A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 40: Now For Wrath, Now for Ruin, and Foxfire Burning!
[Ninya]
"NIN-" Mom screamed out as she rushed to me in her large fox form, and I felt hope that she would save me! But before I could even blink, we were no longer in the rain. We were no longer outside. Mom was no longer there.
I began sobbing as that moment of being rescued was snatched away in an instant. Mom had just been right there, and yet, she wasn't fast enough. And now? I was left in the hands of these monsters to do whatever they wanted with me. And I was completely helpless because of the webs binding me and the venom coursing through my body, paralyzing me.
"We have finally arrived." The one human in this bunch of monsters announced. He had messy blond hair that was matted down from the rain while his eyes were a pitch-black that gazed at me with contempt and hatred which I could not find understand a reason for why that was. And then, there were the robes he wore.
I may not know much about the Slane Theocracy, aside from the obvious facts, but I did know what the uniforms of some of their soldiers looked like after that encounter earlier today. And while the color was different, the design was too similar to be coincidence.
This man was one of them. He wore a dark-teal robe outlined in white, a short dark-teal cape, and a belt filled with pouches and potion bottles. And all I could wonder through my tears was what the Slane Theocracy wanted with me?
"As I promised, you may play with girl until my mistress arrives. But the only rule I have is that she must be unspoiled." Oh, gods! I didn't want to be left in the hands of these monsters anymore. They had stripped me, toyed with me, and then tightly wrapped me up in a way that pulled on my shoulders, legs, and other places that felt unbearable.
But there was nothing that I could do because of the paralysis that prevented me from trying to shift to a more comfortable position. And then there was the unbearable itching of my ears, head, and lower back that I could do nothing to relieve.
I just want to go home! I want to be with mom, Tuare, and my friends in someplace warm! I don't want to be in this dark cave amongst these monsters!
"Thank you, master! We promise that the cute prey will not have a single piece of it broken when you need her next, master!" The spider woman said before groping me, earning a barely audible cry of shock over my sobbing.
Then, the spider woman near my head leaned over me until her face was the only thing that I could look at, "Oh, cute prey, why ever are you so sad? We'll get to have so much fun together, though I only wish that we were able to utilize you as an incubator or soften up your insides with acidic venom." She said with some disappointment as she caressed my cheek.
Her touch instinctively made me want to recoil away, but I could only remain in place, trapped with my thumping heart and fear. Then, the spider woman by my feet began prodding me in certain spots, making me want to scream! Stop touching me!
"I'll leave her in your care." The Slane soldier said before walking off into the cave. No, don't leave me alone with them! I wanted to beg to him. Instead, I was left alone with nothing but malicious giggling.
"Now, cute prey, you're alone to our tender care. Sisters, we should make a comfortable bed for our cute prey. She only deserves the best, after all." The spider woman carrying me proposed, earning nods from the other two as they skittered from my field of view. Then, I was rolled over in her hands until I was facing the earthen floor of the cave.
Behind me, I hear more giggling along with various other noises that I couldn't identify, but sounded so loud in my itching ears. I barely had any time for a reprieve when something suddenly started hoisting me into the air by my feet and shoulders.
My body was lifted from the grasp of the monster holding me, and I could smell the growing scent of the two other spider women right above me. When I was about 15 feet off of the ground, the back of my body finally hit resistance and I felt horrible hands tighten something around my throat, waist, and ankles to hold me in place.
A few moments, later, the scent of the third spider woman grew stronger as whatever I was attached to seemed to slightly bounce with any movement made by the monsters behind me. Then, out of the corner of my eye, the excitable spider monster skittered over to me while standing upside-down until her spider legs and thorax straddled my waist while she leaned her human torso over me until our faces were inches apart.
"You know, with that little resilience you have, I wonder if your body has recovered from the venom enough to make louder noises?" She asked in amusement as her thumb brushed over my web-covered lips. While she did that, my teeth felt like they were elongating and sharpening in my mouth. What was happening to me?!
"I just love when my toys squeal!" She then grabbed me, and much to her delight, I ended up squealing just how she wanted. And as this happened, I could feel movement coming back to my body from the slight twitches I could make. "OH, I was right!"
Gods, my head and ears are so unbearably itchy while something feels like it's trying to poke its way out of my tailbone! Everything feels too tight!
"Sister, look!" The first spider woman said, which sounded so loud, as she came into view while gazing to the top of my head. "Our cute prey is changing just for us, it seems!" Why does she sound so loud?! What does she mean by changing?!
Saying this, the monster reached for the top of my head, towards what I thought was my hair. Then, she grabbed it and pulled.
"MMMMMMMMMMPH!" I screamed through my gag, over the venom in my veins, as it felt like she had just grabbed a bundle of raw nerves and pulled on them! And she still hadn't let go of whatever it was, in fact, she only tightened her grip and elicited more screams of agony from me.
"This seems like so much fun! Our cute prey is singing such a sweet song." As the spider woman straddling me excitedly cried, she reached up to the other side of my head and yanked. My vision went white at this point as I screamed at the agony and received only more giggling and excited words from the monsters before they finally stopped yanking whatever was on top of my head.
I found myself sobbing after going through that torture. "Sisters, I've always wanted to have a pet. Our cute prey seems like she wants to grant that wish by growing the cute features of one!" The monster that once carried me said.
Features? What features? Just let me go. I want to go home…
"If our cute prey is a pet, then I'd assume that, like any good puppy, she'd just love it if I did this." The excitable monster said before rubbing whatever she was holding. My body betrayed me as an extremely pleasurable sensation filled my body and a moan left my lips.
Just stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!
My ears then rang with the sounds of heavy metal boots impacting the earth. It echoed throughout the cave, and the spider women stopped their ministrations on me and backed away. When they did so, I was greeted to the figure of a woman encased in heavy plate armor striding towards where I hung in the air.
