Chapter 21: Broken mirror

A darken figure rises from the shadow.

"It's a happy birthday..."

"No..."

Flashing pair of scarlet met his.

"...for me~!"

'If only I had come here sooner...'

...

...

...

6 Hours Ago

...

...

...

"Hmm...?"

The forest dweller was very confused when he woke up and saw himself sitting on an expensive-looking chair.

'Why am I...'

Oh right. He remembered.

Last night, after spending the day touring the Kingdom with his friends and being taught how to play chess by Sara, the king had 'accidentally' broken the doorknob to Sara's room. At first he thought someone is going to come and fix it, but when it started getting dark, his worries then resulted in the princess having to stop him from jumping out of the window.

"Luka! Don't jump out, that's dangerous!"

"I-It's fine, I'll book a room on that inn nearby!"

"It's already midnight, you can stay here instead..."

"I can't do that to Donna!"

"I mean that as in only sleeping! Nothing else!"

"..."

"..."

"...I'll take the chair..."

Now back in the present, he lifted the blanket off of him and search the room for his royal friend. Her bed was empty, a scan of the castle gave him her location and it was the library. He guesses the princess must've use the early morning to study more about her future responsibility as the ruler.

He doesn't want to bother her, so with that in mind, he grabs a paper from the drawers and wrote a letter for her to find after he has left.

Placing the farewell note on the chessboard they were using yesterday; he opens the window and leap outside with a little dash.

SWOOSH!

The wind howls in his ears as the forest dweller activate his airstream spell. One kick was enough to propels him further and as he soars through the air, he remembers Sara telling him of beautiful views around the desert and the Witch Hunt Village.

As ominous as the name is, Luka had already taken it upon himself to investigate the village. And if all went well, he could use this chance to get a gift for the princess. Her birthday celebration is to be held at high noon, so he still has some times left.

With all of that in mind, he speeds off towards his destination. Enjoying the sceneries and unique food items with the pages before arriving in his last visiting tour.

===0===

"Excuse me, ma'am... do you mind if I ask you some-"

SLAM!

"..."

That was the seventh time that has happened.

Every time he tried to get the gloomy villagers of the village to answers his questions, they would always ignore, ran away, or even threatens him.

This obviously goes beyond suspicion. It's straight up xenophobia.

Sighing to himself, the purplette set his eyes on the lord's manor once more. Right at the center of Witch Hunt Village, there's big building emanating with negativities.

It reminds him too much of the Hunted Manor he came across back then...

The only reason he's not breaking in to investigate like he did with Chrome is because unlike back then, there's people here that he was hoping could answer some of his inquiries.

Now however, Luka realize he's not getting anywhere unless he does so.

'Just like the good ol' days~!'

'That was only a couple weeks ago, buddy...'

'Same thing!'

Walking through the empty street, he recounts how scared they were when he appears. closing their curtains and pretending not to hear his questions. If not for his growth, Luka would have been discouraged to continue.

"Hey you!" A loud voice calls out to him.

"Hmm?" Turning to them, he saw two men wearing a matching set of armor rushing over to him.

"Are you the witch who's been reported to harassing the people in this village?"

"That's right, it must've been her! Look at her unnatural eyes!"

"..."

"See, she's not even denying it!"

"Hah! Jackpot! We're gonna get a big raise if we brought this one to her!"

"..."

"Alright filthy witch, you're coming with us!"

"There's two of us, so don't even try using your magic!"

"...I've seen enough."

As angry wind picks the men off of their feet and throws them into a pig's dent behind him, Luka continues on his walk. Not even bothering to check on the corrupted soldiers now covered in animal feces and mud.

===0===

The good news, is that he's better at stealth now. With the wind deafening his footsteps, he quietly enters inside the manor without being detected and made his way towards the lord of this village.

The bad news, is everything else.

From the sheer depravity he could feel in the air, to howls of broken villagerswishing for the sufferings to end. And the sickening lust permeating the halls.

