Hello...it's been a while hasn't it? The reason for the gradual delay was again due to some personal issues. With my graduation, slowly approaching, I'm getting busier and busier. So I want to say this in advance, after the next chapter I'll be taking a short leave. At most, around two weeks of no chapters being posted.

Aside from that, there isn't much to say other than please enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 7- The unfortunate adventure of a succubus

Earlier:

After being called out by the teacher, Kuro followed the teacher all the way to the staffroom. Inside, the room was barren. Taking his seat, the teacher began lecturing Kuro on the importance of studying and taking the class seriously. Kuro simply listened, bored out of her mind.

“Are you listening Kuro?” The teacher spoke up, making sure Kuro was paying attention. “Yes, yes.” Kuro hastily answered back, lying through her teeth. The teacher frowned while rubbing his temple. “Kuro, please take this a bit more seriously. Due to your absentminded behaviors in class, you’ll have to make up all your work. That’s why you shall remain here, under my supervision while doing your work. You will not leave until I am satisfied with your progress.”

Moving on, the teacher began bring forth paper, stacking him. Staring at the teacher, Kuro interrupted him. “You mean, until that Whore is done with whatever she’s planning.” Her words cut through the air like a bullet, no hint of hesitation in her words.

“What are you talking about?” The teacher asked, taken aback by her sudden outburst. He looked genuinely confused, but Kuro could tell the truth. A smirk curved up at the edge of her smile. “I know that you are under that Whore’s control, including those waiting outside.” Again Kuro spoke with no hesitation for her words. Taking a seat, she waited.

Staring at the door, the two of them sat in silence for a minute or two. At first it looked to be that Kuro’s claim was false until the door opened. Pouring into the room was around 20 or so students. Closing the door behind them, they blocked the door. “That Whore must really hate me, if she’s willingly to go this far.”

“It is quite rude to refer to the Mistress in such a term. Please take your words back.” Unfazed, the teacher made his demand. Gone was the kind teacher persona, replace by that of dutiful servant. “You want me to apologize?” Kuro snickered. “What else would you call a girl that fawns over any man he see? I say a Whore is an appropriate word to call her.” Again Kuro spoke without a care in the world. This time, many of them were enraged.

Spreading out, the students surrounded Kuro. Glancing to all of them without a care in the world, they maintained silent standoff. “So, what exactly is that Whore planning?” Kuro asked, picking her nails.

“That is none of your concern.” The teacher replied in a curt voice. “You should be more worried about yourself Kuro. If you had been a good girl, we could have let you off easy. But now that you are onto us, we are force to take desperate measure.” Speaking in a confident tone, everyone condensed in on Kuro.

As that was going on, Kuro tapped her finger against her head in a pondering motion. Feeling unthreatened by those around her. ‘What to do, what to do?’ she repeated in her mind, trying to decide her next course of action.

‘It would be easy just to kill them all and dispose of the bodies. But…but, Kouta would get mad at me for taking innocent life. However, they did let their lust get the better of them when that Whore played her tricks.’ Arguing in her head, her soul shudder for just a second. Touching her chest, she knew the feeling well.

‘So that Whore finally decide act?’ Kuro thought to herself. Slowly, she could feel Kouta getting farther and farther away. “It’s seems I have two opinion. Deal with these puppets as fast as possible or Take my time and free them from her control.” Commenting to herself, she came to a third opinion. Kuro flashed a mischievous smile, jubilated at her own thought. As she finished up her thoughts, the student lunged towards.

At the last second, she disappeared. Smacking against one another, everyone frantically looked around. “There she is!” called out one of the students, point to the end of the room. “It’s about time the Cow get some exercise. As for myself.”

Looking back to the group, Kuro extended her hands and her two knives materialized. “Try your best not to bore me.”

Present:

In an unknown location, Rin and Eto faced one another. Rin was dressed differently, draped around her was a Miko’s outfit. One you could see at local shrine. In actuality, this is her fighting attire.

‘Looks like she’s right after all’ Rin talked to herself, referring to Kuro. On her way home, the marking around her neck appeared and Kuro spoke to Rin. Informing her of Eto’s true nature, Kuro sent her on a mission. To free Kouta and defeat Eto. ‘Easier said than done.’ Rin said to herself.

