the bodies more gorgeous than could be imagined. I felt like I was in heaven.

But then I began to feel.

Colors snapped into existence, turning gray world I thought was full of colors into an amalgamation of rainbows. The fear I felt when first opened my eyes to Elibeth returned tenfold. That knot in my gut when I saw the Evervigil's storage rooms? Terror. The sight of Zombies rising from beneath the sands of the arena? Panic.

My entire being was going haywire under the storms of heightened emotions. With the weresheep wool woven into the amulet, the one thing that allowed me to keep a cool head was gone. And with the sudden sensory influx from demonic energy?

I screamed. I wept. I begged and cursed, and raged, and cried, and laughed, and moaned, and shook, and-

"Sh-sh-sh, everything's going to be fine now," Something warm enveloped me into a tight embrace, "I'm here, I'm right here. You have nothing to be afraid of."

I instinctively hugged back, tears streaming down my face, and tried to curl into a ball and disappear. It was just too much, everything was too much…

I felt myself being gently lifted and carried somewhere. I opened my eyes inside an empty room, lying on the bed, with Elibeth kneeling beside it. Her eyes were full of worry, and… care? Did she care about me? Was I really important?

"Of course you are," She whispered, slowly stroking my hair, "The most important of them all…"

My eyes trailed to the table standing in the middle of the room where I could see several items. My phone, my earbuds, some bubblegum, and a bunch of shadows that I couldn't discern.

"That's all there was left after the incident," Elibeth smiled, "I got rid of all the nasty stuff but I thought this was something you consider important. Will you tell me what those are later?"

"I-incident?" What was she talking about? My phone was in the storage runes with the… with the…

"There-there, cry it all out," I was given a glass of water that I hastily downed, "Demonic energy tends to unleash some of your inner thoughts and feelings upon the first contact, and, with the amulet further preventing you from being… well, you, I can't imagine how new everything must be to you. You poor thing."

A pair of massive leathery wings enveloped me like a blanket, leaving only two bright blue eyes and faintly seen pink hair in my vision. My deeper feelings? I carefully touched my chest, trying to find what those feelings were. For some reason, I felt happiness.

Exhilaration.

"Oh?" The Succubus giggled in a playful voice, "Back so soon?"

I gave her a look of confusion and then angled my head to see one of my hands playing with her wings. My fingers were brushing against the membrane, squeezing it, and feeling its texture.

It was warm. Soft. Strange leather.

"You must be quite the… curious man deep inside," The humanoid mamono winked, "Demonic energy removes your inhibitions only for a few hours at most, so I hope you don't mind if I'm not going to say 'No.'"

Was it a polymer? Dumbass, of course, it was some kind of polymer, it was an organic compound visible on a eukaryote with naked eyes! My second hand joined to examine the biological material.

"Oof, quite rough…"

What was this thing made of? Didn't feel like bat wings or cow hides. Some sort of magical thingy imbued with demonic energy? I knew it was capable of making drastic alterations to both biological and inanimate structures but seeing it in the first person exceeded my expectations.

I poked the membrane to test its elasticity, ignoring a moan coming from somewhere close by. It was not important at the moment. But the wing…

I could already imagine its uses. Maybe I could attach them to armor and allow soldiers to fly? Or build underwater suits to withstand high pressure? The exact traits of this fascinating new material were still unknown to me but I wanted them. I wanted those wings.

Maybe I'd even get that sweet Ph.D.! Oh, wait, I wasn't on Earth anymore, they didn't have Ph.D.'s here…

Holy shit, I'm not on Earth anymore! I'm in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia!...

Encyclopedia…

I licked my suddenly dry lips and looked closer at the Succubus' faces. It was all red for some reason but I could see its inherent perfection. No wrinkles or folds of any kind, perfect smoothness. No flaws whatsoever.

Since I sincerely doubted that their kind evolved to become the perfect lifeform, it meant that their demonic energy was capable of making even minor decorative changes to their bodies. Interesting.

Elibeth appeared before my mind's eye, a motionless model revealed in all her glory. Prehensile tail, maybe wires to strengthen textiles? A pair of wings capable of flight, numerous application that I've already thought about. A pair of horns… maybe some new durable material?

I reached out and rubbed one of the horns with my fingers, triggering that distracting noise again. Hmmm, maybe sometime later.

But. Monster Girl Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia. Countless species spread around the globe, each with their own unique characteristics. So much… potential.

Slimes, for example, how did they work? They had no organs, no nervous system, and yet were capable of thought no matter how primitive. Was their whole body a giant nervous system? Would learning their secrets bestow upon me the knowledge to preserve bodily functions even after one's brain was destroyed?

Ehehe, so many beautiful specimens so eager to hand themselves over… I couldn't just leave the fair maidens all alone, now could I?

I tried to stand up but was impeded by weight pressed against my body. I attempted to push it off only to bring about the opposite, its mass grinding even further into me.

"Wha-what are you waiting for, sweetie?" A hoarse voice whispered into my ear, "I'm ready when you are."

"Get off me, woman, I have things to do." My diplomacy skills failed to convince Elibeth to move the hell out of way, sadly.

"You- What? B-but!" My face was suddenly restricted by a pair of hands and a face hovered above me, "You should've… Is there something else shackling your mind?"

Oh, right. Super speed and strength. I wonder if it's a natural phenomenon or a result of demonic energy. Probably the later, she doesn't look capable of doing what she does.

Unless, of course, Succubi could increase muscle density instead of volume. A note to self: dissect a Succubus sometime later.

…

Okay, this was getting boring. I was getting annoyed. Very annoyed. Angry even.

"What could it be-"

"Hey!" My cry visibly startled the mamono, causing her to move her face away from me, those she was still sitting on my legs, "Cut it out. You're really pretty and all but I need to go. There is a whole wide world of fascinating creatures just waiting to provide humanity with their services."

"Something must've gone wrong," Elibeth muttered, "The more demonic energy is used, the deeper it digs, and the drive to reproduce covers a massive layer of human sub-consciousness. So why?"

"Maybe you dug too shallow?" I decided to offer my insight on the matter. I suppose a couple seconds wasted were no skin off my back, "Or maybe too deep."

"There was no way for so much energy to unearth only the 'shallow' part," The Succubus furrowed her eyebrows, "And the result would've been different. But if your deep thoughts are… this, then… What does it even mean?"

"Honestly? No idea," I shrugged, "I must admit though, I've always been curious about biology. And seeing, well, this…" I vaguely gestured at her body, "It's weird. I know shouldn't want to but… I'm really curious as to how you function."

"Maybe… Maybe you do need some time to relax," Elibeth bit her lip and got off of me with a depressed sigh, "And we were so close, too…"

"Relax? No, I don't need to relax, I need to explore! Come on, I heard there are Slimes nearby, can you bring me a Slime? And some scalpels. Knives? Knives. What else, what else, what else… Several flasks maybe, to collect the samples-"

"I'll come for you in the morning!" I turned to see the door closing shut.

…

I want to sleep. I want to eat. I also want to hit that chair.

I did, and it hurt a bit. More than it should've.

"Oh yeah, the amulet dampened the pain," I scratched my chin, "Man, that thing was useful."

I scratched the circle of black crust on my chest, getting rid of that particular itch for now. Then, my head, too.

...

Without a second thought, I dropped onto one of the beds and closed my eyes.

…

I woke up to the sound of screams.

 

[Wishful Thinking]

Chapter 13.


My head hurt. Like someone wrapped barbed wires coated in poison was around the folds of my brain while I was asleep. My limbs trembled as I tried to get off the bed, giving out at the last possible moment and causing me to fall on the wooden floor.

My body felt hot. As if I was sitting in one of those vibrating armchairs, pulse after pulse of comfort spread through my flesh, sharply contrasting with the nigh-blinding pain of the headache.

The loud distracting noises coming from the outside didn't help at all.

Using one of the three standing chairs for support, I managed to stand upright and breathe a sigh of relief. My shoulder twitched. I scratched it.

My thigh spasmed.

A weird itch began to surface over my entire body, making me stretch to a near impossible degree to scratch the less accessible areas. Fortunately, I've always been rather flexible, so it wasn't a big problem.

I felt like I needed something. There some desire, an urge I had to satisfy or else I exploded.

"The hell is happening to me?" My train of thought was interrupted by an especially loud scream.

I was torn between my mind telling me to check the windows to see what was happening and my body urging me to seek out Elibeth and inquire about my current condition.

Mind over matter, Damien.

Clenching my teeth, I ran up to the window and brushed the curtains aside.

It was somewhere between morning and day, the sun already peeking from beyond the trees but nowhere near high enough to indicate high noon. And down in the streets…

A door from one of the houses below me went flying across the street and smashed into the house across. The improved projectile shattered upon impact but not before caving in the walls and bringing the small wooden house down.

Out of the doorway, a tall figure clad in black calmly walked out and looked around. Almost immediately, I saw the blur that was its head turn directly in my direction.

Was that…?

"Father Klaus!" I yelled with a wide grin that threatened to split my face in half, "Entire village is corrupted, all Lesser Succubi with one full-blown Succubus!"

There was silence hanging in the air before the head bobbed up and down. Turning back to the room, I quickly picked up my stuff from the table and tried to open the door.

Locked.

"Shit," I cursed, "Uhm, maybe the window?"

I walked back to the window poked my head out in search of any ledges. There was some kind of a windowsill on the outside which I could use as a step but there was nowhere to go from that point.

"I guess I have to wait here," I propped my chin with a fist and found Klaus' location again, "At the very least I can enjoy the show."

Even though the most I could see was a lazily moving blob of black, something inside was dying from anticipation. I've never seen Father Klaus actually fight, it has always been one 'tamed' monster or other.

Roused by the screams, Lessers and their husbands opened the doors and went into the streets to see what was happening.

Big mistake.

I gripped the windowsill, leaning forward, but something grabbed me by the collar of the robe and pulled back into the room.

"Careful!" Elibeth's quivering voice whispered into my ear, "I don't know who that is but he's bad news! So much energy…"

I didn't find the strength in myself to respond because I just realized that there was a very important fact that I happened to miss before.

Damn, she was pretty.

The weak aroma that emanated from her body intensified the itching by what felt like a factor of ten and making me gulp.

Cautiously, like approaching a wild animal, I leaned back into her embrace, shifting my head slightly so my cheek would brush against her hair.

"So soft…"

"Huh? What are you- Oh," The Succubus blushed and averted her eyes, biting her lip, "Aw, what terrible timing… But…"

She looked back at me and I gave her the most reassuring smile I could muster.

"This, uh, this is all rather new for me but-"

There was a piercing screech followed by complete silence. Both Elibeth and I froze where we stood, then the mamono, probably coming to some conclusion, picked me up and flew out of the room through the door. We quickly descended to the first floor, then she carried me over to a barely noticeable trapdoor and put me on the ground.

"Hide," She spoke with determination ringing in her voice, "Judging by the clothes, whoever came here is also a Witch Hunter. You need to hide, he'll kill you as you are now."

"But-"

"No buts," She pressed a finger against my lips, then gave me a little sad smile, "It's just one human, I'll be back soon. However… If you don't hear from me, I'm friends with the Red Slime Queen that lives nearby. I'll contact her so she would pick you up if… If something happens. I won't allow them to take you back, not after you've been freed."

The Succubus gently pushed me to the trapdoor and waited until I got it. I found myself in a small basement room stuffed with old wooden boxes. The air stale and, frankly, pretty much unbreathable. I poked my head back out and watched her go. Halfway to the exit from the tavern, she turned around and gave me a thumbs up before leaving for good.

As soon as she left my sight, I felt like a hammer was smashed into my head. What the hell was I even doing?

I focused on my spirit energy to try to find out what's been happening to me but I couldn't quite reach for some reason. It was there, I could feel it clearly but something was blocking my access to it.

Or, rather, every scrap of energy disappeared the second it was produced.

"No spirit energy, then," I grumbled and eyed the closed tavern entrance, "On one hand, seeing Elibeth messes with my brain for some reason. On the other, I need to meet up with Father Klaus. Hopefully, he'll know how to get me out of this predicament."

