Helena had essentially broken down from the realization that she was turning into a werewolf. I realized that it was only blind luck that her wolf personality hadn’t developed yet, as if it were to develop as I also was within her... It would certainly spell doom.
“Helena. I’m sorry about this, but for your own sake, I have to dispel my demon bind on you for now. If I were to interfere with your transformation, you would most certainly die. I don’t want you to die.”
Helena looked up at me with tear-filled eyes before they once again shifted into something more feral. She snarled at me, but quickly sniffed me instead.
Anything I do at this point is pointless. She’ll have to tackle this on her own.
I quickly waved my hand at the transforming werewolf, making sure that the Demon Bind was completely removed from her and simultaneously enchanted her with a tracking spell. Now, no matter where she goes, I can find her.
I let the she-wolf finish her sniffing of me before she shook her head, releasing a heavy breath of air through her nose. She dropped to all fours, dashing into the forest. It wasn’t long before she became obscured by trees.
Humans handle the Werewolf transformation so differently... Some retain complete control, developing it in tranquility. Then again, there are those that turn completely feral like this...
I couldn’t cry over spilled milk. Not now. I turned my attention to the two leaking corpses on the ground beside me and attempted to cast Summon Dorm. To my relief, it worked.
I took one last look at the direction that Helena had gone, solemnly sighing.
There was nothing I could have done.
As I stepped out of the portal, I was immediately shocked. I appeared not in my castle which was the last place I was before I died, but in the colosseum. Before me stood an incredibly familiar figure, adorned in green hellfire. The lord of demons had his back turned against me, but I could see from here that his hellfire was intense. Something is definitely up.
Not to mention his height... He was as tall as me.
“Heltana.”
The portal closed behind me with a snap, and I could only stand frozen in fear. What... What does he want? How did he know I was coming?
Andras slowly turned around. As he did, though, I noticed something very peculiar. On his face was not the angry look which I had expected... But a great, toothy smile. Andras widened his hands, inviting me to a hug.
“I’ve missed you dearly, my friend.”
A smile broadened on my face, as I went over to Andras and hugged him tightly. Seeing a true friend after so long...
If I could cry, I would.
“It’s okay...”
Andras pulled me a bit away from him, now having closed his mouth again. “How have you been, girl! It’s been more than a century since I saw you! How did you... survive?”
I chuckled and looked into Andras’ loving, green eyes. “That- that can wait. I’m just so glad to see you again...”
I brought him closer into a hug, a smile firmly coating my face. I could hear Andras chuckling into my left ear, and he hugged me tighter. “I never told you how much your company meant to me...”
After a few minutes of hugging, I told Andras everything. He had sat us down inside his castle and was listening along eagerly.
“A werewolf girl, truly? That’s fascinating. I hope she takes care of that feral transformation; it can turn quite... messy.”
I smiled and swirled the strange fools-water based brew around inside my glass. “I have faith in Helena. She’s a resourceful woman.”
Andras nodded. “I trust your judgement.” His smile faded somewhat, and he put his own glass down on the table. “Since you left, there has been a bit of... uprise among the new arrivals. You not being there to guide the new demons, showing them the ropes, well. Some of them have gotten cocky. I’m sorry to immediately give you such a task even though you just returned, but nobody else are powerful nor... charismatic enough to pick up your mantle.”
I chuckled. “Figures. Yeah, no problem. I’ll handle it.”
Andras gave me a warm smile. “Thank you.” He got up from his chair and continued. “Now, I have to feed my kids. I’ll see you around, Heltana.”
My maw dropped open. “Y-you have kids?”
The demon lord only chuckled as he teleported away from the scene. I blinked once or twice, realizing what he had said fully.
Huh. I sure missed some things.
I sat down at my desk, flipping through my book. It was just as I had left it with all its bookmarks, though a few hundred or so more pages had been added. I suppose the real problem lies in the new arrivals, so I''ll focus on the newer pages first. Let’s see... Demon, Male. Jinn. Age, 24 at death. He was a rapist and a murderer when he was alive.
Hmph. He’s definitely getting banished. Who are they letting demonize these days...
I brought my stamp up, hovering above the page. I slammed the stamp down, marking the name with the infernal mark of death. Not even a second later, his name was erased from the records and my jar of damned souls filled up with one more vile sinner. I should probably empty that sometime... Ah, that can wait. A little more perpetual torment won’t hurt.