It bothers him so much so that he almost reflexively turns back.

But he can't do that, leaving everyone here to suffer because of his apprehensiveness would be spitting in the face of all of his progress.

So he continues, witnessing layers upon layers of unethical experimentand pain. Innocent female villagers being turned into monsters and forced by their primal instinct to commit vile acts towards the male prisoners.

Countless artificial monsters created without even an ounce of decency being taught to them.

By the time morning has passed, the forest dweller had put everyone inside the manor to slumber with one giant spell. Brought them outside with some help from the pages and told the villagers of what has happened.

The majority of them knew what was happening, powerless to stop her, yet they were still appalled at Lily's actions, many more begged the purplette to bring justice to the lord of the village. He could only request his friends to watch over the unconscious victims and prevents anyone from acting recklessly in their emotional state.

"Be safe, darling..." Marie worriedly said to him.

Luka try his best to make sure his smile wasn't fake when he turns to the book monster.

He failed.

===0===

The expensive-looking double door to Lily's office smoothly opens as he walks in. The magic barrier the woman has placed to protect the room was strong, it almost manages to blocked out his spell.

A proof of her talent as a magician.

There she is, behind her desk with research papers strewn across it. Right next to her is a woman with tentacles growing unnaturally from her arms.

"I'll suck you dry..."

"..."

SWOOSH!

Talents she wasted by hurting so many people.

"I see you have managed to get pass my strongest subjects..."

"...Are you Lily?"

Gently placing the unconscious brown-haired woman in his arms down, he stood before the woman who's responsible for everything that has happens.

"That would be me, yes~" The way her dark green eyes were dissecting him reminds the forest dweller of a certain mysterious scientist.

"Why...?"

She simply laughs at this. Leaning back in her cushioned chair as her eyes continues to gets heavier.

"I guess you can call it a poetic justice~"

"...You call experimenting on innocent people and turning them into violent monsters 'poetic justice'. As if they all deserves it?"

"Why... thank you for asking, and yes. They do."

Barely hanging on to consciousness through sheer hate, the green-haired magician tells him of her origins. They way she was horribly threated by her own people because of something she has no controls over. To her struggles in life, clawing and dragging herself out of that hell and swearing vengeance on everyone who had wronged her in the past.

It disturbs him how similar they were...

Like looking into a broken mirror.

The forest dweller tried. He really did try to speak some sense into her.

How he understands her circumstances, her pain in being alone in a world that seemingly had it out for them. And he told her it's not too late. That she could still steer the ship before it's swallowed by the waves.

But her hate has already taken over by this point...

"You have a horrible sense of humor..." The spiteful woman scoffs.

"I wasn't joking..."

Stumbling to her knee, the effect of his spell started catching up to her.

"Heh, I can see why she was so... interested in you now..."

Thud.

"ZzZzZzzz..."

"..."

The manor is a lot quieter now that the nightmare has ended.

===0===

The librarian monster and Luka spends the next couple hours healing anyone too injured to moves and with the power of their eye magic, manages to brought out the consciousness from the victims who has been turn into mindless experiments.

It would be an understatement to say the people of the village were grateful towards him.

Some were even willing to accept him as the new lord of the village. But he politely refuses the offer. The only thing he asked for, was that they gave Lily a proper trial. And for them to not outright executed her without listening to her stories first.

Luka knew it wasn't much. But it's the best way he could help her situations.

He hopes she could come to see the errors in her way after this. If she doesn't, then at the very least she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone anymore after this...

"..." Now, to deal with that.

The purplette turns to the same scientist from before, starting at him behind the crowds of people. No one notices her, he theorizes it might be like when he was wearing his original cloak.

She gave him an amused looks but he ignores it.

With people like these, you need to dig deeper...

His eyes shine in magic, actually managing to caught her off guard.

[Eyes of Control!]

"!?" The red-haired woman let out a slight gasp, before her surprise was replaced by hunger.