The coloring of the armor was mainly dark purple, with a silver-colored breastplate, armor edging, and stylistic horns attached to the helmet. At least, I thought they might be stylistic. Along with that, she had large pauldrons made of a dark metal and similar colored lengths of cloth at both sides of her hips.
The armor looked completely impregnable aside from the slits on the helmet that acted as a visor and revealed a pair of yellow dots glowing within. At her approach, I could just feel the power coming off of her, along with an immense malice aimed at me.
Trailing besides her was the Slane Theocracy soldier who followed after this woman with a doting expression etched upon his face. As she got closer, my heart started hammering in my chest.
"I am…pleased at your success, Gunter." The woman's cold and cruel voice echoed from within the helmet.
"Thank you, my mistress! I live to serve you, your Majesty." The man groveled, making me wonder who this royal was if a soldier of the Slane Theocracy was obeying her?
"Gunter, have your summons bring the girl down to me. I'd like to examine her." She commanded, earning nods and bows from Gunter.
"Right away, your Majesty." He said before looking up to me and the spider women and gesturing, "Do as her Majesty commands."
I soon felt bouncing movement on, what I assumed to be a web at this point, as the spider women moved to follow Gunter's order. I heard the snap of lines being cut before I was lowered down by my shoulders and feet until I hung at the armored woman's eye-level.
Due to the venom still within me, and despite my body's best attempts to clear it out of my system, I was unable to muster the strength to even raise my head up. Instead, my eyes could only see the woman's heeled boots.
That didn't last for long as the woman tightly grasped the bottom of my jaw and roughly jerked my head up, earning my muffled grunt of surprise and pain from the act as she studied my face.
"How feeble and helpless you look right now, whore spawn." She commented.
"Mmph?!" I found myself trying to question.
"Oh, yes, girl, you are that whore's spawn. Though, I believed you were human from the last reports I received from my spies." My eyes definitely shot open when I heard that. What did she mean that she thought I was human?
"She was, mistress of the master. Before our very eyes, the girl began changing." The excitable spider woman clarified, earning an ominous hum from the armored woman.
"Very interesting. That makes me wonder…" She leaned over my shoulder and I felt her hand tear at the webbing near my lower back, allowing the cold air to hit my bare skin while also releasing a great pressure that had been growing by my tailbone. "Ah, seems that I was correct."
Her armored hand then grabbed what felt like an extra limb, making me gasp in surprised worry before she gave a small yank to it, "MMMMMMMPH!" I screamed as it felt like another sensitive cluster of nerves was being pulled. This earned a cruel laugh from the woman as she stopped looking over my shoulder and met my gaze once more.
The woman's hand slid from holding my jaw down to her fingers slowly wrapping around my neck, adding an increasing pressure that was starting to strangle me!
"Like whore mother, like whore daughter. I think that the first thing I might do, once that wormy appendage has finished growing, is flay it and wear the fur as a nice scarf. Then, I'll chop it off and send the rest back to your whore mother as a gift to remember you by." She threatened, while I still couldn't understand what she was talking about.
Just as black dots began crowding my vision, her grip loosened, allowing me to breathe once again. "Are you not aware of the changes happening to you, whore spawn? No, it appears not. To answer that dying question in your mind, you seem to be turning into a mongrel fox, just like her."
I felt frozen upon hearing that. I was turning into a kitsune like mom?! How? And why was it even happening? Then, she put a finger to the chin of her helmet and made a tapping noise before laughing.
"Another, even better idea, just came to me! I could just rewrite your mind with [Control Amnesia] so that you would turn into my docile little pet. I could even show your whore mother how much you've changed as you become unable to recognize her." She mused, filling me with immense fear.
Then, like mom, a small black portal opened next to her that she stuck her hand in before pulling out a red ring on her middle finger, designed with a green gem in the center.
"Actually, I think I'll try that now. I'll turn you into my good little fox that begs me for treats and attention." The armored woman decided as her grip on my throat tightened. I wanted to get away from her, to move! But all I could muster was twitches from my body and muffled cries of fear.
She was going to take everything from me! I'd lose Tuare! I'd lose mom! I'd lose all my friends! Tears streamed down my face at the thought of losing my entire identity and becoming nothing more than a willing slave.
"Don't worry, pet, this will only hurt for a moment. Then, you won't even remember."
"NNNNMMPH!" I screamed as the green gem began to glow.
SOMEBODY, SAVE ME!
Then, the armored woman stopped and the glow receded as her hand pulled away from my face and went to the side of her horned helmet where she stayed silent before giving out a groan of annoyance. "I have urgent business to take care of in my…Theocracy. Gunter, ensure that the girl is still alive and usable for when I return to finish what I started. Other than this, you and your summons may use her in any way you see fit."
After saying this, the armored woman released my throat and pulled out a scroll from a dark portal, opened it, and then disappeared.
"As her Majesty said, you may continue to play with the girl." Gunter said with a wave of his hand. Even with the cruel woman's plan being delayed for slightly longer, that still didn't free me from the torment of the spider women as the lines holding me were quickly pulled up and I was tied to the web once more as the spider women giggled and surrounded me.
The excitable spider woman gave that monstrous grin of hers, "It appears that the rules have changed, cute prey. We only need to ensure that you are still alive and usable. Everything else is fair game." This made her burst into another giggling fit as she leaned over me with eyes full of sadistic glee.
Mid-giggle, the excitable monster's head was consumed in a blaze of blue flame as she screamed in agony, attempting to put out the fire, before falling off of where she had been sitting to the ground.
This allowed me to see a sight that made me cry in relief.
"MMMMPH!" MOM!
She was completely soaked in her white goddess outfit, and while she was standing instead of sleeping on a bed, I was able to see the difference in her hair length as it now reached her knees. Behind her, ten tails snaked about and bristled their fur. And her expression, one of fury beyond imagining, made me feel completely safe.