I turned a page, seeing another horrible person listed in the book. I shook my head and slammed my stamp down, causing another droplet to fall out of the faucet within, landing in the soup. One more drop to the ever-increasing tally of sinners.
I turned to another page. Slam. This time a Human. It matters none. I turned to another. Slam.
This went on before all the low-live nobodies were all added to the ever-increasing total of my jar, before it was full. I got up from my seat and twisted the foul capsule loose, wielding it in my arms. I chuckled quietly and gave the contents a good shake, scoffing. “That’s what you get, subhuman filth...”
I went over to another machine in my room and opened the lid of the closed jar. I poured the souls into the machine before lighting the fire below with a snap of my fingers. There we go, back to the living realm you go.
I looked up at the small map I had of the living realm and took note of the small pockets of Fire crystals that spread around random spots in the ground there. My eyes widened however as looking at the map made me remember something quite important: the other island I was just on. In addition to that, we should really go and map out this “island” ... I can’t believe we lived so long under the impression that our world consisted of but a single landmass...
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
I shook my head and went to the largest wall in my foyer, looking at the grand map. I clapped my hands together, causing our mapped area to appear as a small blip of discovered land. I cringed my eyes, projecting my experienced travels onto the map and updating it. A sliver appeared on the left, far out into the ocean. A more or less linear line of ocean was added between the starting point and our explored areas, safe for a huge chunk of forest that appeared garbled. Etariel was most certainly a witch, it would seem...
Oh well. Just another task that the demons will have to do. I wonder who the third strongest demon is now, too... If there even is one.
Satisfied with my efforts, I went back to my book and sat down. Hm, 4 more arrivals since I checked. Not surprising, considering people die all the time. What was surprising, however, was the contents. There was a female human who had just arrived. But they weighed... 300kgs!?
This I have to see. Elena... Either they were a terminally gluttonous noble, or something else is different about her. No peasant has ever reached such a size. There is simply not enough food.
Which sector did she appear in... Ah, Sector 3H. I immediately teleported there, not bothering to read the rest of the text. As I appeared there, I was met by the gaze of a conscious but extremely dizzy lady. She was truly massive too...
The people who had appeared around her scurried off when they saw a higher demon manifesting. I paid it no mind and I sat down on one knee to come at eye-level with the fat woman. “Hey, Elena, was it? How come you’re so... Big?”
Elena shook her head and looked up at me, clearly a bit scared at what she laid eyes on. “W-What are you??”
I shook my head. Of course she wouldn’t know what a demon is. I looked back to her face and tried my best to smile. “Apologies. My name is Heltana. I’m one of the leaders of this dimension, and you’ve just died. Sorry about that.”
I patted her on the shoulder. “Heart attack, I assume?”
Elena pouted annoyedly at my prodding and tried to swat my arm away, but I did not yield whatsoever. I raised an eyebrow and moved my hand away from her shoulder again. “No need to be so aggressive. I’m only trying to help.”
Elena snapped back at me. “Don’t touch me, you muscle freak. And I’m this fat because I have a very slow metabolism. Always did.”
I turned my head to the side in curiosity. I wonder if she will stay that way when she’s a demon. I have to find out.
“You know, there is a pretty easy way for you to lose all this extra mass, if you’re interested. I can take you to the center of this dimension and turn you into a demon like me. Of course, not a higher demon, but a demon nonetheless.”
I stood up and flexed my bicep. “Just look at me. We have bodies like gods. Don’t you want that for yourself?”
Elena’s eyes lit up, as if this was the best thing she had ever heard in her life. “Y-you can slim me down? Just like that??”
I smiled and giggled a bit at her sudden excitement. “Yeah, pretty much.”
Elena nodded profusely, almost like a nodding doll. “Yes. Yes please. Pretty please with sugar on top.”
I chuckled and put my hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit to tease her. “Okay, let’s go.”
I teleported us to the middle of the demon village instantly. Right in front of me lied the obsidian slab we use for the ritual. I let go of my hold on Elenas’ head, pointing to the obsidian. “Just lie down there, we’ll take care of the rest.”
Three demons wearing robes made out of infernal hemp turned toward the obsidian, and to me. “By my authority, elevate this sorry soul.”
The three demons nodded and each opened their left palm. They took their right hand and extended a pointer finger toward their palm, touching it before pulling it backward. They summoned a single albeit long rod of hellish energy which stood out from their fingers like a spear. It was notably not covered in hellfire, as one might expect from a demonic ligament.