He wonders what she had done in her life to feeds it...

Completely ignoring his magic, she disappears... Just like that.

'She's going to be a problem isn't she...?'

'We can handle it~!'

'Most certainly...'

'...' Gnome nodded.

'We'll catch her next time, young man.'

===0===

If it weren't bad enough what has happened in the Witch Hunt Village, by the time he makes his way back to the Sabasa Kingdom, a mass panic could be seen across the gathering of people below.

Worried about what has happened to his friend's birthday party, the purplette when to speak to the king. The tall royalty saw him coming and immediately ceased his conversations with his other servants. He could see deep concern in his eyes, hidden by his mask of a calm and unshakable ruler.

"Luka, have you seen my daughter on your way here?"

Even his voice - previously strong and confident - has become grievous.

After telling the King that he hadn't seen her at all. The worried father then tells him that Sara has been kidnaped by a group of Elves and Fairies.

It shocks him to hear this, and from the way the King describes it, Luka theorized they must have used a teleporting spell to get here and leaves.

Upon hearing the King's request to bring back his daughter back to the Kingdom, the forest dweller gave the man his words that he would do so and leaps into the air.

"You have my gratitude, Luka."

"I would save any of my friends from a kidnapping, Your Majesty."

"Oh please, don't be so humble. A future King of this Kingdom needed to be more assured!"

He turns back.

"What was that last part...?"

"As I was saying! Please get my daughter back to me safely, Luka!"

"R-Right... I'll do my best!"

BOOM!

The Fairy Island is Southwest from here, even further than the Pyramid. If he makes haste, he should be able to make it their fast enough to stopped whatever the monsters were planning...

With that in mind, Luka throws cautions to the wind and speeds his way across the desert.

===0===

He manages to make it there in under 7 minutes.

SWOOSH!

His sudden arrival causes the monsters around Sara to panicked as the air started picking up. he saw his royal friend being tied up on a strange stone table in the middle of an altar of some sorts.

Not wasting any time, he weaves pass several Elves and Fairies trying to stops him and-

CLANG!

Parrying the arrow aimed towards his head, the powerful Elf before him raises her weapon as a warning.

'She's fast enough to perceived my movements...'

Though, from the way she's gathering her bearings. He estimates that was her body moving on instinct to stop him more than anything.

Putting on a mask of a confident and powerful ruler, she spoke out. "Human, you dare to trespass on our land?"

Next to her, a similarly regal and powerful Fairy shows herself. "Be careful, Freya. The King of Sabasa must've sent his strongest warrior here..."

Despite being a Fairy like Sylph, it surprises the purplette how serious and mature her tone was.

'To be fair, if I have to care for an entire race of Sylph... it would have wizened me to no end...'

'I'm not that bad~ Right, Luka?'

'...'

Moving on, they both seems intent to not let him get to Sara. And from the looks of it, this is a setup for some kind of rituals they were about to perform.

Luka stood his full height, eyeing the two powerful monsters in determination.

"Why have you kidnapped my friend?"

"You refer to a royalty as simply a friend, human?" The fairy asks back.

Still holding her bow tightly, the Elf next to her spoke again.

"This region had once been our home... that is until you humans forcefully took it from us."

Sharp, hateful green eyes pierces through him.

"Before, we were a peaceful race. We do not want conflicts of any kind with another race. But now, we seem to have no other choices."

"You think kidnapping someone's daughter is going to solves the problems...?"

He saw the Fairy slightly faltering at his words.

"Had you not taken her on her birthday party, and talk it out with the King, then I'm sure he would have listened to your plight..."

"Do not patronized me, human!" She heatedly replies. "As the Queen of Elf, it is my duty to serves my people and bring them to a brighter future... if this is the only way, then so be it..."

"...Your plan, what is it?"

What are they going to do to his royal friend?

"We will make it clear to everyone how serious we are." The Fairy begins. "First, by turning the princess into a monster like us. And then every other human who opposed us."