If he doesn't kill for being tainted first, that is.

I paused mid-way out of the basement as I was overcome with doubt. Whether intentionally or not, I had given in to demonic energy. Yes, it was forced unto me, and, yes, I would still side with my own species, but the result was the same. My body was pumped with demonic energy and I was kinda sorta becoming an incubus. Not now and not for quite some time but still…

No, I've already thought about this. I run and I'm either dead or worthless. I stay and I'm either dead or legendary.

Obvious choice.

Exiting the tavern proved to have a single obstacle, one I swiftly dodged when it flew straight at me the moment I opened the door. The panicking blonde Lesser was clearly planning to include the act of opening the door into her movement and was thus thoroughly surprised when I opened it for her. So surprised, in fact, that she stumbled and was recovering long enough for a severed limb to fly through the air like a javelin and bust straight through her chest.

I watched with wide eyes as the body with a fist-sized hole in its chest dropped to the ground without making a sound. There was a faint tearing sound and several more screams, then silence.

Soon after, I heard someone walking towards the door, their shoes splashing against the mud. I froze near the doorway, trying to make myself as invisible as possible. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow framed by the rays of sunlight make a step into the tavern.

A second later, I was looking at an open palm shining with golden light that was millimeters away from my face.

"Ah, Damien," Father Klaus' unmistakable voice rang throughout the room, "I have finally found you. You are quite unlucky, I must say."

"Father Klaus," I gave him a crooked smile, "You're one night too late but I'll take what I can get. Did you eliminate the Succubus?"

"Not yet," He shook his head, his eyes never leaving me, "Was she the one to take off the amulet?"

"Yeah," I couldn't help but cringe at the accusation faintly heard in his words, "It took a couple hours, I think, but she managed to gather enough demonic energy from all her friends to pull it off. Not the best moment of my life."

"I see," The priest fell silent for a few seconds, "I shall give you one chance to explain yourself after we're done. If I don't find your reasons sufficient, I will treat you just like any other heretic. Is that alright with you?"

"That's more than I could ask for," I grinned happily and accepted his hand to stand up. After brushing off the dirt I picked up while sitting, I snapped my fingers when I remembered something important, "Oh, by the way, Elibeth, that's the Succubus, mentioned that there was a Red Slime Queen nearby. We might need to watch out for that."

"Elibeth, huh?" Klaus raised an immaculate eyebrow then sighed, "A story for later, I guess. Don't stray too far away from me."

I nodded and followed the Evervigil as he went back outside. Immediately, we had to stop because there was a sizable crowd of people, consisting of both humans and Lessers, with the Succubus at the head.

The monsters were visibly unsettled by the lone priest but refused to run. It seemed like they believed in the strength of a mob more than in common sense. After all, a warrior of the Order wouldn't come alone on purpose unless they were prepared to face the opposition.

"Why are you here, Witch Hunter?" Elibeth's eyes widened when she saw me, then grew hard as she looked at the priest, "We've been living a life of peace and never left the borders of this village. And yet, you come here and kill innocent people!"

Father Klaus opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and stared at the Succubus.

"Answer me!" The mamono hissed, "And leave Damien alone, he has nothing to do with it!"

I don't have anything to do with it?! Even if I wasn't with the Order, even if I wasn't with the Evervigil, it was you who injected me with demonic energy you crazy, twisted, hedonistic, admittedly attractive, and even a bit gorgeous-

A hiss burst forth from my throat as something poked my temple and my veins filled up with fire. It churned beneath my skin, a heat so intense that my instinctual response was to drop into the dirt and try to put out the fire with the mud.

"That should do, for now. Wouldn't want the demonic energy inside you to force you to help your current 'master,'" Klaus spoke coolly, "Well, back to clean up."

I barely gathered enough strength to power through the pain and lift up my head. Before my eyes, the Evervigil crouched down slightly and then blurred.

It wasn't the kind of speed one had to push their vision to its limits to see, like the one Elibeth possessed. Nor was it teleportation for I could easily witness the evidence of movement. It's just, one second Father Klaus was standing right beside me and the other he was replaced by a small crater in the ground while the priest himself had one of his arms running through an unlucky Lesser.

And only after that, I heard a clap of thunder as I was hurled back and into the tavern's wall.

When I opened my eyes for the next time, he was standing on the same spot, his arm free of any burden, while the monsters and humans were sprawled on the ground.

"Did you just…" I croaked in disbelief, "Break the sound barrier?!"

"Only for a short time," Was the answer I received, "A simple dash, nothing more. If I could really move at such speeds at will, things would've been much easier."

With that, he walked up to the nearest groaning man and stepped on his chest. There was a burst of light, a puff of purple smoke, and then Klaus' leg smoothly touched the ground, a cloud of ash floating around it.

"This is how a properly measured attack with holy energy looks like," He spoke, his voice calm as usual, "By expelling as much holy energy as demonic energy that the target possesses, it is possible to completely rid them of life force. Spend too little, and they're badly damaged but not dead. Spend too much, and you're wasting power. Know what you're doing, and you have a perfect kill."

He lightly kicked a Lesser before it could stand up, repeating the process. More ash began to drift around.

By the time the monsters recovered, they have lost almost half of their initial number. Elibeth was still alive as Father Klaus was ignoring her for some reason. Planning to get some information out of her later, probably.

The second they regained balance, the monsters scattered. Lessers picked up their husbands and took to the skies while Elibeth clenched her fists and I saw her mutter something.

Just like the last time, the priest ignored the Succubus, instead choosing to lash out and grab one of the Lessers by the ankle. Before it could so much as cry out in surprise, it was roughly dragged back to the ground.

Then he tore her arm off.

My eyes widening from realization, I saw Klaus take aim and throw the limb at one of the Lessers, violently bringing down both her and her partner.

In another display of gore, the second arm was severed and used as a projectile.

"Get some emitter-runes, they said," A rumbling chuckle echoed, "Fools. I always have a ranged option."

I continued to watch in an equal mix of horror and amazement as a single human absolutely decimated a small army of mamono. That was, however, when things slightly changed.

Elibeth suddenly took off towards me, and, before I could call for Klaus, I was already in the air.

"He shouldn't be able to notice us," She whispered into my ear. Her arms held me tightly, preventing any attempt to break free, "What a monster, I've never thought that humans like that existed. Even if I were someone who specialized in brute strength, I doubt that I would've survived. But that doesn't matter right now, does it, sweetie? I can get you to safety now, there is a nice mansion in Polove that I own, I'm sure you'll love it."

Wait, Polove? No-no-no, I couldn't go to Polove! It was a Demon Realm which meant I'd be effectively trapped there! I needed to get Father Klaus' attention or else I'd never get to return to Lescatie!

The houses were getting further and further now but I could still see the priest making fleeing Lessers drop like flies. I opened my mouth to scream, and yet nothing came out. Not even a whisper.

My muscles tightened but refused to budge. My body was rebelling against me. The demonic energy infused into my tissues prevented me from harming Elibeth by calling for help. It wasn't I couldn't do it, my body just didn't want to.

Panicking, I turned my senses inward to find anything that could help. With growing unease, I felt that Elibeth was pumping me with more demonic energy even now, probably in hopes to get rid of whatever Klaus did to me. Fortunately, that gave me a way out of this.

I frantically searched through my body, collecting and guiding the leftover holy energy to my mouth. It was hard and I was rapidly losing most of what I managed to gather but, eventually, I felt the hold on my throat slacken.

"FATHER KLAUS!"

The change was immediate. Elibeth flinched at the sudden scream, veering slightly off course. The black dot on the ground froze before twisting around.

"What are you-" The Succubus managed to cry out before she was silenced by a boom of thunder.

The priest was up in the air, one-third of the way towards us.

"Damien!" Blue eyes with a hint of fear in them looked into mine, "Why did you-"

Another boom.

In a desperate attempt to evade the inevitable clash, Elibeth dashed to the right in a swing of her massive wings. I winced at the sudden motion, headache resurfacing, but firmly held on to the mamono, thus keeping myself from falling.

Father Klaus angled his body, a visible platform of condensed air appearing beneath his feet, then kicked off into another supersonic dash.

For a second, it seemed like he was about to grab my leg. Then, between one blink and the next, the clouds changed their position.

The priest was in free fall, his hand stretched out as if reaching for something unseen to my eyes. Slowly, his head turned in our direction and he quirked an eyebrow.

"Strong." He landed unto another air platform and crouched. This time, I could clearly see an array of runes light up on the visible parts of his body before he dashed.

The chase continued in a similar manner for several minutes, Elibeth performing mind-blowing aerial maneuvers and the occasional teleportation to lose the priest and Father Klaus inevitably catching up in one or two kicks. Eventually, someone was bound to make a mistake.

Then, the Succubus' wing twitched. It was probably something minor, like a slight magical exhaustion or even general fatigue, but it was enough to mess up her technique.

Followed by another boom of the sound barrier shattering, Father Klaus' hand took hold of my leg.

"Got you," Was all he said.

With the simplest of motions, he propelled himself up and took hold of Elibeth's tail.

There was a flash of gold, and then a piercing scream. Purple clouded my vision.

I barely started to scream after I felt that nothing was securing me in the air when a hand grabbed me by the collar of the robe. I looked up to see Father Klaus, a small frown on his face, staring into the improvised smokescreen.

"Stronger than I thought," he muttered, "Until next time, then."

Still holding me like a lioness would a cub, except with his hand, obviously, the priest steadily hopped down from platform to platform until we safely reached the ground.

I collapsed into one big pile of stress and labored breathing.

"Je-Jesus Christ," I retched, "That was intense. Way too intense for my liking."

"It was rather… unique, I admit," Father Klaus shrugged, "I've seen worse, however. Participated in worse, too."

"No doubt about that," I whispered under my breath.

After bringing down my heartbeat to manageable levels, I took a look around. We were in a… forest? No, wait, a jungle? That didn't make any sense, Little Hills was definitely located in a temperate forest without a single hint that there were tropics nearby.

I sniffed the air and choked on the sheer sweetness of it. It was dense but light. A gale yet a breeze. If one compared the air in Lescatie to water, then this was starch syrup.

"Father Klaus?" I hid my face in the crook of my elbow, breathing through the thick fabric of my robe. It didn't help, "What the hell is with the air?"

When he didn't answer, I grew worried. I looked at him and saw- Is it just me or was he paler than usual?

"Demon Realm, we're in a Demon Realm, a Green one," He muttered. Okay, that explained things but what was going on? "Little Hills is close to the border with Polove, a massive Demon Realm, a massive Green Demon Realm… Which means we're in Polove right now…"

The weirdly acting priest gulped and sharply turned to me.

"We need to run."

"Huh?"

I was roughly picked up again and the world around us blurred. Even without his supersonic dash, Father Klaus was fast. Trees and vines, and other tropical plants became a single long wall of brown and green. I had to force down the bile rising up my throat several times in order to avoid disrupting Klaus' concentration. I had no idea what exactly he was running from but it had to be something dangerous to provoke that reaction in the first place.

Then, suddenly, we were back in a temperate forest.

I looked behind us and saw a clear line in the ground, neatly diving the two biomes. I had to admit, it was rather fascinating. The way they could coexist in such a way, the ecosystem had to be something else, I just knew it.

He allowed to stand on my two legs, and we moved deeper into the forest. The demonic energy in the air was in much lesser concentration which meant we were on the right track. Eventually, we reached a clearing and Father Klaus called a break.

"What was that about?" I asked after we've set up camp. The priest produced some meat from his own storage runes which I was currently enjoying.

"You first," He shook his in the negative, "I have yet to clear you as trustworthy."

I grinned sheepishly and nodded. Over the next half an hour I told him of what happened since I've arrived at Little Hills. He gave a small smile when I mentioned how quickly the Elder gave up information and muttered something about 'talking to Ferdinand' after I said that it took only a couple hours for the Succubus to take off the amulet.

"Alright, you speak the truth," He slowly sipped some brew from his mug. I would've used my own too, if my robes survived this little adventure, "I suppose it is only natural for me to help my fellow human then."

"Wait, you believe me?" Just like that?

