The new body of mine was stronger than I had thought at first. Aside from the dark purple, almost black tail with its arrowhead-shaped tip and the brown, wyvern-like wings it had looked like that of a typical human girl, one with an especially healthy developed chest. But the truth couldn't possibly be further away from that.

The muscles I could see seemed to be as developed as those in my original body: enough to survive in the wild, but too weak to fight with swords and shields. Still, the succubus had much more strength.

 

«Just one more!»

 

After stemming my feet against the wall, I used both of my hands to pull at the last chain binding my new body. The once grey metal itself was rusted and looked weak, but it was the wall instead that gave away. This time, too, I tore a large piece of metal out of the rock instead of just breaking it.

Dozens, possibly hundreds of years of this dampness had significantly weakened the stone that should have imprisoned the succubus for the rest of her pityful existence. I could only guess how long it must have been since she had seen the light of day.

 

「Not what I expected, but- good job!」

"I can't change it. The metal is too strong."

「We can't just run around like that, though. Men don't like-」

"Who cares?!"

「Well- I do!」

"I won't seduce them!"

「Won't those demons that killed you hear those chains?」

 

«Damn! She is right! I totally forgot about them!»

 

「But you still remember they killed you, do you, Flatty?」

"How could I forget?!"

「So do something about it!」

I had other plans: "First I will do something about my body!"

「Your body?」

"I can't just leave it here!"

「What are you going to do about it? Burn it? We have no fire, you know?」

"My parents," I decided, "I want them to bury me!"

「How would that change anything?」

"I don't want them to spend the rest of their days thinking I could still return some day."

「You have some pretty dark thoughts there, you know? My parents probably think I'm too busy screwing guys to care about them.」

"They would never think of me like that!"

「That much is obvious ...」 She answered with a sigh. 「They probably know best how much of a lost cause you are.」

"I'm not a lost cause!"

Once again, she imitated the voice she had heard in my memories: 「Michel~! Please-」

"STOP IT!" I cut her off.

 

My cheeks felt like they were burning. This succubus knew too much about me already, and it was unlikely that it would take her longer than a few hours or day to reveal even my most intimate secrets. I had to draw a line for this to work.

 

"Let's take this slow ..."

「Slow?」 She asked surprised. 「That can be nice, too!」

I felt something inside of me burst. "Stop it for a second, will you!?"

「Flatty is mad! Scary!」

"You will stop calling me Flatty!"

「Why? It describes you best!」

"I am not flat anymore! You said it yourself!"

「I ...」 She hesitated. 「Guess you are right about that」

"You will call me by my name."

She seemed to think for a moment. 「So... Risa?」

"Exactly! I'm Risa, not Flatty!"

「No fun ...」

"And you will tell me your name!"

「My name? It's Meja. Meja Forienna Seporan」

"Meja Fori- Forjenna Separa-"

「Let's leave it at Meja.」 She immediately decided, as if we were talking about a stranger.

"Meja."

「Happy now?」

"Now about my body ..."

「What about it?」

"Can you heal it?"

「I cannot use magic anymore, you know? Thanks to you, Flatty.」

"Risa!" I protested. "My name is Risa!"

「Ok, ok! Risa it is. No need to get angry!」

"What can we do about it? We can't just leave it here!"

Meja went silent for a moment. 「I guess I could teach you a magic ...」 She then revealed.

"You can? Then do it!"

「But your soul would be weakened even more.」

"It weakens my soul?!"

「Magic is bound to your soul, after all.」

"I didn't know ..."

「Of course you didn't. Humans have no idea about souls. Tell them it was given to them by a god and that's all they want to know.」

"I can't refute that ..."

「Soo~」 Her voice had become playful again. 「Do you want me to teach you the magic spell?」

"Would my soul be destroyed?"

「Nah, don't worry.」 Meja appeased me. 「You would just need to strengthen it a little more afterwards.」

"Then let's do that!"

 

As if they had only waited for my answer, a few lines of text appeared suddenly in front of me.

 

『Unlockable Magic: Banishment (Grade E)

Activation Cost: 12 Life Force, 60 Mana

Unlock for: 33 Life Force (Remaining: 119)』

 

"What is all of that?"

「I don't want you to say I had tricked you or something.」

"..."

「Soo? What do you say?」

"Just give me the magic ..."

 

Suddenly, a cold wave went through my body. It felt as if the blood in my veins slowly began to freeze. My arms and legs, no, every part of my body began quivering as if the succubus had tossed me into a barrel of ice water. Even the tail and the wings were shaking miserably.

 

A far to weak voice slipped my lips: "My body- wha- what did you do to me?!"

「Your soul became weaker.」

"You never told me it would feel like that!"

「I am just trying to help you here, ok? Will you use that magic now or not?」

"What is the chant?"

「There is no such thing.」

"There is no chant?!" I shouted in surprise.

「... we can't let our men run away, you know?」 Meja replied as if it was the most natural thing ever. 「They will be afraid when they hear long chants.」

"I did rather have them run away!"

「Will you use it now? Just say the name of the Spell. Even thinking it would be enough, if you try hard enough.」

"... ok."

 

I took several deep breaths before I let myself sink to the ground next to my former body. Seeing the terrified expression on its face did only increase the coldness I felt crawling all over my skin.

 

«I should get over with it fast.»

 

『Banishment!』

 

Once again, my body grew colder. I could only try to hug my own legs and warm myself while I watched my original body slowly being surrounded by a black mist. Within the time I breathed twice, it had already been swallowed by the nothingness.

 

"What will happen to it?" I heard my shaking voice ask.

「You can bring it back any time. Don't worry, it won't rot away or anything.」

"Rot away ..."

Just thinking about my own body slowly changing into a gory, maggot-infested mess was more than I could handle. Within a heartbeat, I had already begun emptying my stomach all over the place 'I' had laid before. The succubus didn't seem to care a bit.

「If you are done puking, we should start searching for some men!」

"Men-" I vomited once again. "You said-"

「Your soul is weakened! We have to hurry up and suck somebody dry!」

"Suck-" It was only now that I realized. "YOU TRICKED ME!"

「I just want your best, Flatty!」

"MY NAME ISN'T FLATTY!"

「Who cares?! Let's find us some good, ol' d*ck!」

"NOO!!"

 

⊱————-　Extra　————-⊰

 

Meja: D*ck~ D*ck~ ♪ and Men~! ♬

Risa: NOO!

Meja: But Flatty!

Risa: I WON'T DO THAT!

Meja: Do you have any idea how long it has been since I had-

Risa: YOU CAN EASILY WAIT FOR ANOTHER FEW HUNDRED YEARS!

Meja: But my body~

Risa: WHO CARES!

Meja: I want men! I want! I want! I want! ( ˃̣̣̥﹏˂̣̣̥ ✿)

Risa: You... are you crying?!