"Sis- AHHH!" The spider woman left to me had her head burst into blue flame, followed by the one on the right. As for Gunter, mom slammed him to the ground with one of tails before pulling him towards her outstretched finger that made contact with his forehead.
My eyes could see the shifting of mana encapsulate Gunter's head before he began screaming in agony. Then, a moment later, she stopped whatever spell she had cast and Gunter disappeared into a black portal before he had a chance to get a word in. Just as quickly as it opened, the portal closed after him, leaving mom standing there looking at me.
A moment later, mom was floating in front of me and whatever was holding me aloft was quickly cut, allowing me to fall into her arms.
"I've got you, kiddo." Mom said softly to me, all the fury gone and replaced by loving warmth.
[Earlier]
[Kashia]
I stood impatiently in the rain, waiting to hear from my servants on whether they had finally caught one of the bastards involved in Ninya's kidnapping. Each second that ticked by was another second that my Ninya was possibly suffering. Another moment where I had to listen to her static-sounding cries in my mind. Another moment where my rage began boiling to the point of overflowing.
Casting [Message] to call Puraimu, I quickly commanded, "Report. Have you captured one of the fuckers yet?"
'No, not yet, your Highness. The trail is growing warmer for me, but the storm does much to impede my tracking. I shall attempt to hasten my efforts.' He answered back. After contacting Puraimu, I ticked through all the other kitsune that I had sent searching for the accomplices.
Each one gave me the same answer as Puraimu, more or less. They still hadn't found the targets just yet. It took all my self-control to not just scream at the kitsune to hurry up. To tell them that they were failures.
To vent at least some of my frustration onto another person. But I kept myself in check.
My servants were doing the best they could in these conditions. They all knew how much Ninya's kidnapping upset me. All of them loved me, and in turn, adored my daughters, so they were all just as angry as I was.
To prevent myself from saying something I might regret, I ended the spell there and roared in rage while my tails smashed the ground around me.
Anything to let out this growing rage. This absolute urge to kill all those responsible. I would have it, and I would save my Ninya. Just a little bit longer. Momma's gonna be there soon.
Stop touching me!
Ninya's voice screamed in my mind, making me pace back and forth as my patience became harder to keep ahold of. Just wait a little bit longer.
Don't leave me alone with them!
My paws were loudly stomping into the earth as each second drew on to be longer and longer. I can wait a few moments more as I heard Ninya's screams in my mind once more.
I had turned into my humanoid form as I ripped the hat and veil off my head and tried letting the rain cool me down. Yet, it did little to alleviate my mind.
Just stop it. Stop it! STOP IT!
I was already reaching into my inventory and pulling out Shooting Star. More moments of waiting before I tried [Message] once more.
"Have you found them? Have you captured the bastards yet?!" I questioned as I heard Ninya's screams once again. I had already swapped out a ring with Shooting Star.
'I deeply apologize for continuing to disappoint you. I haven't caught them yet, but I feel that I'm soon to capture them. This I swear to you, your Highness.' Puraimu replied.
"I have no doubts about that." I consoled the kitsune before ending the spell. Just as I was about to contact the next kitsune, I couldn't wait anymore!
SOMEBODY, SAVE ME!
FUCK THIS!
I used up the second wish on my right as the massive spell array formed around me. My mind as it was analyzing the spell started coming up with many more potential ideas to create an alternate [Wish Upon a Star] spell, but I didn't really care. I only had one thing on my mind.
"I wish to be at the same place as my Ninya!" I shouted above the sounds of the storm. I could've probably phrased a better wish. I could've even made an altogether better wish. But I didn't have the time or patience to think about it that hard.
I only wanted to save my kit!
Being quickly surrounded by light, my location shifted to that of a cave lit up with a few lights. Looking around, my eyes instantly took in everything that I could see.
To my left, a man who hadn't noticed my arrival wearing a dark robe. He's the one that summoned all the spiders in the first place and was leading the 'soon suffering' band of kidnappers. But he was the least of my concern.
Up above the cave, in a massive spiderweb were three driders that surrounded my kit who had been fastened to that web, still wrapped up in those webs. The driders were all laughing at my kit. Giggling at what they might do to her.
Without hesitation, I launched a bolt of [Foxfire] at the drider leaning over my kit, completely engulfing her head in flame. That cut off her giggling as she was soon screaming in agony as she fell off the web and onto the ground.
I could've killed her instantly, but I wanted her to suffer the pain of burning in [Foxfire]. This gave me a clear sight of my kit, hope filling her completely golden eyes as she looked at me.
Already, I could see the changes that she had started to undergo as a beautiful pair of brunette-furred fox ears were slowly growing out of her head, getting longer as I watched.
"MMMMPH!" MOM! I could easily tell what she was shouting, even gagged as she was. But she wasn't safe just yet.
My eyes shifted over to the next spider bitch who was looking at where her compatriot had been. "Sis- AHHH!" The spider woman left to my kit was about to speak when, with barely a thought, I sent another bolt of blue fire that ignited her head, followed by the final drider.
I savored the screams of agony from both as the fell from their web screaming before I grabbed the man with my tail before he could react. Slamming him into the ground, I pulled him over to me and ripped whatever information I needed from his head.
Once finished, I threw the man, who I now knew was named Gunter, into a portal to an empty cell at Haven-Lake. I'd deal with him personally at a later time.
My kit was more important than giving out a just punishment. Casting a mixture of [Fly] and [Blink], I arrived right in front of Ninya and used my tails to cut her down while I gently caught her into my arms and held my kit tightly to me as I allowed us to float back down to the ground.
"I've got you, kiddo." I reassured her.
[Ninya]
We quickly floated down to the ground where Mom sat me down on the ground. My head slumped forwards due to the venom that made trying to move any part of my body an arduous task, even with this strong constitution I now had which was quickly trying to clear it.