"Of course," He answered, "Back in the day, I was a quite successful Witch Hunter. Knowing when someone lies is essential for the job."

"Oh, yeah," I averted my eyes in embarrassment, then looked back at him, "So… What now?"

"Now?" He echoed my question, "Now, I take you back to Lescatie where we perform a lengthy procedure to purge the filth from your soul. If you were an incubus and thus produced demonic energy by default, I would've had to mercy kill you. However, since you are still human where it matters, evidenced by how your body creates spirit energy, we simply need to extinguish the demonic energies and allow you to recover."

"It's possible to make monsters human again?!" I shouted. What it actually a thing? Then why were we killing them instead of turning back?

"Not exactly, and I can guess what you're thinking," He looked downcast for a second, "The operation requires some highly advanced runes and tools. At this point, it is impossible to mass produce. Besides, it works only on humans, full incubi and monsters of any kind will die within the first few minutes. Painfully."

"Oh," That was unfortunate. I snapped my fingers as I remembered something I wanted t ask the unexpectedly outspoken priest, "Ehm, Father Klaus?"

"Yes?"

"There was also this one… weird moment after Elibeth took off the amulet. At first, it was all just pain and confusion but then something happened," I stared at the campfire in thought, "I don't remember much, terrible headache, but I do recall wanting to do something. Badly. As if someone installed a generator or something, I wanted to just get up and do things. Poke that, probe this take apart a chair…"

"Interesting," Was all he said at first, "I am familiar with the phenomenon, yes."

"You are?"

"Indeed. You'll have to ask Ferdinand for more information but, in short, you have experienced something we call The Hook. Tell me, why do you think the newly turned, both men and women, eagerly do whatever the monster that tainted them tells them to do? Including assaulting their own families?"

"I… think you mentioned something about demonic energy making the one who turns a 'master' to the turned?" I guessed.

"That particular effect simply ensures that the 'newborns' don't go off their hinges, allowing the 'master' to make sure they won't sabotage anything. Just some minor charm effects. What I'm talking about goes much deeper than that. The Hook is what prevents them from questioning their actions. For the first hour or so since one is infused with demonic energy, that voice in the back of their head telling them not to do something disappears. Years upon years of social schooling vanish within a second. In other words, should you want to do something, you won't be able to stop yourself."

"Oh," I droned, "But why would it-"

"Not be about copulation?" The priest clicked his tongue, "I was getting there. The Hook doesn't just remove inhibitions. Demonic energy digs deep into your very being and finds something about you, something that you treasure. Something that you feel passionate about. However, to my great sadness, the majority of humanity lacks something that they consider defining about themselves. A fisherman doesn't necessarily love fishing, for example. In those cases, demonic energy drags out the one things all humans have ingrained deeply into their souls. An instinct."

"To live and reproduce…" I whispered, my eyes widening.

"Yes. So, now you how someone who doesn't know whether something is right or wrong, and driven by a burning desire to find a mate. The Hook, as the name suggests, hooks you to being a monster. They assault whoever is the closest feeling no remorse, having no second thoughts, and are then drowned in pleasure. And when this effect wears off…"

"Then it's like a drug addict having a withdrawal!" I exclaimed.

"Precisely," Father Klaus gave me an approving nod, "And that is how entire families lose their minds to a single monster who wormed its way into a human settlement."

"But what about me then?"

"Simple. You said you were curious about things, yes? Please, describe how exactly did you feel."

"Well," I slowly began, "I wanted to… know things. Something about monsters, I think. How they do what they can do, maybe? I remember being curious about Slimes, definitely. The way they function without organs."

"Hmmm," He hummed, "Whatever it may be, the explanation is rather simple: You care more about knowing than about having offspring. Demonic energy took the one thing you felt was the most integral to you being you, and removed the inhibitions preventing you from acting on it."

"Will it happen again?" I asked cautiously.

"No," He gave me a curt reply, "The Hook only happens once. Those who drown in pleasure require an immense force of will to break free from their newfound addiction and, therefore, no repetition is necessary."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Good to know, I had no desire to lose my mind like that ever again. Seriously, I knew science was great but to think it would save my life one day?

"It is somewhat funny, to be honest," Father Klaus suddenly said, "There are not many people like you but they are not exactly rare. And yet, each time a monster hears of such an event, they look like the Demon Lord just ordered them to kill their husbands. Did that Succubus look anything like that?"

"She was looking at me weirdly, yeah," I tried my best to recall that night then chuckled, "Guess underestimating humanity is in their blood."

"Indeed, Witch Hunter," Klaus laughed softly, "Indeed…"

We fell quiet and simply enjoyed the cheerful crackling of the bonfire when the atmosphere changed.

Father Klaus tensed and was on his feet no more than a second later, his eyes scanning the perimeter. I carefully stood up too, though I couldn't really see anything without the holy energy powering up my vision runes.

The nearby bushes shook and then were blown apart as the pebble Klaus threw hit the ground. He was holding another one before the floating leaves touched the ground.

"Klausey, it's Klausey!" A chirpy voice suddenly sang Klaus' mangled name, sounding extremely happy, "You've come back, come back to us! Stay, stay, stay!"

I looked at him in confusion and saw the priest grow pale once more. Was this what he was running from in that Demon Realm?

"Chief God damn you, this is why I never leave the headquarters," He hissed, then yelled, "Go away!"

"But Klausey!" the voice giggled, "Why would I go away if I just found you?"

Out of the crone of one of the trees, a tiny green creature appeared. It looked a fairy made up of several shades of green, with darker hair and lighter skin. It stared at Klaus without blinking, a huge smile on its face.

"After all these years…" The tiny monster, and it couldn't be anything else, twirled on the spot, "I've already told the others, soon we can all be together again!"

"You-" He took a deep breath then turned to me, "If we get back, you will officially be the luckiest unlucky man in history."

"What do you mean?" I implored, warily watching the still dancing creature.

"Because that," he pointed at the monster, "Is one of my former… acquaintance's elementals. And if we don't get back to Lescatie before the rest arrive, it's over."

"Mou…" The elemental, likely a sylph now that I thought about it, pouted, "Don't go, Klausey. Play with me! It's been so long we've almost lost hope. But we would never! Forever and ever and ever will we remember our bond!"

"Father Klaus," I gulped, "Should we run?"

In a blink of an eye, I was held in a fireman's carry and blitzing through the forest. I heard a faint "Yes" somewhere down the line.

"Klausey? Klausey!"

Something cracked, then snapped, then howled, and-

"HOLY SHIT!"

There was a tornado. There was a fucking tornado out of nowhere in the middle of the goddamn woods! How?!

And then, the hurricane thundered.

"Come back!"

 

[Wishful Thinking]

You know what? I don't even care anymore. Not one bit. Running into a Succubus on the first mission? Just another Tuesday. Having to weather several hours in the middle of an orgy without receiving visual output? Puh-lease, I'll take two and some extra cheese sauce! Get my face caved in by every passing tree branch while fleeing from a sapient tornado?

Sure, why the heckfire not?!

I shut my eyes and hissed in pain as yet another overly friendly plant decided to say 'Hi' personally. Frankly speaking, closing my eyes was the only thing I could do at this speed. Father Klaus was running like Sonic on steroids, making a straight beeline to some location only he knew about. Sometimes, the forest tried to slow him down. I hated those moments especially because it meant that I had to endure a storm of wooden shrapnel flying in every direction.

Needless to say, whenever an obstacle got in the priest's way, he didn't deem it important to dodge.

"Klausey!"The winds howled the name of my companion, a mighty roar that sent trees flying with every word, "Wait for us!"

"This is bad," Father Klaus' distorted voice reached my ears. He was speaking too fast for it to be normal, "It's catching up to us."

"What should we-" I choked on a leaf, then spat it out, "What should we do? Can you run even faster?"

"Not run, no," His hand lashed out and wiped some more flora from existence, "But I can use the Charge runes in rapid succession. However, you lack the protections necessary to survive such speeds."

"Oh," I bit my lip. This was bad. If he dropped, he would be able to get away safely. Granted, I might not be able to survive a fall even at our current speeds, "Maybe… if there is no other way… the Sylph would ignore me?"

For the next few seconds, the only sounds were those of the cracking bark and wailing winds. A particularly ancient oak had the misfortune to find itself in our way and swiftly acquired a man-sized hole in its trunk.

There was a piercing whistle coming from behind us and I felt several chips of wood dig into my skin through the robe. That bloody grinder…

"That will likely be the case, yes," Father Klaus spoke again, "However, I doubt you are capable of surviving the fall, or what comes after, in your current state. The truth is obvious: I am a much more valuable asset to humanity and, therefore, should prioritize my escape but…"

I held my breath. Was he actually going to hold on to me? After all that talk about Maximum Efficiency, after all I've seen… he would still try to save a tainted acolyte?

"I wouldn't be much of a senior if I abandoned a human who could still do some good, now would I?" There was a chuckle. Then another one but slightly more malicious, "I highly advise you to black out. If you do not, don't scream under any circumstances. Or better yet, close your mouth, close your eyes, and plug your ears. Ready?"

I did as instructed and bumped his back with my elbow to express confirmation.

"Fun, fun! I'm going to catch you, and then we'll have lots and lots of-"

My head exploded.

Pain.

Pain was a peculiar feeling. On one hand, it was nothing more than neurons triggering and sending some information to the brain. It was even a bad thing, at the most basic level. Just a simple indication of damage, a short status update that something in the body went awry.

I floated calmly in the black void, swimming in the sea of pain. There was biting pain, cutting pain, burning pain, sharp pain and dull pain, throbbing pain, and that one special kind of pain you felt after stabbing a toe.

There was simply so much of that it became white noise. After all, what was pain if it was the only thing you felt? Nothing but your normal state of being, that's what.

I poked at the bypassing ball of electrifying pain and let the feeling wash over me. Yes, definitely different from the burning pain. That one lacked the… Well, the best way to put it was that it lacked the zap of vigor that the electrifying pain possessed.

Pain came with the memories. I saw, and felt, that one time I almost cracked my skull by falling off a chair, or the moment when I flayed a part of my knee with a razor on accident. I would've smiled nostalgically if I could.

Then the more recent recollections of pain sped before my eyes. The awakening of my spirit energy. Those several classes when Father Klaus was increasing mine and George's pain tolerance. That one time I tripped in the shower and had to stumble my way to the work desk with a smashed-in face in order to call the automaton. I've lost count to how many times her medical capabilities helped me out.

And this one was- Hm? Oh, this is a new one. I examined a newly born sphere of agony and accepted the memory contained within. Okay, so here my eyes implode and my eardrums rupture, nasty. I clicked my imaginary tongue at the influx of pain. Good thing I wasn't awake for that, would've been one of the worst in my life.

Alright, what do we have next? A feeling like my entire body was submerged in acid was probably holy energy expunging the demonic one. I don't think I'm dead so, hopefully, they've succeeded in keeping me alive and kicking through the operation.

Then we have… cutting pain? Something was cutting my body? Like white-hot needles were used to carve trenches in my flesh only to fill them up with salt a second later. Even so, however, it felt very faint, like I didn't experience it in full. Anesthetics, probably. But the thing is, why would anyone use them on an unconscious patient?

Oh well. The memory abruptly ended there, indicating that no more pain was present after that last one. Maybe they finally patched me up?

The absolute pitch black of abyss became the muted black of closed eyelids. At first, I couldn't sense the rest of my body whatsoever but, as seconds ticked on, feeling slowly came back to me. I concentrated on the tip of my finger and, with a push of will, made it twitch. Digit by digit, I worked my way across my motionless frame, soon switched to limbs and then torso muscles.

Eventually, I cracked my eyes open. The dimly lit dome of Father Ferdinand's Home-Lab greeted my weary self. The familiar combination of softness and firmness under my back informed me that I was currently resting on one of the operating table, a glowing lamp located on the small table nearby. I pressed my elbows into the white fabric and pushed myself upwards.

Something felt… different. My flesh was lighter, somehow, like a was a balloon full of helium instead of a one packed with rocks. I rotated my wrist, and it did so silently, without a single bubble of nitrogen popping. A quick wave of my hand turned out to be way faster than I expected, almost pulling me off balance.