"That is madness!" Their plan would only make things worse.

An all-out war between their races... he wouldn't let that happens.

"Desperate time calls for desperate measures..."

With their face set in a determined stare, he realizes that speaking would not work. He would need to subdue them like he did with Lily.

Hopefully they would come around unlike her...

He was first up against the smaller of the two. Queen Elf moving next to Sara and started chanting a spell. Presumably the one used for the monsterization.

"You humans have been harming nature and taking our land for too long. As the Queen of Fairy, I will punish your crimes!"

'Nah, Luka never does that~'

'Then maybe you should tell her...?'

'Good idea! I'll do that after my buddy beat her up~'

'...' A wave of concern emanates from Gnome.

'Don't let your guard down, young man. She may be small, but her magic is nothing to look down on.'

He wasn't planning to, so he nodded and prepares for the showdown.

Deciding to try something he did back in the colosseum, he focuses on his connections to his least compatible spirits.

"Become my strength, Gnome!"

The forest dweller doesn't stop as his skin became a bit tougher, vitality coursing through his body. Instead, he continues with his second chants.

"Ignite my soul, Salamander!"

Now that his contract with Gnome has made him slightly more durable, he should be able to handle her fire better.

"You have contracts with the original Spirits!?" Caught off guard by this, Queen Fairy backed away in shock.

Wise, considering how powerful the spirits have made him.

Now... if only he could do something about the uncomfortable way his body is reacting to it.

'I'm guessing this is happening because you're now the complete opposite of your nature, young man. Your body is not used to being so harden and heated up.'

He blushes. 'Please don't phrase it like that...'

"...Nevertheless, I will fight for the good of my people!"

Casting a strengthening spell on herself, his opponent went for a binding attack.

[Ivy Bind!]

Hundreds of vines roses from the ground before her and rushes towards him. He took a deep breath, centering himself and unleash a devastating counter.

[Burning Gale!]

The thrusting attack overpowered her vines and burned the rest to ashes. In a show of experience, instead of pausing in surprise, the Queen of Fairy launches another wave of vines at him. This time they came from every angle to surrounds him.

Unlike how he would usually fight, the purplette rooted himself on the spot and tap into the flow, parrying the attacks all around him without wasting too much energy and countering it by sending out a flaming wind blade towards Queen Fairy.

[Fanatic Dahlia!]

By the time she finished defending herself, he has already leaped into the air.

Like a burning meteor, the forest dweller left a trail of fire behind him as he descent into the ritual site. All the monsters nearby saw this and panicked even harder than before. Thinking he was going to destroyed the whole place.

"I won't let you!"

Using every inch of her magical prowess, she summons hundreds upon thousands of giant vines to covered the ritual site, doing everything in her power to defend it.

However, being the burning meteor he is currently, even before he hit the dome of vines it begins to burned at a rapid pace.

Luka remembers the name of the technique, the same one Granberia uses on him. And ignites his flaming soul like she did.

[Earth Rumbling Decapitation!]

The wall of giant vines did an admirable job of defending Queen Fairy and the ritual site, the problem isn't that they were weak. It's that in the face of Gnome and Salamander's combined might, those defenses meant nothing.

CRASH!

"Ghk!" Grunting in exhaustions, the Queen's eyes widened in horror as her opponent broke through her strongest magic with ease.

Pieces of rocks and burning vines flying everywhere, she covers her people with a wind shield reflectively. Not even thinking of her own safety as her friend calls out to her.

"Airy! Behind you!"

"!?" Heeding the shout of warning, she turns to find Luka raising his weapon for another devastating attack.

"It's over..."

As the burning sword falls towards her, she knew the fight was over. Not durable enough to power through it, not fast enough to dodge it point blank. Not even capable of countering with her own magic since it would leave her people defenseless.

The Queen of Fairy closes her eyes in acceptance.

SWOOSH!