Mom seemed to take notice of this as one of her tails quickly cast a spell on me, filling my body with a warmth that took away all my aches and pains, but more importantly, my paralysis. Instantly, my head shot up and I turned to look at mom who gently cupped my cheek with a smile, "Hold still." She said softly.
After that, my body felt warm for an instant while I heard the loud noise of a fire bursting to life before dying down. I noticed to things instantly. The first was that I felt very cold, while the second was that my body no longer felt bound by webbing.
Without a moment's hesitation, I jumped onto mom and wrapped her into a hug before I began crying from everything that happened. In return, mom held me tightly in her arms and tails.
"You're safe now. Momma's got you, and I promise that no one will ever hurt you while I'm around, Celicia-Ninya." Hearing mom say my full name for the first time made me cry all the harder.
"I-I w-was so s-scared." I sobbed out.
"I know you were, kiddo. So was I." She admitted and stroked my hair.
"T-The woman s-said th-that she w-was going t-to t-turn me i-into a p-pet and m-make me f-forget everyone w-with magic!" I choked out at how close I was to losing myself.
"It's okay. That woman will never touch you while I still breathe." Mom reassured me, at least until I heard something that chilled me to the bone.
"Let's fix that!" The woman's voice spat out and mom's tails quickly cocooned the pair of us. A moment later, our improvised shelter was smacked by something that caused us to fly into the air before the sound of cracking stone filled my ears and we impacted hard against the ground before skidding a few times.
I could hear the rain again, and pulling from mom's shoulder, I could see her face become a grimace. "Aw, is the mother fox trying to protect her baby?" Something smacked us again, launching us into the air before another hit threw us hard to the earth.
"You know, I had to delay something very important because of you tripping my wards! And that just PISSES!" Another hit launched us again, "ME!" Another hit, "OFF!"
I felt us crash into something, and looking at mom's face, I could see she was in a lot of pain. "Ninya," mom cast a spell on me, covering me in a hastily made green dress, "I'm going to send you back to the others so that you'll be safe."
"But mom, what about you? It looks like she's hurting you. Just come with me." I pleaded, hoping that she'd just join me. It terrified me that someone was able to hurt mom, and it made me all the more certain that I didn't want her to be alone.
Giving me a large grin, mom tousled my hair. "It's the parent's job to take care of the kid. Not the other way around, kiddo. I love you."
"Wait!" I didn't even get the chance to talk further as I was now sitting on mom's bed under the temple.
[Kashia]
I felt completely relieved to know that Ninya was now completely safe, even if slightly changed. But I planned to see both her and everyone else again very soon. I just needed to take care of this Demon Queen bitch beforehand.
Unwrapping my tails from myself, I assessed the damage done to them. Multiple heavy cuts littered them, leaking my golden blood on the ground. Even if the wounds were already rapidly healing, it still told me that this woman was incredibly powerful, probably between levels 90-100.
From all the information I ripped from Gunter, and I had a massive punishment in store for the little bastard later, the woman was apparently the secretive true leader of the Slane Theocracy for centuries. She had organized the plan to kidnap Ninya so as to have a hostage against me when she attempted to take over the world.
Not happening. I'm ending this bitch today. Then, I'm heading to the Slane Theocracy to take care of it next.
Over the continual rain, my ears picked up the sound of her dropping down above me. Forming eight of my tails into a shield over my head, I felt the biting impact of either a sword or an axe on my tails, making me grit my teeth as the attack slightly cut into my flesh.
At the same time, the ground cratered beneath my feet while a shockwave of force knocked down the trees around us that hadn't already fallen from me being pin-balled here.
"Planning on fighting back now, cunt? Where's your little whore spawn at? I'm just dying to make her my little pet!" She taunted me, earning a growl of rage as my two free tails charged up a [Foxfire Spear] before firing them at the woman, launching her off me from the concussive force, but seeming to do little damage to that armor she wore.
"Oh, I plan to fight back. I only held back because my daughter was with me and I didn't want her getting hurt. But now? Nothing's holding me back from wiping your armored ass off the face of this realm." I countered while putting my hair up into its usual ponytail.
"Like that could happen, whore. I've studied you for a while now. I know how you tick. So, I'll give you the chance to surrender now. Do so, and I'll even allow your brat to remember who you are after I've put a collar on her." The thought of this bitch touching my kit anymore than she already had absolutely infuriated me.
"FUCK YOU!" I shouted back while firing off ten [Greater Fireballs] from my tails at this Demon Queen. She didn't move from her spot, making me narrow my eyes for anything. I was right on this assumption as, with a swing of the flat of her axe, all the projectiles were sent flying right back at me.
Casting [Blink] to appear 20 feet left, I didn't expect for her to have a bead on me and immediately begin dashing towards me with her axe readied. I blinked again 30 feet behind her as the fireballs went off, engulfing a large swath of trees.
The Demon Queen immediately halted her charge and turned on a dime to charge at me once again. It gave me mere moments to analyze my opponent.
She's immensely strong and fast despite her heavy armor. Her armor can tank hits from my 4th Tier spells, and likely lower, without much damage, despite my [Magic Penetration II] passive. Projectile attacks won't work on her since she can parry them back to me. I know she has to use the skill consciously, otherwise my [Foxfire Spears] wouldn't have hit her, middling damage regardless.
AoEs, beams, and other non-projectile based attacks are my only option unless she's otherwise occupied. All in all, she's a high-speed melee fighter with tanking abilities and heavy physical damage.
If I am unable to block one of her direct hits with my tails, I'm either getting heavily injured or killed by her.
Fuck, she's an annoying matchup.
I blinked above her by 30 feet when she stopped, quickly located me, and pounced from the ground in a single bound, all in the span of one second, even faster than before. Fuck!
Unable to [Blink] in time, I shielded my body with my tails as the Demon Queen slammed my tails with her axe, then, the pressure disappeared and my ears picked up the change of noise above me.