Cautiously, I looked over my naked self but didn't see any evidence of outside interference. Which meant I wasn't digging deep enough. A brief pulse of spirit energy confirmed dozens upon dozens of small patterns and formations wrapped around my everything.

Bones, muscles, organs, everything that a surface was covered in runes. Curiously, they weren't extremely advanced and reacted to my mana, meaning that they were not running off of holy energy. After making sure I didn't actually feel any pain, I used the bedsheet as an improvised toga and stood up properly.

The very first step had me flying into the table, causing my hand to lash and grab it to retain my balance. Immediately, I went perfectly still. Blinking in surprise, I straightened out and let go of the table, noting its unusual textures. When I looked to where my hand took hold of the polished wood, I saw small indentations in the surface, perfectly molded to fit my finger.

"Holy shit," I muttered.

"Nothing holy about it, I'm afraid," An overjoyed laugh echoed across the cavern, "Since you still can't produce holy energy, I had to make do with runes that require exclusively pure life force. But! Where I had to give up on quality, quantity took the lead! Although, and this pains me to say it, I got so excited that I used up all of the available space. In other words, we'll only be able to replace those runes if we scrape off your flesh first. Like, all of it. You'd need a new body, basically. Sorry, not sorry."

I didn't even bother suppressing a grin as I turned to look at the ever-cheerful researcher. He hasn't changed one bit, still the same waterfall of crimson hair, and still the same gleeful smile on his bishounen face.

"Father Ferdinand!" I carefully watched my step as I walked up to the shut-in priest, wouldn't want to trip and fall at the worst possible moment, after all, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you. Did Father Klaus make it back safely too?"

"Of course he did, what's gonna happen to that ball of destruction anyway?" Ferdinand waved me off absentmindedly, then smirked and looked me over, "You, on the other hand… Well, let's just say that if not for all those runes I plugged into your body, you would've been dead."

Was it strange that I barely felt anything when being told I could've been dead by now? Maybe. Maybe not. Life was pretty hectic lately, just how much I cared exactly was hard to tell. I mean, being alive was great and all but if I were dead… If I were dead, I wouldn't care about it all that much, now would I?

"Can I have a rundown?" I cringed and pointed at the deformed table, "Also, that happened when I tried to lean on it. Sorry, not sorry."

Father Ferdinand laughed, "Of course! And don't worry about the furniture, I'll just get a replacement. It's the apparatus and research material you need to be careful around. Anyway, the short version is this: A bit stronger, a bit faster, a bit more durable, slightly better senses, and a bit more resistant to demonic energy. That's pretty much it. Oh, and I also modified your vision runes to work on spirit energy. Had to regrow a chunk of the skull to free up space but it all worked out in the end. Overall, don't expect anything on the level of that Succubus you've encountered, yes, Father Klaus told me your story, but a common human you'll outperform. Some of the weaker mamono, too. The weakest ones. Like fairies. Actually, what if fairies possessed human strength or above? Tiny flying murder machines, that's what. With the surface area of their puny little fists, and the force behind the blow akin to a human's…"

"They would have a fair chance of punching through armor," I finished for him, then smiled at his curious look, "I've always been interested in science. Biology, specifically. And, let's just say, something happened that opened my eyes to what I truly want. Not going to line, it's rather liberating to know what you consider your defining feature."

"Ah, one of those," Ferdinand grinned back, "Fascinating. I remember we had a former thug among our ranks a few years back. Good man, if a bit unruly. Ended up being captured by a Dragon who took a liking to his valor and martial prowess."

"And what happened then?"

"Flipped out and discovered that the thing he enjoyed the most was punching teeth in, figuratively speaking. Battled the Dragon for about an hour one on one. By the time our reinforcements arrived, the Dragon was lying in the pool of its own blood and Mego had already died standing," The priest wagged his finger at me before I could ask, "We have magic capable of replaying events from the recent past. Extremely complicated but he was one of our best, and we had to know the exact way he died."

"Wow," I was out of words. Dueled a Dragon for an hour? Damn. Just, damn.

"Yeah, the others looked the same when they got back," He chuckled, "Anyway, you said you were interested in my craft?"

Was he…?

"Of course I am!" I exclaimed with a hint of indignation, "I mean, I won't deny that some of the things you do seem a bit… too much for me but what after what happened earlier… Ah, screw it, what happens – happens. Yes, I am very much interested in your craft, Father Ferdinand. I remember Father Klaus mention something about private tutors a while back, and I hoped that you would accept me as your student. Sir. Also, could you tell me where Father Klaus is? I want to thank him for getting me out alive."

"No need to, I'm right here," 'Someone' huffed. I turned to the side, and saw the aforementioned priest exit one of the corridors, "And you're alive and well, I see. Good for you."

"Oh, I'm-"

"Don't bother, I can't possibly take you on as my apprentice anyway. Not with those enchantments," He shook his head, "If you wanted to adopt my style, you would've had to learn to use holy energy first. Mana-based ones provide too little enhancement."

"Then I hope you don't mind If I adopt our fledgling Witch Hunter," Father Ferdinand looked at me and gave a smile full of teeth, "I believe you said something about knowledge from your original world? We couldn't quite get our hands on those snagged by the mages, and the common folk turned out to know nothing of use. Like, why would I need to know how to properly sew butterflies onto dresses? Fashion designers, I swear…"

"You know what happened to the rest of those who were summoned with me?" I could feel my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline, "Wait, never mind that, 'adopt'?"

"'Yes' to both questions," Ferdinand smirked, "To answer the latter first, it's how we refer to the act of taking on a direct apprentice. As to your fellow otherworlders, those with average and below levels of spirit energy were either recruited by the Stalwart Shields or integrated into Lescatie as common citizens. Though, I think I heard that some of them show promise to becoming Heroes later on… Bah, it doesn't matter anyway. Klaus?"

"Yes-yes," The mentioned priest huffed, "I have important things to do. Make sure this one doesn't end up like the rest of your disciples, it took me quite some effort to reach the unofficial border with him on my shoulders."

With that, Father Klaus turned around and vanished into the darkness of one of the hallways, his rhythmic steps echoing for several seconds after he disappeared from sight.

"What was that about the unofficial border and the other disciples?" I asked with steadily rising concern.

"The unofficial border is what we call the line where the safe zone ends. Beyond it, Lescatie is still Lescatie but less managed. Within, however, we have proper control. And by we, I mean the Evervigil specifically. There is a reason monsters exist only between the official and unofficial borders of Lescatie," The priest shrugged, "And the previous apprentices… Well, let's just say they couldn't keep up. Too much information, too much stress, I'm not sure what exactly. But the fact is, all either died during an experiment gone wrong or committed suicide while no one was looking. Very sad. You still in?"

That was… alarming, to say the least. Dying to a misfired experiment was understand, I knew enough about chemistry to be aware of how many things could go wrong but suicides? Were they driven insane or something? Couldn't handle the pressure, I think he said. Scary but… I couldn't exactly achieve anything worthwhile without taking risks. And the first major one will be making this step.

"Yes," I inclined my head, "If you'll have me."

"Marvelous!" Father Ferdinand giggled excitedly and clapped his hands, "Then we start immediately. Say, do you remember that Doll I received before you left…?"

 

[Wishful Thinking]

Chapter 15.


"If you don't mind me asking," I began while watching Father Ferdinand passionately dig into what looked like a pile of scrap, "What exactly are you researching in here? I've seen you make artifacts, experienced you operating on people, and, overall, you seem to be the main R&D source in this whole facility. But what is it that you do?"

"Hm?" He paused his search to look back at me, "Whatever I want, mostly. The Evervigil have a very loose hierarchy with each member doing their own thing. I took it upon myself to come up with new fancy stuff and supply it to our field agents. Or store it in one of those crates over there," The priest waved his at the towering stack of wooden boxes hiding in one of the darker areas of the cavern, "We also have the Vaults but I'm not allowed there anymore. And, considering that I was the only one to create things worthy of going there, they've been out of use for a while."

"You mean you just," I made a vague gesture by twirling my hands, "Feel like doing something and then do it?"

"Basically, yes," He grinned with one of his friendlier smiles, "What you have to understand, Damien, is that true art comes from the heart. To achieve the best results, you have to love doing what you're doing. Love your job and you'll never have to work a day in your life, as they say. If I were to do something I didn't want to, it would be subpar at best. In the worst case scenario, I'd get so bored that I'd start implementing stuff that I want to into it and, well… Let's just say this room was smaller when I first moved in."

"But wouldn't it make more sense to suit the current needs?" It's not that I didn't like what he was saying, doing whatever I want is a dream job come true but it seemed so… surreal, "If a sword is required to slay a dragon then you wouldn't want to make a spear, yes?"

"True," Ferdinand readily agreed, "And so the trick lies in being able to enjoy multiple things. If I need to make a sword, I can choose whether I want it to shoot fire or ice. If it has to shoot fire, I can choose to make it more intense or even adhesive. To reach greatness, to grasp the stars and make them your own, you have to remember this one thing: There is always room for improvement. If you can, and want to do something – do it, for only by fulfilling our passions can we realize our potential."

"Wouldn't that mean that monster sympathizers should help monsters? If that's what they want to do."

"Sometimes people's interests clash," The red-head shrugged, "It's just how things work. Your job is to ensure that you're the last one standing. Besides, it makes heretics easier to identify."

"I see," I hummed. To follow one's desires? Yeah, I could get behind that, "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Just an exam of sorts," My heartbeat sped up at those words. I hated exams and especially hated the stress that accompanied them, "Father Klaus would've had you go into the city and root out a hiding monster but I do things differently. Say, what is the most important skill that a proper researcher should have?"

"Imagination?" I guessed, "Not quite a skill but still…"

"Exactly, not a skill," Ferdinand tsked, "The answer is self-sufficiency. Even if you're a talentless brick, with enough tries you're bound to learn at least something. That would be impossible, however, if you couldn't provide yourself with the materials necessary for those tries. Sponsors are hard to come by, I'll have you know. Or what if you're in the middle of the forest? No tools waiting for you there. As such, you are to go into the city…"

"Wait, what?"

"…And find some materials of your own choice. Then bring them back here and show me what interesting things you can do."

"You want me to go up and scavenge?" I was shocked. This was most definitely not what I was expecting from signing up to be Father Ferdinand's apprentice. Crazy experiments and lots of explosions, yes, but not… this.

"Essentially," He chuckled. Standing up, the priest pulled out of the scrap pile a small metal rectangle and gave it to me, "This is the Order's identification card. Carrying money is often a bother and slows you down when least expected, so just use this thingy right here. Show it whenever you need to pay for something, and the bill will be sent to the Order."

"You are giving me access to unlimited spending?" I stared at the featureless silver card. How were people even supposed to know it was legitimate?

"In a way. We trust you to be responsible. Besides, you'll have to personally answer for every coin you spend, so there's that. Now, give me your hand," I did as instructed and he put the plaque on my outstretched fingers, then curled them into a fist. Immediately, I felt a razor sharp edge slice through my skin. Red droplets began to trickle down onto the floor, "There, binding complete. This card is now yours."

I opened my fist to see the same plate only with my face on it. It was like looking into a monochrome mirror, the engravings copied my face down to the last fold. It was a bit unsettling, to be honest.

The trickling ceased.

"Do I just go now?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yup," Ferdinand smirked and waved for me to follow him. As we slowly walked towards one of the exits, he continued, "I'm giving you three days to collect everything you need to, please be back on time. Your new robes are already waiting in your room, storage runes included."

"Alright," I had no choice but to nod, "I'll see you in three days, then."

"I'll be waiting."

After saying goodbyes to the priest, I leisurely walked to my room. It's been about a week since Father Klaus brought me back, and boy was it hectic. There was no more training, no more arenas, nothing. Only Father Ferdinand, his lab, and me.

It was… educational.

Wood and metal, flesh and bone, rune and will. We went over the basics of everything, from creating nigh-useless trinkets like lamps to carefully examining the anatomy of the more common varieties of mamono.