From his partner, a blade of wind appears, moving right pass his opponent and pushing back all the debris about to crush her people.

"What the-!?"

That's not all. Looking back closely, she saw another monster had form a big sphere of wind around her people to keep them safe from the impact of Luka's technique. Once the dust had settled, it was revealed to be a Fairy she had never seen before.

"Annnddddd done~ Told you It was fine, buddy!"

"You... I've never met you, who are you?"

"Hmm? Oh! Y'know, just your friendly neighborhood Sylph~"

This took her aback. "S-Sylph!? As in, the one of the four original Spirits?"

"That's me!" His fairy friend let out a chuckle, flying next to him and faces the Queen again.

"Are you and that friend of yours willing to speak now?"

"I..." With a conflicted expression, she stops the fight between them.

While it was good that she stands down, now Luka had to dealt with Elf Queen who had paused from her chanting after his powerful attack.

Moving behind the unprepared monster, he raises his partner next to her neck.

"This is the end of your plan. Give up."

"You-!?"

In an instance, all four of his Spirits flare their powers.

The presence of a warrior supported by the four elemental Spirits was too much for her to lie to herself. No matter how talented she is since birth, Queen Elf couldn't win against him.

Disheartened, she drops her bow in defeat, her long blond hair covering her face.

"I forfeit, you have won..."

And with that, this whole mess is concluded.

Luka let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was only for one second, but having four spirits giving him their powers was too much for his body to handle.

He would need to train himself some more.

"Tell me, human..."

"What is it, Your Majesty?" He decided to refer to her politely now that the situation is over.

"Is it true? your words... will the King really listen to our plight?"

"...From the way you have acted, to seeing your expressions. I can tell that you both had truly care for your races. It may have been misguided, but your actions are born out of love for your people..."

"..."

"..."

He gave them both an understanding look.

"I'll give my words to the King about the situation here, and I'll even encourage for the people here to stop tarnishing nature..."

"Truely...?" She asks in disbelief.

"!?" Gasped Queen Fairy.

At this, he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck.

"Well... They have started calling me a hero and such... despite my protest. So my words should have more weight to it..."

They really didn't know how to feel about this. They're a step closer in saving their races, but it was only made possible without any bloodsheds through this young man in front of them.

The one they had attacked earlier...

"But...why?"

"Human, are you after something from us?"

His face went a bit red at this, "I have my reasons... mainly because I believe your people deserve to live in their own land, and the other is because I was planning on giving the woman I love a ring in the future..."

"What does that last part have to do with this?"

"Donna's an Elf... so I was hoping as the Queen, Your Majesty could give me some pointers..."

"..."

"..."

Life has a strange way of teaching them a lesson, doesn't it?

"I see..." Awkwardly looking away from the human in front of her, Queen Elf tries her best not to let her mask falls.

"Can I come to the wedding...?" Airy couldn't help but asks.

His face brightens, blinding them both.

"Oh sure! I'd love for the Queen of Fairy and Queen of Elf to be a guest!"

'Honestly...'

'...This human.'

They both admits, they were utterly and completely defeated. Physically, mentally and morally. This humanhas proven himself to be a better person in every way.

"Tell us, Sabasa's champion, what is your name?"

Oh right, he never told them, didn't he?

"I'm not a champion Your Majesty, just a traveler..."

"As for my name, it's-"

BOOM!

The three of them froze in shock as a presence more powerful than a Queen-class monster appears.

He once again drew Iris from her sheath. Turning to the source of raw power to find-

"Sara...?"

Back to the present

'If only I had come here sooner...'

With dark purple hair, two identical goat-like horns growing from the side of her head, a tattoo of black hearts all over her the left side of her body and a pair of large bat wings and black arrow-tiptail on her back.

Sara barely looks like her old self now, only a monster driven by instinct.

"H-How can this be!? The ritual wasn't finished, she should still be a human!" Queen Elf said in distress.