Not even taking the time to look, I covered my head with five of my tails, feeling the bite of her axe in my tails before rocketing to the ground in a crater, my remaining tails cushioning my impact.
I grinned. Funny thing about momentum. It really sucks when you're in the air without anything to kill the movement. Without a second to waste, I cast [Ray of Foxfire], sending a glowing blue beam that impacted her in the chestplate, sending her veering off course and cratering the area ten feet next to me.
Without a moment to spare, and her eyes not on me, I cast [Replicant], followed by [Blink]. Arriving behind the trees that were still standing, I started buffing myself while studying the Demon Queen and my copy.
Just as I would do, my copy blinked out of the crater as the Demon Queen literally charged through the earth between the crater I had landed in and hers before bursting out on the other side with her axe swinging down on where I had once been.
Instantly, my copy dropped [Foxfire Annihilation] into the crater before the bitch could react, earning a scream of annoyance before her axe flew out of the crater of fire at my copy who easily deflected it with her tail.
What neither she, nor I, expected was for the Demon Queen to have swapped places with her axe using a, "[Transposition]!" Skill before swiftly landing a haymaker on my copy's face.
That cancelled her spell as she was sent flying 30 feet away, skipping across the ground until her tails finally anchored her to the earth. She had a massive bruise on her cheek with a few cuts on her cheekbone that bled gold. A moment later, I watched her spit gold blood and a few molars to the ground. Afterwards, she wiped any remaining traces of blood away from her mouth with her sleeve.
"Aren't you just an interesting bag of tricks." My copy remarked as the Demon Queen cracked her knuckles.
"I have more than enough tricks to break you. You know, if I'm feeling merciful, I might just turn you into my pet, like I will your whore spawn. That way, a mother and daughter won't have to be separated from each other, even if you're unable to remember who the other is. Oh, I'll even grab your older daughter as well." She then proceeded to laugh, causing both my copy and I to glare at her.
"I'll have the full familial set of bitches at my beck and call, all together with each other. Aren't I just generous?" My copy growled in my place as I had to remain silent.
"Bitch, mention another word about my daughters again and I'll cunt-punt you so hard that your crotchplate's going to become your new IUD." My copy voiced for me.
"I don't even know what that is, whore." The Demon Queen said with amusement.
"Don't worry, you'll find out." My copy promised with a smirk before she cast [Earth Fangs] level with the bitch's crotch. She barely was able to jump before the attack shot her in the air and my copy set upon her with three casts of [Ray of Foxfire], initially impacting her right shoulder, chestplate, and left leg.
"[Transposition]!" She shouted and swapped places with a nearby rock, instantly rushing at my copy with another punch readied. I took quick notice of the fact that the spots my copy's spells had hit were glowing red with some denting.
My copy blocked the Demon Queen's first punch with a tail, earning a heavy hit that created a loud crack in the air from breaking the sound barrier. Another swing at her face, blocked with another loud crack. Finally, faster than my copy could react, the Demon Queen kicked a knee into my copy's stomach, winding her and making her cough up blood until it was followed up by another punch at her face.
With a resounding crack as a tail quickly shifted in to take the hit, but regardless of the damage being prevented, my copy was still thrown off her feet and through the air, sliding against the ground until she pushed herself back onto her feet.
Her dress was in tatters at this point, barely covering her modesty, while any parts that remained that were once white were now stained brown with mud or gold with blood.
Spitting out another glob of gold blood, my copy looked at the Demon Queen warily. "Is this really all you have to offer me? Where is that vampire slayer that killed said vampire without a scratch? What kind of goddess is able to be defeated by mortal hands? You're a weakling and a fraud." The Demon Queen said as she calmly walked to my copy without an ounce of worry.
"And how did you know about me killing a vampire?"
"Because it was I who had her bewitched with a World Item. I watched your fight while planning and waiting. Killing you or enslaving you aids my plans. But before that, I'm going to break you."
That earned a chuckle from my copy, "I've had a bit of a suspicion about you. You're a Player, aren't you?"
"Wouldn't you just love to know." The bitch replied and dashed up to my copy in an inhuman burst of speed. But my copy already expected this and blinked away and launched a prepared beam of [Foxfire] at the Demon Queen's back before she could pivot, launching her across the battlefield and knocking down a few trees in the process.
The problem in dealing with this bitch by using powerful AoEs against her was due to that [Tranposition] skill of hers. She could just switch the caster's position with hers. But that was an issue my copy planned to deal with quickly. With the brief respite of a few seconds, my copy cast [Law of Planar Movement]. No more of that teleportation switching bullshit.
An instant later, a fallen tree burst from the section of the forest the bitch had crashed like a javelin, aimed directly at my copy. She responded by launching a [Fireball] at the improved weapon. As the attack landed, blowing up the tree into flaming pieces of wood, two beings shot out of the forest together. One of them was the bitch who shot off towards the crater with her axe still inside.
The other was a bicorn. It was a dark horse with a purple mane and tail, crimson eyes, and dark armor across its body. On the monster's head, giving it its titular name, was a pair of silver horns that were currently aimed to impale my copy in a charge.
Her hearing and sense of smell quickly picked up on the incoming threat and, without hesitation, she cast [Foxfire Annihilation] on the monster. The bicorn quickly jumped over most of the attack, but its legs took the brunt of the hit, heavily burning them to begin revealing bone.
The bicorn whined in pain as two of my copy's tails cast [Incineration Bomb], impacting, one after the other, on the demonic horse as orbs that rapidly expanded into a pair of suns. This had the added effect of temporarily making it appear as if it was daytime for a brief moment amidst the storm.
That was when the Demon Queen rushed at my copy with her axe in full swing. Slightly prepared for such an attack, my copy blocked the strike with four of her tails and quickly wrapped those tails around the axe to have a grip on them. Two more of her tails anchored her into the ground to prevent her from flying, and four others rapidly stabbed at the Demon Queen's armor.