The three robed figures jabbed their energy-spears into three slots in the obsidian, causing it to glow with “black”. Elena on the slab looked a bit worried, but ready nonetheless.
The slab started refining her human soul. Her human body began to lose transparency, eventually becoming akin to a blur. Eventually she dissapeared entirely. I nodded in approval as the ceremony continued.
A half-ring of red spawned on the obsidian slab, where Elena had lied. A purple half-circle appeared on the other side, joining together to form a coherent ring. I nodded, and the three demons finally retracted their demonic extensions from the slab, causing the obsidian to pulse once. The color-circle on the slab flashed, and spawned hellfire. The hellfire traveled over the Obsidian until it eventually formed a 2D outline of where Elena... Eleonora would show up. Some demonic energy trickled out from small holes in the volcanic stone, filling up the inseam and “puffing up” until it eventually formed a full body. The obsidian pulsed one final time, causing the hellfire outline to violently slap toward and stick to the newly formed demonic mana.
And there we go. A... particularly fat demon was left lying on the slab.
I bent over her, looking into her face. “Hello? Are you awake?”
I got no response. I cringed my eyes, as the error had happened again. “How may times do i have to tell you Randal, the consciousness is what you want to extract from the obsidian! Their soul no longer exists, you idiot.”
The second robed demon apologized and I shook my head in disbelief. I pointed two fingers at the obsidian before lifting it up into the body. Eleonoras’ eyes shot open, and she threw herself forward with a gasp.
“There we are. Welcome to Hell, new demon.”
Eleonora lay on the slab and blinked a few times, feeling her newfound yet much slimmer body. “It worked! I weigh less! I can feel my body, it’s a lot easier to move around now!”
I took a good look at Eleonoras’ new body and... was perplexed. It is still so... fatty.
In reckless curiosity I reached a hand down toward Eleonora, lifting her up off the obsidian slab as if she was a small child. I held her in my grasp, as one would hold an oversized teddy bear. Eleonora squirmed in my grasp, and voiced multiple complaints but I would hear none of them. Such a body... How can a demon be so overweight?
“L-let go of me, muscle head! Even though I''m grateful for what you did with slimming me down, this is...” Eleonoras’ voice shifted a bit and became shakier. “Embarrassing...”
None of her words registered. With my hands still wrapped around her back and front, I moved my thumbs around her comparatively massive stomach. She must weigh at least 150 kilograms, even now after the ritual... Such a thing has never happened before. I moved my thumbs all over her body, brushing over her breasts on occasion. “H-hey! Not... Not there...”
My mind finally snapped back to reality as I realized what I was doing. I cringed my eyes and even though I was still curious to explore this fat body I let the chubby woman down for now. As her feet hit the floor, I raised my hand to my mouth and cleared my “throat”. “Just a... Routine inspection, yes. Nothing out of the ordinary. Besides... A really fat demon.”
My head once again tilted in curiosity at the peculiar sight. A fat demon... Such a surprise. Even for a woman of her size.
Eleonora looked up at me with a flushed face, still a bit embarrassed at what I had just done with her body. She shook her head and looked into my eyes, still with a sassy tone. “Look, I appreciate that you helped me slim down even though I became this... thing, but I''d appreciate it if you didn’t pick me up anymore. I’m not a human toy.”
For some reason her defiance sparked ire in me, and I glared down at the smaller demon woman and pointed a finger at her. “You will show due respect, else I show you how. I am your superior. Do not forget that.”
Eleonora seemed to shrink under my harsh gaze and could only nod meekly up at me in response. My glare softened, and I instead opted to show a smile. “You’re quite cute when you actually drop the sass.” My smile faded slightly, and I sported a more serious facial expression. “Since you’ve got such an... unique body for a demon, I hereby propose an offer. I can show you how to use your new body to its fullest potential, and in exchange, I’ll keep a close eye on you. Win-win for you, I suppose, but I''ll quite like to keep track of where such a...” I looked down at Eleonoras’ large body, and particularly her belly. “Large demon is located.”
Eleonora only nodded in response, still a bit intimidated by my previous show of authority. “That sounds like a f-fair trade.” I couldn’t help smiling at how meek the previously sassy and defiant little demon had become under my intimidating stature. “We can begin immediately. I’ll take you to my castle for now, and we can begin by teaching you the ropes.”