"It leaves a sour taste in my mouth to say it but humans aren't exactly the most magically attuned species. The first runes were taught to humanity by dwarves, elemental magic is born from elementals, and whatever obscure form of arcane is hidden out there in the world, it is probably tied to one mamono or another somehow."

At first, I found it rather repulsive. I was fine with dissecting animals, similar to what we did back in high school or how I perceived harvesting wild monsters before meeting Elibeth. But other sapient beings?

I didn't like it. Whenever I saw one of the Zombies sprawled on the operating table, I imagined myself. It didn't make any sense but that's what kept happening. See those lungs? You, too, have them, a blood-soaked pair, just like these ones. Or what about this heart? It beats inside you right now. It has the same curves, same arteries connected to it, this is your heart. It just isn't beating. Like yours wouldn't if you were the one on the table.

There comes a time when one can no longer run away from their problems. Thing is, despite all I've ever said and done, I did not like seeing violence. Because I knew that deep down, behind all of that skin, we're the same. It could've been me getting hit. Being killed. Tortured.

I hated it.

And so, we came up with a solution. It wasn't perfect but it allowed me to work without cringing every few seconds. The trick was simple – to convince myself that corpses weren't actually corpses. That the carcass turned inside out wasn't, in fact, once alive. It wasn't someone's remains.

It was a toybox. A puzzle. A very complex puzzle made of many complex pieces. The heart wasn't my heart, it was a term for that organ that pumped blood. The brain wasn't something I was thinking with, it was a term for this lump of nerve cells that controlled the vast majority of an organism's functions.

I wasn't dissecting people. I was opening a box of Legos and seeing what was inside. And once I was given an instruction…

I began to build.

Smiling softly at that particular memory, I finally reached my room and walked in. Everything remained the same as before, except my work desk was way less empty. Glowing rocks and cracked scales, stacks of sketch paper filled with my chicken writing and wobbly drawings, and the general feeling of orderly chaos greeted me.

I took a deep breath and basked in that familiar atmosphere. This was how a room was supposed to be like. Personal. Unique. It looked like some dumped a bunch of random stuff in the middle, then threw in a grenade and locked the door. But I knew better. Every single item was in its intended place and only I was privy to where that was exactly.

My room.

Mine.

Walking up to the wardrobe, I revealed its insides and looked over the neatly packed clothes. Upon my return from the mission, my robes were switched back to gray as I wasn't part of the Evervigil quite yet. To the public, however, I was a Witch Hunter and, therefore, should wear black. Changing into the nostalgic garb, I made sure I had all the necessary stuff with me, primarily the phone set, and huffed in satisfaction.

Behind me, the door clicked open. Turning around, one hand already holding an improvised flashbang, I relaxed after seeing the still form clad in a maid uniform.

"Ah, it's you," I put the enchanted rock back into the robe and approached the Automaton, "Did you come to say farewell again? Actually, how do you even know when I'm leaving?"

The robotic maid was returned to me one day after my awakening, though I found out about it only when she entered my room with breakfast in hand like nothing happened. She was a bit more clingy than usual, however, in that she didn't leave the room until after I noticed her uninterrupted presence about an hour later.

It was an awkward moment but, in my defense, I was working on a personal project. Specifically, the relationship between holy and demonic energies. It became somewhat of an obsession of mine, to be honest. Why are they so similar and yet different? Are they really all that different? How does one apply emotion like Lust or Faith to spirit energy? the questions were plenty and the answers were almost nonexistent.

Father Ferdinand was exultant when I told him, supplying me with a small library's worth of books on the matter. Surprisingly, most of them were written by mamono.

It wasn't that I was against stealing research from monsters, serves them right, but the fact that they were freely given by someone from the Order… That priest was always a bit of an oddball.

Anyway, the Automaton was reactivated and everyone was happy. I because I had a maid now, the Evervigil because they didn't have to find a replacement for the said maid, and the Automaton was happy because she was still alive. The last one was just speculation, though, seeing how she didn't express much emotion. Or talk.

For the last few days of the week, everything returned back to normal. And now I was being sent on another mission. History really does like repeating itself, I guess.

"Nothing, eh?" I chuckled, "Same old, same old."

The next couple minutes flew by as we stared at each other in silence, me not knowing what to say and her seemingly fine with the lack of social interaction. Eventually, I sighed and carefully looked her over with a hand placed on my hip.

"You know, when I get better at this whole science thing, we should see about making some adjustments. Don't get me wrong, you're great, but I can't not try to make you better. It's like an itch that I desperately need to scratch. Blame Father Ferdinand," I got closer to her and began examining all the visible mechanism on her body. Of particular interest to me were the cogs and pistons on her arms, each completing a device capable of doing something. The only ability of hers I knew of was the healing spray but even then I didn't have the slightest clue as to how the miraculous solution was synthesized, "I'm not sure why, but I want to install some guns. I have no idea how, though. Guns were never really my thing. But. You already have those, don't you? Just non-lethal. That should make things easier. Hm. Maybe I can cook up something like a railgun. You never know when a battle maid may come in handy."

I looked up to see her staring down on me with those silver cog-shaped eyes of hers. Not the slightest trace of emotion could be detected behind the thin sheets of unknown material. Another mystery to uncover later.

I straightened up and rightened the parts of her uniform that I folded during the examination.

"There we go, sorry for the mess. As usual, please don't dislocate anything in this room… eh…"

I paused. Come to think of it, what was her name? Did she even have one?

"Hey, uh, do you have a name?" I repeated my thoughts out loud, "Sorry for not asking sooner, I've been preoccupied with things. Things. Yeah, very important things."

The Automaton cocked her head.

"I see… Would you like me to give you name?"

There an odd shuffling sound coming from below but, when I looked at the floor, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Shrugging, I looked back up.

"Hmmm, it has to be something meaningful," I began to rack my brain for ideas, "You're an Automaton so, like, a robot. A sapient, self-aware robot. Probably. Hmmm. HAL is male, so that's out. AM is too short. GLaDOS? Sounds fine but too cringey. Although… GLaDOS. Glados. Or maybe… Tay? Tay is a nice name. Fitting, too. Well, fitting if you spend any prolonged period of time in my vicinity. I'm really not good with people."

I scratched my head in irritation. This was getting nowhere, I couldn't make the choice!

"Alright, my options are Glados or Tay. You can either come up with something yourself or pick one of those. Okay?"

She continued to stare at me.

"…Well, think about it," I fake-coughed into my fist, "Anyway, I have to go now. See you in three days!"

I circled around her to get out of the room but noticed something midway. Her hands were tightly clenching the skirt, folding it several times over. The swishing sound I heard before was probably the skirt brushing against the floor then.

"Huh? You alright?"

At my question, she slowly turned to look at me, and then released her hold. There were holes in the fabric, torn by the pressure exerted by her fingers.

I blinked at the sight before sighing.

"You'll have to get that fixed. No proper maid walks around in ripped clothing."

With that, I finally left the room and headed towards the elevator cavern. Father Ferdinand finally taught me how to properly navigate the pathways of the underground compound so I could easily travel to his lab by myself. The man was truly determined to never leave his dwelling, it seemed.

Right outside of the entrance point to the Evervigil's base, I met George heading in the opposite direction. We've crossed paths several times in the hallways but never talked much. I was hurrying to get to the lab while he, as Ferdinand informed me, was busy training under Klaus.

I'm not sure whether he got apprenticed by Klaus or not, though.

I shared a nod with my fellow black-robed acolyte and activated the lift while watching him disappear into the darkness of the labyrinth.

After less than a minute of waiting, I was back on the surface with a faint click, two chairs standing by my side.

"Now then," I muttered, "Where the hell was the exit again?"

 

[Wishful Thinking]

Chapter 16.


I couldn't exactly ask someone to show me the exit, for fear of completely destroying the reputation Witch Hunters built up over the years, so I took my situation as an opportunity to explore the Cathedral. Despite looking like someone who knew exactly where he was going, I was randomly shambling around the place, looking out of the windows from time to time.

The building was monumental. There was just no other to put. A citadel on steroids, standing as tall, if not taller, than the Royal Castle that I could sometimes see in the distance. Long winding hallways of white marble connected myriads of rooms, from personal dwellings to smaller cathedrals. Yes, there were mini cathedrals inside of the Cathedral.

It was a city in and of itself. A small town exclusively for the members of the Order. I mostly met the Holy Heralds, though, as they were the ones to operate within human settlements regardless of their size. The Evervigil too, obviously, but our people were quite literally everywhere and without any defined modus operandi.

For all intents and purposes, the Order of the Word had only two divisions, the Witch Hunters being 'free agents.' So, whenever a citizen thought 'priest,' they thought about a Herald. When a front-line soldier did the same, the Purgatorio came to mind. I don't know how but the Evervigil managed to essentially erase their own existence from everyone's memory.

There were only Witch Hunters now.

Anyway, the place was very lively despite all of its scale. There was no point in time when I didn't see at least a small group of gray-robed acolytes running somewhere in a hurry. It was a bit unusual, after the practically empty expanse of the Evervigil's base, but it was a nice change. I didn't bother the people and they didn't bother me, so I could just enjoy observing the anthill that was the Cathedral in blissful silence.

Well, relatively speaking.

Spoiler: The Song

My boots hit the floor to the energetic rhythm, perfectly measured steps that were eerily similar to the way Father Klaus walked.

"Hey, Mr. Evil," I whistled under my nose, making extra sure that no one would hear my mutterings, "Woah. The lord of the night. Hey, Mr. Evil! Woah. A demon in white!"

Subtly dancing in the hallways, my legs fortunately concealed by the robe, I was having the time of my life. A stable job, friendly colleagues, good music, lots of freedom, and plenty of opportunities to vent out stress. What else does a man need?

A few people passing by shot confused looks at my earbuds but all of them inevitably shrugged it off and smiled at me. It felt good to be respected.


Hey, little dreamer.

Time to wake up.

This guy is not what he pretends to be.

He's the devil.


"Hey, Mr. Evil!" I sang to the tune when I finally found the main gates. It was quiet enough to not attract any attention, though my extremely pleased expression did start a few hushed conversations. Improved senses were awesome, and I'd fight anyone who said otherwise. Unless they could kill me on the spot, in which case I'd make a tactical retreat, but that was beside the point.

Briefly pausing to admire the carved angels decorating pretty much everything, I exited the Cathedral and stepped into Lescatie proper for the second time.

Smiling at the radiant sun, I took a moment to admire the blue unpolluted skies and fluffy clouds. Let it not be said that I was fine living in a dungeon for all my life. The majority of it, yes, but not every single minute.

Casually jogging down the long stairs that lead to the Cathedral, I ended up among the street crowd. This time, however, I didn't need to hurry and meet the squad for another mission so I could relax and simply observe the passersby. And that's when I realized that something was off.

It was the people. They were happy.

I stood and watched as a pair of kids, a boy and a girl, circled around their mother, laughing. I saw a flower shop owner check so that no one was looking at him before kneeling at to give an embarrassed teen an entire bouquet of vibrant flowers and gently pushing him towards a girl standing across the street. Of course, with such density of people, some noticed the exchange and soon the entire street was cheering and bumping the two together.

It wasn't serene but it was peaceful. People had bright smiles firmly placed on their faces, exuberant yells could be heard from all over the place, and not even once did I see anyone too afraid to look others in the eyes. It was like seeing a giant get-together of former classmates or a massive D&D session where everyone knows each other.

It felt alien to me.

"Look, look! Is that a-?"

"Witch Hunter!"

"Sir!" I dumbly turned my head to stare at the boy who didn't look a year above ten, and was currently tugging at my sleeve, "You're a Witch Hunter, right? A real Witch Hunter?"

"Yes, I am," I answered, unsure of what to do, "Can I help you with something?"

"Come play with us!"

What? I just- what?

"Please, come on!" The kid suddenly deflated and glanced back at the group of children around his age, all of whom were patiently staring us. One girl in particular was even biting her lip, watching us with bated breath, "Jenny- All of us always wanted to see a real Witch Hunter. Could you please join us?"