Where her tails hit, sparks erupted, but she wasn't finished with her retaliation. A [Greater Fireball] was cast from her hands, point-blank. "Parry this, you cunt!"
An explosion of fire consumed the pair as the shockwave from it quickly launched the two to opposite ends of the battlefield. Much to mine, and the copy's pleasure, the Demon Queen lost her grip on her axe while my copy held it.
Without hesitation, and mid-flight, she stored it away into our inventory, removing the weapon from the battle. Then, she crashed into the ground, her tails cushioning the landing. From what I could see, even without our magic resisting passive, the combined effect of our [World Disaster] class combined with it being a point-blank hit, had covered her in slowly healing burns, while the clothes she wore had been mostly annihilated in the blast.
"All of that damage to yourself, and for what? My bardiche? I don't need it to tear you apart. I'll ensure that you'll hand it back to me while begging for mercy, whore." The Demon Queen spat out as she stood up. I was happy to note that her armor had heavy scorching and some slight signs of melting, mostly at the chestplate.
My copy pushed herself to her feet with a grin. "The fact that me taking your toy is pissing you off certainly makes me happy. I'd say that's worth it." That was followed with a laugh, earning a growl from the bitch as she charged.
This time, my copy attempted something different. She fired off five [Foxfire Javelins] from her tails at the bitch, yet instead of reflecting them back, the Demon Queen actually dodged each one instead of parrying them back at my copy.
Her parrying skill requires a weapon. Good to know.
But as my copy continued barely avoiding the Demon Queen speed-blitzing her, I decided that I wanted to try something I haven't done in about a month. It had the risk of likely backfiring, but it was acceptable when going against another Player that really wanted to kill me, or if not that, then break me to pieces.
Casting [Silence] on my location, followed by setting up an illusionary image of the section of forest I was at, I used my skill, [Loki's Call], to hopefully bring in another ally to this fight.
Beneath my feet, a green runic circle grew and the winds of the rainstorm quickly picked up while a green pillar that was six feet high grew in front of me. Whatever light that still existed in the area was soon sucked into that pillar as my ally was on the verge of being summoned.
Please be Loki or Hel. Loki or Hel. Loki or- fuck…
I then watched the pillar shrink before my eyes until it was only two feet high. Then, it burst into fragments of mana, releasing all the trapped light to reveal a foot tall, red-furred squirrel with ears that stuck up from his head by four inches. He had a long and bushy tail that was almost three feet long with what seemed to be tiny white roots entwined in its fur.
By all means, Ratatoskr looked like a mostly normal, if slightly larger, squirrel. Then, his beady green eyes traced themselves up and down my body with, what felt like, a lecherous look. Following that, he slicked his ears back, resulting in them just springing back up again.
"Hello, Sugar-Tits! I knew that your shapely foxy ass couldn't resist summoning my handsome self! Come to Toski!" He greeted before scampering over to me, faster than I could blink or react, climbed up my boot, then dress, then he crawled up through my cleavage until his head popped out on top.
"Ratatoskr, I wasn't exactly hoping to summon you since I needed a heavy hitter. And get out of my cleavage." I said with exasperation as I replayed all the other times I ended up summoning this squirrel.
Usually, he'd only really be good for support. And by support, he'd only taunt enemies, aggroing them onto his furry ass. His YGGDRASIL game incarnation was fairly lackluster, especially since, while not having an actual health bar, he had a hit count. After taking nine hits, he'd blow a raspberry at the enemy and then leave.
Perhaps the real version of Ratatoskr would be better? Fuck, I hope so.
"Sorry, Sugar-Tits, but no can do. Ya' summoned me out in a cold rainstorm and your bountiful jugs are warm and comfortable. Besides, you summoned me for a reason, and if ya' want my amazing services, I'm gonna need a little payment." He then taunted me by further wiggling into me and giving a bucktoothed grin.
I simply glared at the rodent, before my eyes focused on the battle of my copy and the Demon Queen once more. What I found interesting was that, even with her axe taken away, she had started improvising with ripping off tree branches to parry attacks back at my copy. Each branch would instantly break upon reflecting the attack, but since there were more than enough branches around us, she had an infinite number of weapons to use.
All I could say for certain is that she had a good strategy to fight me with. Well, if she had been fighting me, that is. Utilizing her speed to stick close to my copy, the Demon Queen barely gave any moment's reprieve for my copy. Her natural durability also helped her ignore any hits that my copy was able to get in, even if her armor was being slightly damaged from the attacks.
And then, there's her immense strength to keep in mind. Any hits she gave were absolutely brutal to take. What didn't help matters is that the Demon Queen was getting scarily good at predicting where my copy would [Blink] to.
I've no doubt that my copy is going to be absolutely pissed at me for acting as the test dummy in this fight. She took the hits for me, allowing me to see the measure the Demon Queen's strength, speed, and abilities.
At the same time, it got this bitch to waste all of her time and effort on what she assumed was the real Kashia.
Looking back down to the rodent, I asked, "Exactly what can you do to even help me in this fight? I'm completely positive that there's not much you can do to piss her off and grab her attention. I doubt that your taunting ability would even work on her since she's likely too powerful to be affected." I asked the rodent, earning a scandalous look from him.
"I'll have ya' know, Sugar-Tits, that the weak, but no less handsome, version of me from that little game ya' played was an insult to your handsome Toski!" The squirrel claimed, not exactly convincing me of his use.
"All I'm seeing is a perverted rodent trying to justify why he's still buried in my tits." I countered.
"I am a pureborn god of old Yggy! Old One-Eye wishes he had as much knowledge of the the realms that I do. I am the Caretaker of Yggy, Warden of the Wurm, Greatest Insulter of the Realms, and many more titles!"
"And yet, Loki's skill is still able to work on you." I countered. This only earned a roll of Ratatoskr's green eyes.