Originally, she wanted to bring in reinforcement, but Kuro veto her decision. She even went as far as to use their ‘contract’ to force Rin to follow Kuro’s order verbatim. But those thoughts were inconsequential.

“To think an Ajin would be so close to me. I shall correct my carelessness.” Pulling out a talisman, Rin prepared for a fight. “Release Kouta and I’ll promise to give you a painless pass from this world. Decline, and I’ll make sure you’ll regret it.” Threatening Eto, she frowned at Rin petty threat.

“It is you who will regret messing with me.” Snapping her fingers, Rin stood on guard. Seconds later, more footsteps could be heard. Stepping out of the shadows, around twelve boys stood beside Eto. Rin easily recognized them as students from Makoto high school. Shocking of all was Izumi being to the right of Eto.

“Your first mistake was bargaining into my territory. Your second mistake was thinking you can take me by yourself. And your final mistake is thinking that you can order me around!” On her command, the mindless students charged at Rin. Against the stampede of students, Rin remained diligent.

“Be cleanse. Be pure. Let the darkness be chase away by the light. Purify!” Finishing her incantation, Rin held a few dozens of talisman. The talisman radiated to life. Throwing them towards the mindless horde, the talisman attached to everyone. Sticking to them, the talisman light intensify. Realizing what’s to come, Kouta closed his eyes to the radiant, blinding light.

As the light lessen in intensity, all the student were on the ground, unconscious. The only one left conscious was Kouta, Rin and Eto. “W-what did you do?!” Eto roared.

“I simply released them from your control. Now you can’t rely on others to fight your battles for you.” Rin arrogantly remarked, turning the tables of their fight. Eto grinded her teeth in anger, staring daggers at Rin. However, her expression didn’t last very long. A sly smile emerged on her face.

Catching it at the last second, Rin dodged out of the way as a fist flew towards her from her side. Jumping back, she avoided the attack. “What the?!” Rin loudly exclaimed, taken by surprise. The attacker was none other than Izumi. ‘How the heck did he dodge my attack?’ Rin mused.

In a split second the answer came to her. A second before the talisman stuck to them, Izumi backed off and used those in front of him as shield. Waiting for the light to die down, Izumi hide amongst the body to catch Rin off guard. ‘Despite being mind controlled, he still retains his sense of self?’ While Rin was contemplating, Izumi didn’t stop.

Charging at her, he attacked without pause. Unlike the mindless students, Izumi reaction time and attacks were relentless. He wasn’t going to pull any punches. It was clear that he wasn’t going to go down so easily. For Rin, she could easily dodge any attacks Izumi throw at her. The only issue was finding a way to take down Izumi.

Light on her feet, Rin continued to use her talisman at him only to fail. Izumi speed and dexterity was beyond Rin’s expectation. Dodging the barrage of paper, Izumi was constantly on the offensive. Trying to land blows without worrying about defending. “What’s wrong? Having trouble?” Eto gloated, watching their fight from a safe distance.

“Rin!” Hearing her name, it was Kouta. “Break these restraints!” Hearing his call, Rin dashed over to where Kouta was restrained. “Close your eyes!” Giving Kouta a quick warning, he did as he was told. Pulling out a set of different talisman, Rin managed to free Kouta.

On his feet, he rubbed his sored arms. “Thanks.” Thanking Rin, the two turned their attention back to Eto. Now the teams were even; two vs two. Although Kouta and Rin held a bigger advantage as Eto didn’t partake in the fight directly.

As Rin was formulating a plan, Kouta offered one of his own. “Rin, take care of Eto. Leave Izumi to me.” Sharing his simplistic plan, Rin had her doubts. “Are you sure? If we work together then…” Holding up his hand, Kouta politely cut Rin off.

“That may be true but if we focus too much time and effort into freeing Izumi, Eto might escape. But If I just stall him, I can buy you enough time to do your thing.” Sharing his thoughts with Rin, she still held some doubts. It wasn’t the soundest of plans there was a look on his eyes that made her refuse to say no.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Rin prepared herself. “Ok, just be careful.” Giving an approving nod, the two sprang into action.