"This is dangerous... Everyone, stay back!" More worry for their people, Queen Fairy orders for her race to back away.

Horrified by what has happened, Luka cautiously approach the newly born Succubus.

"Sara... can you hear me?"

"Fufu~ I like you~!" Like a snake striking its pray, one of her hands goes for his shoulder, attempting to drags him closer.

"Please..." He said softly, now standing behind her.

"Hmm~?" Tilting her head in confusions, the Succubus turns to his voice.

The forest dweller points to her hand, the one with the dragon marking.

"Remember that? We went on a journey together for that marking so you could confess your love to Granberia..."

"..."

"I'm your friend Luka... remember...?"

Slowly, as if putting together a puzzle inside her mind... she gradually starts to become self-aware. The red in her eyes turning its previous dark blue.

"I... what is...?" Her voice becomes clearer, less slurry like before.

Yes! She's doing it!

"W-What happened to me...?" The Succubus falters to her knee.

In his relief, the forest dweller made the mistake of trying to help her up.

"Don't push yourself..."

'Young man! Don't touch her!'

Salamander's warning came too late. As soon as she made contact with his arms, her new monster body instinctively grabs on to him and as he tries to leap back, her tail whipped forward and circles around his torso.

What is she trying to-!?

SNIFFFFFFFFFF~

Stuffing her face into his cloak - to his chest - the first thing she did was getting as much of his scents as possible.

"Ahhh~! My head is way better now!"

"Sara! Snaps out of it!"

"Nope~!" She cheekily winks back at him, her voice now clearer than before but her lust remains. Before he could say more, a wave of pleasure magic was pumped into his body.

"Ah!"

'Is she turning even more into a monster!?'

'It could be possible her monsterization wasn't completed before...'

'Wait... did sniffing our contractor solidify her monsterization?'

'...?' Even Gnome is confused.

Sara brough her face closer to his, their noses touching.

The fact she is naked at this moment is certainly not helping...

"Hmm... I remember you."

It took him by surprise.

"You do...?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "It's fuzzy... but I do remember a cute boy following me around the desert~!"

"Ah... I'm actually an adult..." He feels the need to clarify.

"Really? Aww..."

RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG. RED FLAG.

WHY DOES SHE SOUNDS DISSAPOINTED!?

'This is bad! Her monsterization is even worse than I thought!'

It's turning his friend into a degenerate shotacon!

'To be fair, young man. You do looks like a-'

'MOVING ON!'

The newborn Succubus then started spinning them around in a parody of a waltz.

"But that fine~ I'll still be happy with you as you are!"

Her eyes turn back to crimson, shining a bright red.

"It's gonna be so much fun~!"

"Oh..."

...

A beat pass.

...

And another.

...

And another one.

...

"..." The forest dweller solemnly accepted the truth of the situation.

Sara is not there anymore... a transformation of this extent is probably permanent...

He has to fight her now... he was too late...

Pathetic... you can't even save your own friend...

"I'm sorry..."

"Hmm~?"

Reaching deep inside of him, pass his sadness... pass his self-hate... Luka grabs a hold of his magic, and push.

FWOOSH!

"Gah!?" Taken off guard by his powerful wind barrier, Sara had no choice but to let go of him.

"Hey! Where are you going~?"

"I'll see if there's anything I can do for you after this... I promise."

Just like how you promised mother?

The Succubus could only laugh merrily at this.

"Fufufu~ Now, don't be like that..."

His breathing is getting heavier, his body hotter, her pleasure magic is almost as potent as Alma Elma's despite just learning how to use it. It's going to be another difficult fight for him...

'Focus, Luka.' Undine advices him. 'You have a better grasp on my power than before, you can use it to wash away the pleasure magic if you concentrate...'

[Undine's Cure]

And that he did. Like the freakishly compatible contractor he is with Undine's power, he manages to washed away 80% of the pleasure magic out of himself on his first try.