I blinked at him. The boy immediately averted his eyes, clearly unsettled by the toxic yellow of my irises. Sighing, I looked back at the support crew. Kids, all around ten years of age, all in really simple clothing. More than that, it was very similar, almost like a uniform. Around a dozen children wearing the same clothes was definitely out of the ordinary.

Unable to quell the urge, I reached out and tousled the courageous boy's hair. A soft smile I didn't even want to contain bloomed by itself.

"Sure thing, champ," His eyes lit up like beacons in the nights, an excited grin splitting his face in two. When he began to pull me towards his friends, I gave a little show of resisting and then being 'forcefully' pulled, "Hey now, easy there!"

I laughed. I couldn't help. It was just so bright, so cheerful. Frankly speaking, I was surprised with myself. I've never been good with children, mostly because the vast majority of smaller ones kept messing with my minis whenever I wasn't around, and the older ones were usually insufferable self-entitled pricks. These seemed nice enough, though.

I noted the understanding chuckles of the crowd around me, causing my eyebrow to twitch. Stop laughing at me, dammit, this isn't funny. I'm a mighty inquisitor, I've seen shit you wouldn't even dream of!

Grumbling under my breath, I made sure to exercise my jaw to resume the blood flow and not allow any redness to become visible. I had an image to uphold!

"Mr. Witch Hunter, Mr. Witch Hunter!" The chirpy cries reached my ears when I got close enough to the small group. Hehe, 'small group.' I love myself.

"So," I smiled, in part at my own joke, "What do we play?"

"Monster Hunting-"

"Hide and Seek!" Almost a dozen of childish throats roared in excitement. The one boy who spoke first stumbled and huffed, the rest blowing a raspberry at him.

I moved with the gang away from the Cathedral, noting there wasn't any animosity between that boy and others. Perhaps such occurrences happened quite often.

On our way in some random direction, I briefly considered commenting the kids to memory but decided against. They didn't even tell me their names yet, and I'd probably forget about them an hour after we parted anyway. My memory for people was bad-bad.

Anyway, three days were more than enough to search the city for useful materials so I came to the conclusion that spending some time with the kids wouldn't hurt. It was actually kind of fun. The little hellions were hyperactive to a fault, so much so that I even lost track of time, and ended up hiding and seeking for hours on end

By the time the skies began to dim, I finally looked around proper and realized that I had no idea where we were. The children were panting around me, some leaning against the walls while other just sitting on the ground, exhausted but with satisfied smiles. I heard stories from the concluded game being passed around, like the places where they hid and the tricks they used to find others but I was much more interested in my surrounding.

This place was nothing like the streets around the Cathedral. Where before were pristine houses of stone and wood, now stood slowly decaying shacks. The buzzing crowds of laughing people were replaced by a rare drunkard quietly swearing to himself. Under the light of the setting sun, this placed looked like an abandoned war camp.

"Quite a sight, right, Mr. Witch Hunter?" The boy who came up to me in the first place spoke somberly by my side. His short-cut brown hair left open the clouded dark blue eyes that were now staring somewhere in the distance, "The slums are always like that. It's hard to play around here, we always get yelled at, so we go play at the main streets. It's always so shiny, and everyone is so happy…"

"The slums…" I muttered. So this is what Lescatie's slums were like. The breeding ground for the poor, miserable, and violent. As well as the occasional monster, "Looks dangerous. Would you like me to accompany you back home?"

"Our home is here, Sir," One of the girls approached us, a timid little thing with a long braid of light brown hair and gray-blue eyes. Maybe a sister? "Just a few streets away, in the orphanage."

"In the…" Orphanage? So that's why their clothes looked so similar to each other. Sad, but not something I can do anything about, "I see. Well then, would you like me to accompany you there?"

They shared looks, then wobbled over to the rest of the group. Out of politeness, I filtered out their conversation, letting it pass through my mind without leaving any information. A very useful skill when you're trying to ignore someone without showing it, I must say.

About a minute of hectic whispers later, they looked at me and nodded seriously. I cracked a small smile at the sight, their attempt to look all adult-like was adorable at best.


I chuckled quietly and followed them into the dark alleys of the slum area. Naturally, I was already hiding a flashbang rock in one hand, and a frag-grenade rock in the other. It was absurd just how easy it was to turn stones into grenades with a bit of rune magic.

Fortunately, nothing bad ended up happening, outside of a single barely-conscious man lying in the pool of his own waste who began screaming the moment he saw. Just one glare from me was enough to shut him up, though his grumbles chased us for almost a minute after that. To my surprise, the kids weren't affected at all by the encounter, at least not visibly.

We finally stopped in front of a small church, nothing grand but leagues above the rubbish that surrounded it. It was made of stone and wood, almost like the houses in the main streets, and yet just a tad bit less. Right above the front door, a cross of the Chief God was painted in yellow colors.

One of the kids knocked on the door and, almost immediately, my ears picked up the sound of paced but clearly rushing footsteps coming towards us. Whoever it was, they were definitely eager to see the visitors, even though lacked the desire to show it.

The door softly creaked as it opened, long streaks of salad green instantly catching my attention. I soon realized that it was, in fact, hair, when its owner, a stunning young woman with deep purple eyes, peeked out and gently smiled at the children.

She was wearing a priestly garb, of sorts, blue and white with golden trimming, that was actually quite provocative. She shoulders were left open, as were her thighs, with only several sheets of blue cloth acting as a skirt. Also, dark green high tights. High tights.

I mean, really?

After the nun, I think at least, was done greeting the kids, I saw her eyes wonder in my direction and narrow. Slowly, her gaze made its way up from my robe to my face, whereupon it softened drastically, though not enough to be called friendly

"A Witch Hunter," Her voice was akin to a song of the spring, as beautiful as it was cold, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"They asked me to play with them, and I just so happened to have some free time on my hands," I shrugged. Whatever her problem was, it wasn't mine. Unless she made it mine, of course, "Then, after seeing where we ended up, I offered to keep them company on the way home. I'm assuming that home is right here so my duty to humanity is done for now."

She looked down at the children who nodded when they understood her unspoken question. This time, she turned to me with something that could be called a smile.

"Then you have my thanks for taking care of them," To my surprise, the priestess bowed, "Most people would've just ignored them but it makes me happy to know that someone did not."

"Really?" I cocked my head to the side, "Everyone seemed pretty friendly to me. Well, on the main streets, I mean. Here, the population was a bit… dour, yeah."

Instead of responding, she opened the door even further and ushered the kids inside. I was about to leave, thinking that she didn't want to talk anymore and the conversation was finished but stopped at her expectant look.

"What?" I asked, confused, "Can I help you somehow?"

She opened the door wider. She wasn't inviting me in, was she? Judging by the glare I received originally, she clearly had something against the Witch Hunters, or maybe even the Evervigil. You wouldn't invite someone you suspected to be a mass murderer, would you?

"Yes," The woman giggled, "You can help by coming in. Dinner should be ready by now, Lisia worked very hard on it. Be sure to leave your shoes in the hall."

Nervously swallowing, I careful stepped into the building and did as instructed. Unknown territory meant enemy territory. Especially, when it belonged to someone who absolutely packedwith holy energy, like god damn. The ambient power floating around in the building reminded me to check my apparent hostess for her spiritual presence and holy shit was there a lot of it.

The woman was like a giant beacon of sunlight, a tower of radiant gold that quite literally dissolved the shadows around her. As in, she didn't have a shadow. At all. The spot right under look actually looked brighter, as if a lamp was placed directly above it.

I looked around as I followed her further into the church, mentally comparing this tiny place to the Cathedral. Needless to say, this church was dust compared to it. However, it did have that homey atmosphere that made you want to relax regardless of whether you familiar with the place or not, so it wasn't all bad.

Eventually, we reached the mess hall, where all of the children were patiently sitting around the lone big table. In the adjacent room, which I presumed to be the kitchen, I could see a teenage girl with two dark brown pigtails actively working on something.

The children looked in my direction, smiles blooming on their faces, before turning to the kitchen and calling for some Lisia. The pigtails girl, I assumed.

"Do you need help with setting the table?"

My offer was brutally shot down by the huffing brunette who appeared not a second later, carrying several trays with plates filled with food on them. The weight was most definitely a strain on her but she continued pushing forward before carefully dropping her load on the table, eliciting cheers from the other kids.

"And you are?" She brushed her hair aside and tried to pin me down with a glare. It didn't work, of course, but she got points for trying, "You aren't here to try and take Big Sister away from us, are you?"

"No, I don't think so?" I scratched my chin. Where would I take her anyway? The Evervigil's headquarters was the only place I knew of, and it wasn't exactly open to visitors, "But you are right, introductions are in order. My name is Damien, and I am a Witch Hunter. Nice to meet you all."

"Don't worry, Lisia, Witch Hunters are not someone you should be suspicious of," The priestess shook her head, braids of green flying in every direction, "At least, not if-" She paused, "Never mind. Remember, Aid the Black Robes, and everything should be fine."

I ignored the kids happily digging into the provided food and quirked an eyebrow at the nun who clearly knew something. She shook her head, a tinge of sadness and- was that pity?- visible in her eyes, and was about to say something when the lights in the room flickered.

The children immediately erupted in half-confused half-excited murmurs, and I looked as the priestess frowned and then clapped her hands twice. The light returned to normal.

Already having a sneaking suspicion as to what I'll see, I looked up and sighed at the sight of a glowing crystal embedded in the ceiling. The same one I had in my own room. And a big brother to the one that was powering the amulet.

"There we go. Now that that is dealt with, allow me to introduce myself: I am Sasha Fullmoon, a caretaker of this church and these poor souls."

And she definitely had no idea that the Evervigil were a thing.

 

[Wishful Thinking]

Chapter 17.


Sasha Fullmoon. Now that's a coincidence. Though I wasn't particularly well-versed in MGE plotline, however scarce, I was still familiar with some of the main characters of the Fall of Lescatie. And one of them was steadily eating her dinner right in front of me.

A famous hero who decided to stay close to the people, refusing to relocate to the castle or the Cathedral. A user of holy energy of untold power, easily rivaling even the stronger monsters out there, though with a strict policy against killing. She was like Batman, except injuries went out of the window as well. Only harmless takedowns. Only knockouts and repelling the enemy.

In other words, she was a pacifist.

A pacifist that ran a human orphanage within the city, and a monster orphanage hidden in the woods near it. A genuinely good person whose strength of heart and kindness eventually led to her downfall, and that of an entire nation.

Maybe that outcome could be prevented. Maybe not. Right now, I was too busy enjoying the meal.

"My compliments to the chef," I gave an encouraging smile to the Lisia girl, ignoring the indignant huff I received in response, "Excuse my rudeness but I would've never excepted an orphanage located in the slums to be like… this."

"Even though I retired, the Order still pays for my expenses," Sasha set her cutlery aside for a second to answer my unspoken question.

"And you spend it on this?" It was incredibly selfless, there was no doubt about that. Surprisingly so, "I must say, it might not mean much, but you have my respect. Few people would choose to live the life you do."

"Thank you," She giggled, almost cartoonishly covering her mouth with one hand, "No amount of money is worth the smiles I can put on children's faces. Though, I could say the same about you. I heard becoming a Witch Hunter is quite an endeavor."

"In a way," The neutral grin I tried to show turned out shaky, "It has been an… experience. Especially in these trying times."

"Oh," Her eyes widened, "Did something happen?"

"Just a mission gone awry," I waved her off, the turned to one of the kids happily munching on the chicken legs, "Do you mind passing me one of those?" He did so, "Thanks."

"A mission? Tell me, tell me!" A girl, Jenny, I think, grabbed me by the sleeve and began to tug on it.

"Ah, I don't think it's-" A barely noticeable grimace appeared on the priestess' face as she attempted to pry the girl off of me. However, by that time the whole table began to chant.

"Tell us, tell us!"

"Fine, fine!" I placatingly raised my hands and, when everyone quieted down, wiped my lips with a napkin, "I'll tell you the story. Not all of it, of course, that's confidential information, but most of it. So, I'm rather new to this whole Witch Hunter business, to be honest, so I was obviously anxious. Traveling the distance, meeting new people, all of that. I left with a squad of Stalwart Shields," I tried to recall their number but came out blank, "Seven of them. All wonderful people, great warriors, and noble of heart."