Rin immediately rushed towards Eto. Izumi ran to intercept Rin only to be tackled to the side by Kouta. Seeing her last line of defense fall, Eto spreads her wing. Dodging another volley of talisman, elevated herself to the sky. With the advantage of being on higher ground, Rin had more trouble landing her talismans.

“Give it up! A succubus have no chance at winning a one on one fight.” Rin declared. Watching from above Eto frowned only to then smile. “That is true, but you are an idiot if you think there aren’t any other way for me to fight back!” Bellow in retaliation.

Flexing her body, her wings shorten and she dived bomb downwards. Diving straight towards Rin, she prepared a counter attack. With her arms stretched out, Eto dove head first. In the matter of a second Eto laid her hands on Rin’s forehead. The moment Eto placed her hand on her forehead, Rin felt a light tingling sensation.

It was gone in the next second, so Rin had little time to ponder on the sensation. In the next second, Rin returned the attack. Placing a talisman on her chest, light radiated from the talisman and Eto took the attack.

Flying backwards, a smirk emerged on Rin’s face. ‘Gotcha.’ Happy that the attack was successful, but she wasn’t the only one smirking. Before she could do anything else, Eto body completely disappeared. Watching the entire act, Rin eyes widen.

Her jaws dropped at the sight before him. Soon darkness seeped into the surrounding and in seconds everything was dark and void. “W-what…going on?” Faced with an unknown situation, Rin couldn’t contain the fear in her voice. All of her sense became distorted while the hairs along her neck stood up.

Something was definitely wrong.

“Do you remember what I said? I’ll show you that there’s more than one way to win a fight.” Eto’s booming voice echoed through the vast darkness. This only added more to her confusion. Light and color flooded the dark space, blinding Rin. In the next second she found herself standing in the middle of an empty street.

Rin easily recognized the area; it was the business district of their city. Everything from the buildings to street lights were identical. “How did I get here?” Faced with her own rhetorical question her thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise. The whole floor vibrated from the shakings. On guard, the shaking only grew louder.

Confused, something appeared out of the corner of her eyes. A hand. Gripping the buildings the shaking intensified. Slowly the thing that the hand was attached to was in full view. It was Eto.

Seeing her massive body, a pitiful whimper escaped from Rin as Eto looked down upon her. Like a human looking down upon some ants, that was what the situation reminded Rin of. A wicked smile shined on Eto’s face as she looked down upon the petrified Rin.

“I told you, don’t underestimate me!” Eto screeched, bringing her hand down to smash Rin. Breaking out of her daze at the last second, she dodged. Recovering from her surprise, Rin was left with no other choice but to run.

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“Damn it Izumi! Snap out of it!” Cursing, Kouta and Izumi exchanged blows with one another. The fight was effectively a standstill. With Kouta’s natural regenerative ability, it doesn’t matter how hard Izumi punched him. He would still continue fighting. But the same is said for Izumi.

Under Eto’s control, all he could think and do is obey her command. It didn’t matter how much damage he sustained, Izumi would continue on without fail. And that is the thing Kouta feared the most. No matter how many times he knocked Izumi down. He wouldn’t stay down. If the fight persisted then it would be only Izumi whom would be hurt the most.

“Damn it.” Kouta cursed again, the stress was getting to him. Forced to fight his friend, Kouta was trying his best not to hurt but do enough to knock him down. However, it wasn’t just Izumi that was getting to him but Rin and Eto as well. The last thing Kouta saw was Eto touching Rin’s forehead and then nothing. Both of them stopped, motionless.

Like statues, the two were paused in motion. Eto, with her hands on Rin’s head and Rin with a talisman at the ready. It was eerie how they were unmoving for several minutes. As if someone hit the paused button just before the two made contact. Just what exactly was going on between the two? Kouta had little time to dwell on such matter as Izumi attacked again.

Throwing a left hook, Kouta blocked it with his right hand and reached out with his left hand to grab to hold of Izumi’s collar. Mustering all of his strength, Kouta picked him up and slammed him back down. Kouta pinned him to the ground. Hoping to hold him still, Izumi broke free of Kouta’s grab.