"The Green Jester had to beg me himself to allow his skill to work on me! And I only accepted because it meant that I would have the high chance of being summoned by one of the hottest pieces of ass in the nine, well guess it's now ten, realms. Now, ya' wanna keep asking questions or do ya' wanna turn your marvelous tits over to the armored bitch, Sugar-Tits?" I gave the rodent a dry look, but I did what he said.
Looking back, my copy was currently blocking a rapid flurry of punches from the Demon Queen. While they weren't hurting her tails like the axe had, that didn't mean that the blows didn't have immense power behind them. Every hit echoed with a crack and shockwave that would push the falling rain away from hitting the pair for a moment.
The bitch was really going for blood now as her hits were becoming harder to track as she ramped up her speed. I doubt she could go any faster without her body beginning to break down on her. Even from where Ratatoskr and I stood, I could hear heavy breathing coming from her helmet.
"I'll say one thing, the bitch's armor is only a little below prismatic tier in quality. Wonder who the maker is?" The rodent commented, making me interested. Pulling out the woman's bardiche, as she called it, from my inventory, I held it before the rodent.
"And what about this item?" I asked. Ratatoskr gazed at the item inquisitively before pulling a paw out of my cleavage and feeling the surface of the weapon.
"Very nice. Divine tier as well. Ooh, and it seems that it's been edged in prismatic ore. Extremely pricey and rare. Know a few dwarves that would love to get their hands on this." As the rodent said this, I stored the weapon back and considered what that meant.
She was a very well-equipped Player. Enough to have an entire suit of divine tier armor along with an axe of the same tier edged in prismatic ore. The Demon Queen would've had to be a top-tier solo Player like I was or she had been part of a guild. But, aside from her strength, it certainly did explain why blows from that axe had actually hurt my tails.
It was a slight tier higher in power than my tails' durability.
"While the information is nice, that isn't really enough to justify you hitching a ride from me." I said, reaching to pick the rodent out of my cleavage.
"Hold up, Sugar-Tits! ya' didn't think that's all your handsome Toski planned to give your sexy ass?" Saying this, Ratatoskr glowed white, and then my body was highlighted in that same white glow before a white marking of a tree brightly glowed on my chest, "[Ratatoskr's Tree Blessing]!"
It was certainly a noticeable blessing as my body felt lighter, stronger, and faster. Energy surged in my body, just waiting to be let loose as the weight of something incomprehensibly ancient and massive focused its attention on me. "What is this?" I asked.
"Yggy and I are pretty close. She just loves her handsome Toski. As such, she allows me to loan out her power every once in a while. So, ya' got a few minutes to go wild. I think that earns me time in my very comfortable spot." I wanted to growl at him and tell the rodent no, but he was right.
"Fine. But no funny business." I warned with a glowing glare of my eyes.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Sugar-Tits." He replied while snuggling into his spot.
Can't kill him now. Will kill him later. Need him now. Kill him later.
I said as a mantra in my mind as I focused back on my copy. Thankfully, she was able to see through the illusion I put up and gave me a wink before allowing one of the Demon Queen's fists to break through her guard and land a punch in her abdomen. Keeling over and coughing blood, she received a punch to her face that slammed her into the ground, cratering it.
She gave a scream of pain before receiving a kick to the stomach, making her curl up as the wind was kicked out of her. "Pathetic. Is this truly what I was worried about? A big-titted fox whore that can't take a hit?" This was followed by a stomp to her stomach, causing to copy to vomit out blood before the Demon Queen picked her up by the throat.
My copy weakly struggled against the grip as the Demon Queen laughed. "Come on! There has to be something more than that?! Where's your big plan? How was it that you ever defeated anyone without help? By spreading you legs for anyone to aid you?"
She slapped my copy's face with each question, letting out the sound akin to a whip with each smack. "Since this is everything that you are seemingly capable of, I'll let you know that your daughters will get a firsthand experience of torture after I finish breaking you. I'll use [Control Amnesia] on you and change you into my pet. Then, I'll have you be the one to break your daughters before I change them as well. [Item Destruction]."
Upon saying the name of her skill, any scraps of clothing, along with all of my copy's rings, broke. All except the copy of the Seed of Yggdrasil around her neck, leaving her as naked as the day I was born.
Yet, despite the threats, torture, and humiliation, my copy simply laughed before her grip tightened on the Demon Queen's wrist. This made the bitch cock her head in confusion. "Why are you laughing?" She asked while looking around for any threats.
I had already begun charging up [Grand Catastrophe] since, as a Player, I couldn't leave anything to chance with her. No prisoners, she dies.
"I did warn you about mentioning my daughters again." My copy's tails quickly snapped out and wrapped around all the Demon Queen's armored limbs while also anchoring the pair to the ground. This made the bitch tighten her grip around my copy's throat, attempting to crush her windpipe or snap her neck.
Then, I finally fired off my spell, trying to aim downwards to mitigate collateral damage, even if I knew that it would be map-altering regardless, and then my vision before me turned white from the spell.
As the spell's power eventually faded, I realized that my mana had only dipped to 3/4ths after all of that. Guess this blessing of the rodent was useful after all. And yet, I did not enjoy looking at the collateral damage from my spell that left a massive fissure in the ground that stretched through the forest and towards the mountains.
But my eyes soon widened as I realized that my attack had not been enough as, flying above the fissure, on a pair of black feathered wings, was the Demon Queen. I watched as the dark armor covering her had shattered, with the pieces of metal falling away into the abyss of the fissure to reveal a pitch-black suit of material underneath. But my eyes were glued to the bitch's face.
Her helmet cracked and shattered, falling to pieces bit by bit, releasing a curtain of raven hair that fell to her back. Then, a piece by her right eye, falling away to reveal a yellow-slitted orb gazing at me with utter hate while pale skin surrounded it. A part of the helmet's decorative horn fell way, revealing a smooth white horn underneath.
More and more of the helmet broke off, and with each new piece, my mind was able to recognize this bitch, and exactly where I had seen her before.