"I want to be a Stalwart Shield, just like Big Brother!" The boy who wanted to play Monster Hunting suddenly exclaimed and was immediately shushed by the rest of my attentive audience. Even Sasha listened with interest, and just a little bit of worry.

"I'm sure you'll achieve your dreams in the future. Who knows, I might even put in a good word for you," I chuckled, "Anyway, we eventually reached this village on the outskirts of Lescatie, and decided to stay the night. Now, what I didn't know, was that a vile monster made its lair in that village and that everyone living there was already under its control."

There was a collective gasp from the children and a separate one from their substitute mother. My keen senses picked up the more pained undertones of the latter but I gave it no mind.

"I fought like a beast, nay, ten beasts! But the dastardly monster sent all of its minions at me instead of facing me in honorable combat! I had a duty, and I knew that, but I couldn't find the strength to strike down the innocents whose only fault was being weaker than the wicked creature," The embers of passion for story-telling that I thought had died a long time ago began to reignite in my heart. As I talked, I could almost see myself fighting an incoming horde of brainwashed minions, a Hero covered in wounds, standing among the burning wreckage of the village, "I let myself be captured. For three days and three nights did the monster try and break my resolve. It whispered sweet lies in my ears, promising the life of pleasure and fulfillment should I renounce the Chief God."

At this singular moment, I loved children. I could see it all, the fear, the anticipation, the glorious cocktail of emotions brewing behind the watering eyes. They were enthralled, they were terrified, they were worried. They waited with bated breath for me to continue my tale, some clutching the forks and knives until their knuckles turned white, other staring at me with mouths hanging open and half-chewed food almost spilling from them.

I, on the other hand, have never before felt more alive.

Their feelings were mine. Not to command, just mine. Their excitement, their horror, I felt it all bubble inside me in response to seeing it on their faces. A rush that no drug could ever give. A rush that made me feel human.

"But I resisted!" I yelled, "And on the fourth day, the monster finally came to seal my fate. It was annoyed with me, I could tell as much. I knew not what it planned to do to me but I stared right in the eye nonetheless. It neared me, brandishing its claws, ready to rip out my heart… and feast on it before my very eyes!"

My facial muscles were spasming, twitching and twisting, as I tried to keep the manic smile off my face.

"And when I gave my final prayers and asked Chief God to inform the Order of my death, so they could send reinforcements and help all of these unfortunate people… I heard a scream from outside the keep where the monster held me."

"A-and then?" A trembling voice of the small brown-haired girl rang out in complete silence.

"And the monster fled. Because it recognized the voice, as did I. It was good friend, a fellow Witch Hunter, who came to rescue me!" The chair thundered across the floor as I shot up and began to wildly gesticulate to ongoing events of my story, "He saw what happened to the villagers and cried out in rage! For his heart couldn't bear the cruel atrocities inflicted upon humanity by the foul creature! And so he screamed and charged towards the keep where I was held!"

"B-but what about the villagers?" Some other kid timidly spoke.

My friend inherited a mighty technique from his grandfather," I modified the plot on the fly, "An ability to punch the wickedness right out of the monsters! So when he struck the monster's minions, they immediately regained their minds and helped him purify the rest!"

"Yay!" Was the collective scream, "Go Mr. Witch Hunter!"

"By the time I managed to break out of my prison, using the chaos reigning around me, the monster had no more followers. And so witnessed how my battle brother cornered it and engaged in glorious melee! They fought like titans, thunder and lightning flying from their fists in every direction. But the monster cheated."

"No way!"

"Whereas my savior used some of his power to protect the people and their only dwellings from the onslaught of destructive forces, the creature had no such reservations. And when he was distracted by redirecting a gout flame away from the local church, it struck a vicious blow!"

"No!"

"That monster!"

"Mr. Witch Hunter was alright, right? Right?!"

"I am afraid not," I shook my head grievously. I could've sworn someone started to cry, "The injury was terrible. He could barely stand, and would've surely died."

"So he's alive?!"

"I had a choice before me!" I raised my fist to the skies, then slowly brought it down to my face, "The monster used this opportunity to flee from its righteous judgment. I could've pursued it, though there was no guarantee I would've succeeded as I was greatly weakened by my imprisonment. Yet that was what my duty told me to do. Or," I looked them over with heavy eyes, "I could choose my friend's life. If I were to rush to heal him, he would pull through. But the monster would've gotten away. A friend's life or a Witch Hunter's duty. It wasn't even a choice."

"Y-you helped your friend, didn't you?"

"No way, he risked his life to stop that monster! If it got away, everyone would've suffered in vain!"

"But the villagers were saved!"

"The monster would take over another village!"

"I saved his life." I stated gravely.

"Yes!"

"Mr. Witch Hunter's friend lives!"

"But what about the monster?"

"It got away, for I am no Chief God," I sighed dramatically, "And I am afraid that it is still at large. It prowls around in the dark of night, waiting for an opportunity to get back at us and try to claim me once more. That's why I can't ever lay down my guard."

"Mr. Witch Hunter…"

"And now it knows about this place too," There was a wave of terrified gasps, "But I'm sure your Big Sister can protect you from it, so be sure to listen to her, okay?" I lowered my arms and gave them a cheerful smile, "And don't talk to strangers, especially if they have a pair of horns and wings on them."

"Sir, yes Sir!"

"Good, good," I laughed. As I sat back down, I looked at Sasha whose entire posture practically radiated emotional conflict, "Sorry if I took too long. Few people are interested in our exploits. It's always 'just a Witch Hunter' doing 'just a Witch Hunter's work.' My fellows aren't exactly the most talkative people," Father Ferdinand's face appeared before my mind's eye, "Well, most of them anyway."

"Oh, no, by all means. I'm sure they enjoyed the story. And what do you say next?" She looked around the table, brows furrowed.

"Thank you!" Answered the choir.

"That's more like it," She immediately broke down in smiles. Then he eyes darted to me, and an imperceptible pout appeared on her face, "Well, we still have time before you need to go to sleep, so why don't we share some more stories?"

Everyone agreed, and we proceeded to clean up the table. Naturally, I helped, collecting the dishes and the joining Lisia and Sasha in the kitchen. I didn't have a lot of experience with dish-washing but I knew the basics. Pour the washy thing on the item you want to clean, rub until bubbles appear, rinse and repeat. Literally.

My chuckling was drowned out by the sound of running water, thankfully.

When we finished with the dishes and moved to the living room, the entire gang was already waiting. It was a somewhat spacious room with several green sofas and small tables placed near them. Another smart crystal provided the lighting.

"When I was just a newly recruited Hero…" Sasha began her tale of mercy, humility, and heroism. It wasn't a blatant antithesis to what I told but it had a noticeable increase in helpful monsters and Heroes that spared their foes instead of downing them once and for all.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, the stories Sasha and I bounced back and forth at each other spawned some real debate, with children keeping the blessed silence when either of us was talking, and erupting in a volatile argument whenever we paused. To be honest, it was the most fun I've head in a while, perhaps even more than during my time with Ferdinand.

I could see that Sasha was enjoying this as well, probably sensing no malicious intent or purposeful propaganda from me, and she wasn't wrong. As the sky outside devolved into complete darkness, I knew that my sole goal right now was to tell better stories than the priestess. I just couldn't afford to lose.

I lost, of course.

There was no way the single mission I've been through, even with all those half-fictional stories I came up with by modifying various fandoms and TV-shows on the fly, could rival the sheer experienceSasha possessed. She's been a Hero for years, participating in tens, if not hundreds, of battles and skirmishes. Even if she lacked the more 'blood and glory' tales I could whip up, let it not be said that she was in any way sheltered or lacking dramatic talent. Every story she told was full of emotion and color, so much that even I couldn't help but cheer for the monsters from time to time. And why wouldn't I when they were helping humans?

Eventually, the kids had to go to bed, something they did with groans and mumbles of disapproval. Sasha, the tyrant that she was, had none of it, and soon we were the only ones left in the living room.

"I must say, you've been through quite a lot," The priestess beamed at me with a tired smile, "I never would've imagined that someone so young could go through so much."

"You're giving me too much credit," I awkwardly laughed, scratching the back of my neck, "Most of what I said were stories I heard from other Witch Hunters. The one I've participated in personally was the very first one."

"You mean that monster is really still alive?" She was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah," I nodded, "She actually kidnapped me, and that other Witch Hunter had to save me. For the second time."

Sasha giggled lightly at that, shooting me an understanding smile, "And you 'haven't let your guard down ever since'?"

"Indeed!" I spoke with pride, "Well, I might've relaxed a bit upon reaching the city. Safe space and all that."

"Did you find out why she wanted you in the first place?" She innocently batted her eyelashes, causing me to huff. Of course she would know how monsters really are.

"Yeah. And, slightly deviating from the topic, I hope you understand. Duty," Sasha smiled and prompted me to continue, "When I first woke up, she said something about being jealous of her friend who had a Witch Hunter husband and was constantly… flaunting… it…"

Wait a minute. All Witch Hunters were actually Evervigil. But that means…

Oh.

Oh shit.

"I need to go," I sprang onto my feet and dashed for the hallway, Sasha's startled cry and hurried footsteps following a second later.

"Wha- What happened?" Her breathing was perfectly even as if running across the house was even less tiring than a simple jog.

"I just remembered something, is all," I put on my shoes and ran out into the night, "Good luck and take care of the kids!"

I stood alone in the dark street, wind whistling around me, and cursed. I still had no idea where the Cathedral was supposed to be.

"Oh well," I muttered, "Just look for a very big building."

I saw something gigantic peeking over the rooftops of the slum's shacks and ran there without a second thought.

"I hope it's not too late."

 

[Wishful Thinking]

Author's Notes: Half-way there.



Chapter 18.


I was panting like crazy when I finally reached Father Ferdinand's lab, having run across the streets of Lescatie at full speed. I'd marvel at the blatantly superhuman capabilities my body possessed if I only wasn't scared out of my damn mind.

It may not seem like much but if there was a Succubus or any other monster with an Evervigil for a husband, it meant that the 'top secret Illuminati Inquisition' I was a part of was no longer secret. If even a word got out of our existent, I don't doubt that there'd be an uproar even in human kingdoms. But worst of all, is Druella was informed, she would most definitely prepare for us, a fact that drastically lowered Lescatie's, and by extension mine, chances of survival.

When I finished telling about my discovery, the priest said nothing, just staring at me blankly for almost a minute. Eventually, he spoke in a level tone, without even a trace of his usual cheerfulness.

"Oh. That's… That's, like, bad." He turned to look at the violently bubbling mixture he was working on before I arrived. An especially toxic-looking puff of green smoke was spat out before being immediately sucked into a nearby flask, "We'll have to contact every single agent in the field to see who's still with us. And even then we'd never know whether they are truly on our side until we meet up here in person. Which means calling every single operative back to the headquarters. Dozens of missions interrupted and, therefore, considered failed by default."

He fell silent, then gave a long tortured sigh.

"At least with all the people concentrated here, we could clean the city of mamono presence first. No use killing the rats in your fridge if their nest is in your basement." The priest snapped his fingers, and the solution that looked about to explode vanished without a trace.

"Wait, you have fridges?" I voiced the sudden thought.

"Of course we do," He waved me off and closed his eyes, "How else would we store food without spoiling it? Khm. Every unit is to immediately give their whereabouts and the current state of operations."

His last words pulsed with holy energy, reverberating both in my ears and inside my head. The voice definitely sounded like Father Ferdinand, is one excluded his characteristic upbeat tones. And I didn't even see any amulets or other tools light up on his person.

While the priest was staring into space, probably sorting through responses, a hand tapped me on the shoulder. My eyes widening, I whirled around, flashbang in hand, but calmed down when I saw Father Klaus staring at me.

"What happened?" His question was brusque.

"Elibeth told me one of her friends had Witch Hunter husband," I quickly reported, "And because all Witch Hunter are Evervigil, I deemed it important enough to return from my assignment."

