Ch.114Liberation – 5

I surveyed the completely devastated central hall. About a third of the vast space had literally evaporated. The result of Circe being more tenacious than expected.

Still, she was cleanly annihilated without a single cell remaining, so that’s what matters. I put away Eternity and looked up. The red sky, which shouldn’t be visible from the central hall, came into view.

‘I hope Nika’s escape route wasn’t caught in the blast.’

I had attacked with the castle’s structure in mind as I made my way here, but I couldn’t be certain.

I climbed the stairs to the topmost floor. At least the door remained intact. When I turned the doorknob, there was a click, and it wouldn’t turn any further.

‘Could the succession be in progress?’

Otherwise, there’d be no reason to lock the door. Even a succubus would know that Circe wouldn’t be stopped by a mere locked door.

After using physical enhancement, I pressed my ear against the door. I could hear what sounded like whispering from inside. I couldn’t make out what was being said, but it seemed the succession wasn’t currently underway.

I applied force to my arm and tore the door off its hinges, then entered. Startled succubi parted to either side, clearing a path.

‘That was close.’

Nika was at the center of the half-melted room, possibly caught in the aftermath. She was staring at the floor with calm, settled eyes. The surrounding succubi seemed to find it difficult to even be in the same room with her, let alone approach.

Puzzled by her appearance—which seemed both like she had awakened as a Queen and not—I grabbed one of the nearby succubi and questioned her.

“You there, explain what’s happening. Is the queen succession proceeding properly?”

“I-I don’t know! No, I don’t… know. We were just talking among ourselves when suddenly she became like that…”

I wondered about the sudden formality, but there were more important matters at hand. I approached Nika. From the side, I could hear succubi trying to reach out to me, only to be restrained by others saying I was crazy, or just nervously swallowing.

I could guess why they were acting this way, but I had no intention of giving them what they wanted. Ignoring them, I stopped directly in front of Nika.

“Nika.”

At my call, Nika slowly raised her head. The moment I saw her eyes, I realized something was changing.

About half of her pupils had turned pink.

“…Yes, Master.”

Though she had only spoken once, an intensely powerful pheromone washed over me. I reflexively used purification magic. My body, which had begun to heat up, returned to normal.

“What’s happening to you?”

“I know, yet I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s happening to me or how things are progressing. Just listening to them talk nonsense about you, Master, and then this… It feels strange.”

Looking around, I saw all the succubi avoiding my gaze and slowly backing away. What could they have said to cause such a reaction? Were they gossiping about me?

I turned back to Nika. Something was off. In that brief moment, it seemed like her eye level had grown higher.

‘…She really is getting taller.’

It wasn’t just a feeling. Nika was actually growing taller even at this very moment. Her head, which had only reached my chest before, now nearly reached just below my eyes.

Simultaneously, her expression became more seductive. With an alluring smile, Nika spoke in a calmer voice.

“I see. Now I understand.”

“Understand what?”

“That you, Master, were the element that would make me a Queen.”

Her eyes, now completely pink, met mine as she licked her lips. Unlike before, her words were filled with power and had no trace of mumbling.

“You cast an obedience spell on me, making me your possession. Just hours ago, you even made me lick your finger. That’s why the conditions for succession and awakening were aligned with you, Master. You’ve had the greatest influence on me, someone who’s never even performed energy absorption.”

“…Then what was it supposed to be?”

“What do you think? When a Queen and a Queen-to-be succubus go off alone to a private place?”

Nika made a scissoring motion with her fingers, rubbing them together. It was a gesture that needed no explanation.

“So, Master, I think you need to help me. If you need me to awaken as Queen to use that power…”

Nika’s hand reached toward me. I caught her wrist. She let out a sticky moan. Thinking I was going to grant her request, she gave me a seductive smile.

“You’re misunderstanding something, Nika. I’m not trying to awaken you as Queen because I need your power.”

“…What? You weren’t aiming to control all succubi through me?”

Her eyes widened in surprise. The other succubi reacted similarly.

“I did it because I felt sorry for you and didn’t want to kill you. Just like when I cast the obedience spell and made you a maid. If you had been like other succubi, killing people and draining their energy, do you think I would have bothered coming all the way to the demon realm for this?”

Though my words might sound cold, they were simply the truth. The only reason I wanted to make Nika the Succubus Queen was because I felt sorry for her—nothing more, nothing less.

“…I see.”

Nika seemed dejected for a moment, but then pressed her body against mine more aggressively.

“That’s fine. What matters is that you gave me a second chance, Master. Please, won’t you help me just once more?”

Teary pink eyes looked up at me. I had intended to help her anyway. I was just correcting her misunderstanding about my purpose earlier.

“I was planning to anyway. How can I help you?”

“Let me absorb your energy. I won’t charm or brainwash you. I’ll just take your energy… and you can enjoy my body as much as you want.”

“That’s not happening.”