Kneeing Kouta in the sides, his grip loosened, allowing for Izumi to break free. Kicking him square in the chest, the two of them retreated to gain some distance.

However, the two were at another impasse. ‘I need to hold him down.’ Kouta told himself, his eyes darted throughout the room. His eyes passed the bed where he laid and immediately an idea struck him. Rin broke the shackles, but one was able to be scavenge. ‘If I can lure him over there.’

Coming up with a new plan, Kouta kept an eye on the bed and other on Izumi. Luring Izumi was the easy part, the hard part came in the form of restraining him long enough. As Kouta looked for the answer to his question, something else caught his eye. Lying on the floor a couple of meters away, was the stun gun.

Flashes of the weapon came to Kouta. Immediately, the pieces of his plan fell into place. ‘If I get my hands on that thing…then maybe.’ Reassuring himself that the plan will work, Kouta took a starting position.

Getting ready, Kouta knew exactly what to do. Rushing towards Izumi, he prepared an attack on for Kouta to run pass him. Using the small window of confusion, Kouta grabbed the stun gun. Dialing the output to low, the stun gun buzzed to life.

Facing Izumi once again, Kouta hand tightened around the stun gun. ‘Here’s goes nothing!’ Psyching himself up, he charged in in hopes of ending it quickly. Aware that Kouta has a weapon, Izumi was careful. Avoiding the stun gun, Kouta had trouble landing a good hit.

For one, Izumi was jumpy, ready to avoid any attack coming his way. Without a firm grasp to hit him Kouta was effectively playing tag. Back and forth the two struggled, it was only a matter of time before one of them made a mistake. Unfortunately it was Kouta.

Recklessly charging in, Izumi dodged it again. Tripping Kouta, the stun gun was no longer in his position. Picking the item up, the advantage shifted to Izumi side. Not wasting time, Izumi dashed in and slammed into Kouta full force.

Knocking him down, he pinned him down by using his entire body. On top of Kouta, Izumi wasn’t going to let him escape. Staring down on him with lifeless eyes, he brought the stun gun close to his body. Fighting back, Kouta struggled to keep the electricity from touching his body. Yet Izumi strength somehow over whelmed him.

Edging the weapon closer to Kouta, he could do nothing as Izumi over powered him. “AHHHHHHHH!” An agonizing cry was let loose from Kouta as electricity coursed through his body. The pain wasn’t intense as before but nevertheless hurts. Holding the stun gun in place, Izumi wasn’t going to go easy on him.

“Don’t look down on me!” Kouta screamed, grabbing Izumi arm and forcing the stun away. Kicking him back, this time Kouta was the one on top. “Sorry about this…” whispered Kouta, already feeling the regret for what’s he about to do.

Plunging the stun gun into Izumi bodies, he too let out a maddening scream in pain. Holding the stun gun in place, Izumi did his best to fight back. His legs flayed and spaz out trying to get him off. Throwing random punches, Kouta pushed through the pain. Pushing forward, Izumi eventually fell unconscious.

Tossing the stun gun to the side, Kouta immediately went to check Izumi’s pulse. After several silent seconds, Kouta was finally able to relax. “Good he’s only unconscious.” A heavy sigh of relief could be heard from him. For a second, he was deathly afraid that he killed his best friend. “Now I just need to--“

Cutting off midsentence, Kouta lose all sensation and control to his body. Hitting the floor, Kouta had apparent trouble trying to stand back up. ‘I guess that stun gun did more damage than I thoughts.’ Kouta grimaced. A terrible migraine hammered his head, making it hard to focus.

His senses were the first to go. Kouta sense of touch grew numb, all he could hear was a low ringing noise, and everything in his sight was darkening. Next came the loss of control of his body. No matter how he tried, his arms and legs won’t budge. His muscles and tendons were stiff.

Finally he could feel his conscious slowly sleeping into darkness. Just like before, Kouta couldn’t fight back against the encroaching darkness. Struggling, there was nothing left for him to do. Lying on the floor like a beaten animal, he took one last look at Rin and Eto.

‘I hope you’re having better luck than me.’ That was Kouta’s last thought before he blacked out.

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