"And you didn't say it before because?" He wasn't quite angry but that undertone of disappointed was easy enough to pick up.

"I forgot." I winced. Lying was out of the window, the situation was too critical for fooling around.

"I see," Klaus frowned, then nodded, "You might want to undergo a few procedures to improve your mental capabilities. If not, make sure that this never happens again. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" I breathed out in relief and saluted. The priest clicked his tongue and turned to the still silent Father Ferdinand.

"Is everyone accounted for?"

"Yes," The red-head nodded slowly, "Unfortunately."

"Then we have no choice," Father Klaus growled, "If they somehow managed to work around the amulet's resistance to demonic energy, then we have no way of identifying the traitor like this. We have to call everyone back."

"Wait, but I already told you that Elibeth succeeded in taking it off," I interjected, "What's the big surprise?"

"That Succubus took it off, yes, but it was rendered completely useless in the process," Ferdinand explained, "What we are facing right now is someone with a working amulet despite the presence of demonic energy within their body. It also means that I'll have to upgrade it in some way. At least distributing the new version won't be a problem."

"So, what now?" This was big. I had no idea how many things the Evervigil ran at once but disrupting all of them will surely have repercussions. I just hope that nothing too bad will happen.

"Now, you are to take this and resume your task," Ferdinand pulled out a small pendant in the shape of the Lescatie's crest with a tiny crystal inserted in the middle, "Unlike the amulet, this is just a communication device. If you stumble onto something interesting, be sure to contact me. Same goes for remembering anything else of importance."

"Alright," I put the trinket around my neck, instantly sensing the grains of holy energy within it, "By your leave."

"How long do you think it will take for everyone to assemble?" I heard Father Ferdinand ask as I exited the cavern.

"A week at most," Father Klaus replied.

A few seconds later I was standing in front of the elevator disk. Did I mention just how much I loved the space-warping corridors of this place?

Having memorized the road to the front gates, it didn't take me long to leave the Cathedral, a mistake I realized too late to avoid.

It was still the middle of the night.

"Well, crap," I rubbed my itching eyes and looked at the empty streets, "So where do I go now? Returning back to the headquarters would be just embarrassing. Sleep on the streets?"

I grumbled under my breath but admitted that it was an option I had to consider. It was either that or being lucky enough to find a tavern that was still open.

"Bah, it's no big deal," I wasn't sure whether I tried to convince myself or some invisible observer but it worked. A confident smile worked its way up my face, "The world has always been on my side anyway. There ain't no fate from which I don't benefit eventually."

And that was the truth. Ever since my early childhood, I figured out that my life followed a simple rule of karmic balance: for every problem I faced, I'd receive an equal payment in good fortune. And, regardless of what happened, somehow, in some way, shape, or form, I've always come out on top.

Failed a test? Turns out it wasn't even that important. Broke a phone? There's a discount on a much better model. Lost a friend? Surprise-surprise, apparently they got involved with the wrong crowd and are now closely watched by the police.

I had no idea whether that was actually how things worked or if it was just me making stuff up to seem special. Neither did I care, really, for facts spoke for themselves. Besides, it has always helped me to maintain a positive outlook on life, so I'm not complaining.

This situation was still unfortunate, though.

"Maybe I should really just go back?" I wondered, then resolutely shook my head, "No. That's not how a Witch Hunter do. If push comes to shove, I'll just stay awake for the entire night."

My plan set in stone, I began to wander the streets and alley of our mighty city, the veil of night doing exactly nothing to prevent my enhanced eyes from gathering information on my surroundings.

With the sun and people gone, Lescatie looked a lot less cheerful. Cold stone houses, roads devoid of life. It was slightly creepy but also rather liberating. I was alone here. Alone with the warm breeze.

Restarting the music, I hit random and simply walked to the beat blaring in my ears.

"Actually," I stopped in the middle of the street, then turned in the direction where I remembered the slums were, "I technically have only two days left to gather the materials. And, since all the shops are closed, maybe I can find something interesting meanwhile?"

Quietly whistling "Under Pressure" to myself, I reached the slums in no time, it's gloominess further amplified by nighttime. The looked like something from Stalker, I swear.

There was little to no chance of anything of interest to me just lying on the ground, so I opted to rely on my more esoteric senses to engage in the hunt. Who knows, maybe I'd be able to spot traces of demonic energy hiding in some obscure building.

Like that one for example.

Excited and slightly anxious grin on my face, I made a beeline for a completely nondescript shack with a half-collapsed roof and a missing door. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, except for a barely noticeable sweet and bitter smell coming from within.

I clicked my tongue as I summoned a flashbang rock. I've meaning to use for god knows how long in a real combat situation. Those few times I was testing and tweaking its parameters in the arena didn't count. Same went for the frag grenade, actually.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered and leaned against the wall beside the empty doorframe, carefully listening to the sounds coming from inside the building. At first, there was only silence and I began to feel tempted to just walk in already but then a faint noise caught my ear. Labored breathing and… high pitched moans of pleasure? I carefully peeking inside with one eye, I was treated to the most disgusting sight of some haggard unshaven man going at it with a living doll the size of a ten-year old.

Suppressing my desire to puke, I snapped my face back to the outside world and raised my eyes to the visible crescent of the moon, "Why, Chief God? Why?" My attempts to purge the image of what I'd call a pretty girl under almost any other circumstances having 'fun' was rendered null and void by the uninterrupted stream of sounds grating against the back of my mind.

If I wanted to sleep soundly for the next week, I had to act now.

My first thought was to throw in a flashbang, knock out the occupants of this sad excuse of a building, and drag the Doll to the headquarters. A sense of revulsion tried to rear its head and protect the 'child' from the horrors of the Evervigil's dungeon but I quickly drowned it in memories of such a 'child' sentencing an entire family to death. Even a seemingly harmless monster was a source of corruption for everyone around it and had to be neutralized to avoid massive casualties.

Sasha's stories came to mind, where some monsters proved to be more useful than not, primarily by informing the Order's kill squads of the location of more dangerous and violent monsters but even they would've had to be dealt with eventually. Even though mamono by themselves weren't all that bad for the most part and only wished for a happy life, the situation in general was… complicated. Whatever, I have more immediate problems to deal with right.

In any case, the monster had to be taken care of. Especially with an entire orphanage of yet-uncorrupted children nearby.

I squeezed the enchanted rock, preparing to activate the timer when a mind-bogglingly ludicrous idea came to mind. It was dumb. The situation called for an entirely different approach.

But still…

"…true art comes from the heart. To achieve the best results, you have to love doing what you're doing. Love your job and you'll never have to work a day in your life, as they say."

"Ah, screw it," I muttered, doing my best to calm the suddenly rampaging nerves, "If I'm going to feel like this every time I have to off an 'innocent' monster, might as well sweeten the pill for myself."

Activating the runic array, I circled the door in one swift motion and lobbed the rock right at the bearded man's forehead.

"THOT BE GONE!"

Activating the runes regulating my vision, the world went black instead of white for me, and when I turned my eyesight back on a second later, I became the only unimpaired person in the room.

The man was lying down unconscious, with a small indentation right above his eyeline. I've trained enough with my modified body to measure the necessary amount of force to knock him out without killing. Sure, there was a bit of blood splattered around but we can just consider it divine punishment for his sins against humanity.

The Doll, on the other hand, was wailing in agony, one hand frantically waving around while the other was violently rubbing at its eyes. Unfortunately for me, it was yet to get off the now-motionless human, so I had to endure more psychological torture. It wasn't as bad as it could've been, years spent on 4chan did a good job at vaccinating me against the horrors of the world, but it didn't mean that I like what I saw.

I fact, I took some extra pleasure in putting the monster out of its misery by firmly planting my boot into its face. Despite being a monster, the Doll's strength was proportionate to its childish body, so I was able to launch it across the room and into the wall. As I approached, it tried to mumble something, clutching the wounded area with both hands, and it almost succeeded in making me halt.

A family, gone.

A second kick squashed it in between the wall and me, putting it down for good. I took a second to check whether it was still alive, it was, and to briefly admire the beauty it must've once possessed. Long, royal hair of platinum, cute yet enticing features, and some very interesting ball joints. It would've made a wonderful younger sister if nor for its nature.

I shook my head in dejection. Even though I… disliked monsters for what they meant for my species, my sense of aesthetics wept at the sight of the Doll's beaten form. And, somewhere in the back of my mind, locked behind the walls of reason and grim determination, I couldn't help but weep with it.

Sighing, I turned to the passed out man and checked his pulse. Still among the living.

"Okay, friend, I know you're out but listen here," I knelt beside him and whispered, "I'm going to give you one chance. Normally, I'd say it to your face and then observe your behavior for some time but I don't have the, well, time for that. So, we're going to do this the quick and painful way," I raised my hand and prepared to dump as much holy energy as I could into him, doing my best to recall the way Father Klaus' energy moved during his fight with the Lessers, "You die, you fail. You live, and you're redeemed. Good luck," With that, I brought my palm down on his chest. Nothing? Hm, maybe I should try again- "Oh, wait. Shit. I forgot, sorry."

I facepalmed with my other hand and groaned in embarrassment. Alright, Damien, it's all good, no one saw that.

"Uhm, too bad, I guess," I shrugged. This time, I slowly moved my hand towards his jugular, "Come on, man, you have to. He's not an incubus but he's been through the Hook and is already addicted. If you let him live, he'll just find himself more monstergirls to spend time with. You can do it, man. For the good of humanity. The greater good."

I sucked in a breath and prepared to strike when a genius thought pierced my mind like a lightning bolt. He's going to seek out mamono. Seek them out. By himself. And, because he still had traces of demonic energy inside him, they'd look for him in turn. Which means…

"Genius," I grinned and moved my hand away from the unconscious body, "Congratulations, you don't just get to live another day but also an opportunity to serve your entire race!. Maybe. If you don't die from some infection or other."

I cracked the rotting wood of the wall with a light punch and broke off one of the resulting jagged fragments. Not the best scalpel I've ever wielded but it'll have to make do. Turning the man on his stomach with a quick shove, I began to carve the tracking runes onto his back.

"Circle, circle, smiley face," I hummed as I cut the rough and, to be honest, quite disgusting skin with a piece of wood, "A few lines here, and… done."

Examining the fruit of my effort with a proud smile, I ended up adding a tiny Illuminati symbol right where his heart would be. There some more blood, obviously, but I couldn't quite heal the wounds without runic circles, so I left him be. Hopefully, he'll survive and lead me to new mamono. Hopefully, it will be something other than a Doll.

"Now, as for you," I looked back at the Doll, "I'm afraid I have to invite you to my humble abode. Sorry if this is all so sudden but… eh… Ah, whatever. Come on, Kage, you're coming with me!"

I moved to hoist it up onto my shoulders but stopped when I saw the rather unclean state it was in.

"Ugh, filth. Filth, filth, filth," I whispered like a chant, "I can't carry you like this. You'll get it all over my robes. Yuck."

I had to make the mamono decent somehow. But I didn't have any tissues or wipes on me, nor were there any replacements in this dumpster of a dwelling.

"The hard way it is," I groaned and picked the Doll up, being extra careful that I grab only the unsoiled parts, "I hope this doesn't damage your structure too much."

Having said that, I did what any sane man would do when about to eat salad with a fork covered in ketchup and lacking in tissues – wipe it against the border of the plate. Or, in this case, the walls and the floor.

It was a tiresome, thankless job that involved a lot of swearing and breaks to kick the man whose fault this whole situation was but, eventually, I managed to make the Doll look tolerable. Even though I had to put it back to sleep two more times, which resulted in more bruises and lumps on its fleshy porcelain skin.

"Fookin' finally," I picked it up in a fireman's carry, "You were a righteous pain in the arse, you know that?"

I grumbled and cursed all the way back to the Cathedral, and yet I couldn't keep an excited grin off my face.

Because, despite all the trouble it had caused me, I knew that I just acquired my first rare ingredient for a recipe that I haven't even come up with yet. The first step to creating my first real artifact.

"I think I'm starting to like this job…"