'...' A wave of envy can be felt from Gnome, wishing Luka has an affinity with her too.

'Yeah... I can relate.' Salamander comforted her silent friend.

Not wasting any more time, the forest dweller taps into the deepest levels of the flow.

[SERENE MIND]

The world slows to a crawl. Giving him more than enough time to send out a wave of wind blades towards Sara.

[Cyclone Blades!]

The Succubus' eyes widened in awe and panic. Flexing her wings, she took off into the sky and chases after him.

What she wasn't expecting was for all the wind blades to follows her even as she dodges them.

"How are you so strong!? This is so unfair!"

"..." He watches, as Sara complains, she blocks one of his attacks with her bare hand and kick the others away in a perfect roundhouse, something he was pretty sure her previous self couldn't do.

Keep in mind, she's an unexperienced monster fighting a person with four Spirits backing him up and she's doing better than most people he has fought.

...She really doesn't have the right to say that to him...

===0===

This is so infuriating!

Why can't she catch him!? She did it so easily before!

The more and more she got near him, the more distance he put between them. It's like he knew where she's going to be before she even got there!

Seeing him uses his magic skills, the newborn Succubus tries to copy him. The giant source of magic in her soul listening to her command.

The unfortunate thing is that as someone who has never uses magic before, all of her talent is useless. She can't even do anything complex like he can, only a chaotic burst of pure magic shooting out of her.

"Hmm~ Maybe after I caught Luka again, I'll have him teaches me some of his tricks~?"

Yeah... that's a great idea!

Speaking of Luka. He's still keeping his distance from her with that glowing wooden sword of his. She thought it was kind of cute how harmless it looks.

It wasn't cute how painful being hit by it is. But her point still stands.

Bringing a hand to her mouth, Sara let out a yawn.

...

Wait a minute...

Since when is she so tired...?

Just ten minutes ago she was full of energy! And now she's barely holding herself up!

"What is... happening...?" Sara's voice got weaker.

The last thing she saw before falling asleep is the strange giant verdant circle that was under them.

Did he... placed it there the whole time...?

"ZzZzZzZzzz..."

===0===

A Succubus' vitality is truly frightening.

It took several minutes of Sylph's lullaby to put her to sleep.

But it isfinally over...

Confirming that she was asleep, he decided to be more cautious and have the wind gently places her down to the ground.

Well, as gentle as it can on a scorched battle field...

Taking off his brown cloak, he places it over her naked body. Making sure his friend still has some dignities after waking up.

How does he fix this?

What could he even do to help...?

From the background, he senses two presences coming already knew their identity, and ask if there's anything that could be done.

"We deeply regret our actions; please understandwe have no excuse to hide behind..."

"Indeed, I apologize, Luka. But there's has been no archived way toundo a monsterization..."

"I see..."

If only he knew someone who could her. Lily is too stubborn to help them, and he doesn't want to risk upsetting Sphinx with this news. It would be a massive problem for him.

'Is there... anyone else I knew who's knowledgeable in this...?'

Tamamo and Alice? But they're on a different continent right now...

The forest dweller started brainstorming for an answer. His mind going overdrives through all of his knowledges on the topics of monsters that he had read in the Underground Library.

Perhaps... if another experienced Succubus could teach Sara how to control herself was here?

That's it! The Succubus Village!

If he can find someone there who's willing to help his friend, he could maybe bring out her old self again!

The forest dweller was about to commit to his last-minute plan. Willingly going to a place he felt uncomfortable even thinking about for the sake of his friend.

A certain Succubus has something else in mind, however.

"My oh my, what is happening here~?

He froze on the spot, cold sweat running down his face.

...You're not trying to replace me, are you?

Memories of their cat and mouse chases coming back.

...Luka-boy~"

END OF CHAPTER


Author's note: Tried something different this time (different for me) and feel everything turns out well enough. Be sure to read the next chapter where our favorite forest dweller experiences a cannon event.