The succubi began to stir. Most were shocked. They couldn’t believe a human would turn down the opportunity to be with a Succubus Queen.

“…I understand. Then please at least let me absorb your energy. I’m begging you.”

Realizing she couldn’t persuade me, Nika surprisingly gave up easily.

“I just said no—”

“I’m not talking about intercourse. We can absorb energy without mixing bodies. Though I’ve never done either.”

“Is that true?”

I grabbed a nearby succubus and asked. She nodded.

“Yes, it’s true. It’s possible to absorb energy without sex. There’s just usually no reason to do that, so we mix bodies while absorbing energy.”

Now that I knew she wasn’t lying, I could go along with it.

“Alright. How do we do this?”

“We kiss.”

“…Do what?”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t mean anything—it’s just a process to absorb energy…”

Nika leaned in, putting her weight against me. After a moment’s hesitation, I released her wrist. Nika immediately fell into my arms and brought her face close. There wasn’t a trace of shyness in her approaching lips.

Before our lips properly met, her tongue pushed its way inside. Then, like a living creature, it writhed and tasted every corner of my mouth.

Each time her tongue brushed against the inside of my mouth, waves of pleasure washed over me. Despite her not releasing any pheromones, my entire body felt like it was floating.

“Aahn… mmm… haah…”

Moans echoed in my mouth, coated with saliva. Her breasts, pressed tightly against me, were squished and pushed toward my armpits.

With the sensation of something being drawn from my body, the changes began.

Her chest changed first. Her already large breasts were clearly swelling even more. I could feel the weight against my chest increasing.

Other parts changed too. Demonic wings appeared in the corner of my vision, wrapping around my entire body like an embrace. At the same time, I felt something rope-like coiling around my thigh—probably a tail.

As if each part of her body was transforming to seduce males, an indescribably fragrant scent wafted from her saliva and sweat.

“Haaah…”

Nika broke the kiss with heated breath. I wiped my mouth and caught my breath. It had been a long time since I’d felt my entire body so aroused.

I thought all sexual desire had disappeared after I realized something inside me had broken in my previous world. I hadn’t reacted this way even with Astaroth. Was Nika somehow special?

“Ahh… Master… such thick, delicious energy…”

While I was calming my arousal, Nika was trembling in ecstasy.

As expected, a pair of wings had sprouted at her waist, and a tail swayed behind her back. A pair of horns had also emerged on her head.

Her clothes had changed too. The maid uniform she’d been wearing was gone, replaced by a string bikini that barely covered her nipples and areolas, along with a mini-skirt not even a hand’s width in length.

The submission tattoos on her tongue, cleavage, and lower abdomen had disappeared. I wasn’t sure if the spell itself was gone or just the tattoos.

“More… can’t you give me more… No, this isn’t enough. Just a little more…”

“No. From the way you’re talking, it seems like you’ve had enough.”

“Ah, ahhh…”

Nika, who seemed frustrated, raised her head. Her eyes were glowing dangerously.

“Well, this will do.”

“Your way of speaking changed?”

“Of course. There’s no need to hide anymore.”

“Hide what? The fact that you’ve awakened as Queen?”

“Are you asking even though you already know? What a twisted hobby.”

The demonic wings at her waist spread wide. The succubi who had been standing nervously nearby all knelt down and bowed their heads as if entranced.

“You can like me. It’s true that your energy is delicious, and it’s true that the succession began because of you. I just didn’t have enough power to reveal myself. You provided that power.”

“Ah, so that’s why you pretended to still be a maid, calling me Master and asking for energy? That’s quite a twisted hobby too.”

“Succubi are that kind of species. We thoroughly submit to strong males but trample weak ones underfoot. I’m no exception.”

“And now? You’ve revealed your true colors because you think you can trample me?”

“Of course. What do you think I was doing while we were kissing just now?”

Her pink pupils flashed. Whatever she had tried to do, she seemed to think it was enough, as she approached me without hesitation.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you by my side and drain you until your energy runs out or loses its flavor. Now, kneel quickly…”

However, when she came right up to me and saw me standing calmly, her confidence quickly turned to confusion.

“W-what…? Why are you fine…?”

“So that feeling was because of you? I thought something was strange.”

There was no way a mere kiss could arouse such intense feelings. I had wondered if a Succubus Queen was somehow different, but it turned out Nika had been doing something extra.

I didn’t particularly feel backstabbed or betrayed. Regardless of how Maid Nika thought of me, Elishiere had warned me that once her Queen instincts awakened, she would become like this.

The timing was just a bit off from what I had expected.

“What did you say to me earlier? That you’d keep me by your side until my energy was drained or lost its flavor?”

If that was the case, what I needed to do was clear. As Elishiere said, I needed to make it clear who was dominant.

“You can try.”

I calmly prepared for battle. As mana infused into Eternity’s blade, Nika’s face turned pale, and she retreated step by step.

“If you can.”