"Albedo." I said, dropping the illusion that had been hiding Ratatoskr and I. At first, my mind was filled with shock at my recognition of this demon. That shifted to confusion as to why she went after my daughter and was attacking me when Momonga had said he'd taken care of it.
Then, I became angry.
"Albedo!" I seethed.
"Whore." She returned. "At least we can cease with the charade now. You'll fully know who it was that conquered and broke you."
That only earned a glare from me, "Momo said that he had dealt with this shit. Why the fuck are you here?"
This caused the crazed succubus' face to twist into a snarl, "DON'T YOU DARE REFER TO MY LOVE LIKE THAT! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A WORM AT HIS FEET!" She screamed at me in pure rage.
"But that still doesn't tell me why you're here, Succu-bitch, after Momo told you all to leave me and my family alone?" I calmly shot back, making certain to piss her off as I did so.
"You have been poisoning my Love's mind for too long! Even now, he can't see how dangerous you truly are to him! That you would give my Love commands, and he would obey, tells me that you are the whore that will lead to his downfall! I tried to use a subtle approach of controlling you through your daughter while freeing Nazarick of blame, but you had to ruin it." Albedo replied, making me slightly confused.
"Are you fucking serious? What Momo and I had was called a platonic friendship, you crazy yandere bitch! And why the fuck would I ever not rescue my daughter when she was taken?!" I screamed back at her.
"To be honest, Sugar-Tits, this crazy bitch has more screws loose than half the gods in the Ten Realms." Ratatoskr piped up.
This drew Albedo's ire and gaze towards the rodent.
"And what might you be? Another one of the whore's rats skulking about?" Albedo questioned.
Ratatoskr crossed his arms and leaned back into my chest, "I am Ratatoskr, Caretaker of Yggdrasil, Warden of the Wurm, Resider of Divine Cleavage among many other titles. I'm too old to be called a mere rat by a petulant succubus throwing a tantrum!"
"Not to worry, whore and rat, you're not going to be much of anything by the time I'm done." That was when she reached into her inventory and pulled out another massive bardiche of black metal. Yet this one felt different, more powerful.
"Well, shit. The bitch has one of Yggy's realms in her hands." When the squirrel said this, I felt slightly worried at what I thought he meant.
"What?"
"The same thing you've got around your pretty neck, Sugar-Tits. By the way, we'll probably have to talk about that sometime later." He answered, making me narrow my eyes at the confirmed World Item in Albedo's hands.
The fight has now changed. World Items being brought into the mix meant that things would get a lot more dangerous and destructive.
I didn't have much time to think as Albedo flew at me with a flap of her wings. At least, I thought I didn't until it came to my attention that she seemed slower than before for a pair of reasons. Her flight speed is not as fast as her land speed and the buff I had from Ratatoskr was making everything seem a bit slower or it was just making me faster.
Quick downside to Albedo having a weapon again, aside from being extremely deadly, is that she can now parry my projectiles without consequence. She, at least, can't do that teleporting bullshit anymore.
But I can still do mine.
Casting [Blink] so that I was floating under the bitch, I threw out [Foxfire Annihilation] and watched the roaring blue inferno rise up to greet the succubus.
"[Transposition]!" She announced her skill, and when nothing happened, she immediately switched to the defensive and shielded herself with her World Item. That helped to tank a lot of the damage in addition to her second layer of armor and her own natural tankiness.
"Any information on the bitch's World Item?" I asked while blinking away to a patch of standing trees behind Albedo.
"Ginnungagap was formed from a realm that embodied chaotic destruction. As such, ya'll want to avoid having anything ya' care about be in its general hitting range. Thankfully, we're both immune to most of the destructive effects due to your World Items and my connection to Yggy." Ratatoskr answered quickly.
A second later, Albedo dropped on my position with her World Item glowing green with power. My eyes widened and I blinked 30 feet in the air as her World Item made contact with where I'd been standing before. In a wave of green which grew out into an entire sphere of green that even enveloped the rodent and I.
When it dispersed, the entire area was just gone. No rubble, no dirt, no dust. It just didn't exist anymore. For the first time seeing a World Item be used in combat instead of as an aftereffect, that was terrifying to think what could've happened were anyone to be nearby.
"Wow, just imagine if the crazy lady was using the more destructive form of Ginnungagap." That was a very worrying thing to consider.
"I'd like to avoid finding out what that looks like." I muttered as I fired [Ray of Foxfire] from nine of my tails while leaving my tenth tail and hands free to cast.
As the rays soared towards Albedo, she ran while pulling a potion from her inventory and drinking it. Her speed increased after she was covered in a blue aura that faded. The increase in speed allowed her to easily outrun the beams before she jumped and was flying towards me.
I was ready for anything as she flew towards me while reaching into her inventory. But then, she finally pulled out what she was looking for. Wait…
"Is that a whistle?" Ratatoskr voiced the question for me as the bitch put the gold object to her lips and blew.
I was ready for the thing to summon demons or monsters of some kind. What I wasn't expecting was for a painful high-pitched whine to fill my ears. I screamed in pain as my hands instantly went to clasp my ears to drown out the painful sound!
It was almost so distracting that I almost didn't block Albedo's swing in time. Seven of my tails went to take the hit, yet all of them were filled with immense pain as the bardiche dug into them further than Albedo's original weapon.
Blood dripped from my tails, followed by another trill whistle by Albedo that made me scream as my eardrums felt like someone was stabbing icepicks into them.
Willing myself through the pain, I cast [Blink] and arrived 50 feet away into the fissure, letting myself fall into the abyss as I got away from the noise. Feeling a warm wetness from my ears, I pulled one of my hands away to find it covered in golden blood.
Okay, she's been prepping for a fight against me for a while. I needed to figure out something fast before she was on my ass again.
And judging by the increasing whine that was growing in my ears again, I'd have less than six seconds.