《Heltana's story》


 I survived...

    ¡°In memory of Gertrude, our beloved sister.¡±


    These were the words displayed on the stone monument before me. It¡¯s polished yet crude andesite corners showed some signs of damage, which made sense with how extreme the weather seemed to be here.


    Looking at this grave was practically the only thing I could do.


    The last thing I remember before I woke up in front of this obelisk was the pain. I also remember my last words... They were loaded with lust.


    ¡°I want you to fuck me up.¡±


    Hmph. Fuck me up he certainly did.


    My body entirely disintegrated right after I spoke those words. It¡¯s just a damn stroke of luck that I was able to survive. It seems that the winds might have scattered my body though¡­ This is definitely nowhere near where I died.


    I blinked my eye in contemplation.


    That was basically all I could do right now. After all my years of being able to shape my body largely at will, I had become pretty good at telling what part of me was what. Now, I am fairly certain to say that my body consisted of nothing more than a singular eyeball, lying in the grass.


    In a way, this state brought me peace. When I woke up, I was certainly confused though, to say the least. It had felt like years had gone by, as I semi-existed without any form of sensory input... but then, one day, the shutters were unceremoniously opened, and I could see.


    I couldn¡¯t blink, mind you. My eyelids hadn¡¯t regenerated at that point.


    But as I had been lying here with nothing but my thoughts, I had begun thinking. I lost that battle against Andras. Sure, he had become a god, but still. It¡¯s mostly due to my body and its limited potential.


    Andras and Luca can both transform. I can¡¯t. And that pisses me off.


    There has to be a way for me to evolve. To transcend. Once I get my body back, I need to-


    ¡°Hey, come look! There¡¯s a weird blue orb on the ground over here!¡±


    A voice suddenly made itself known. Who ¨C or what ¨C could that be?


    I felt a slight squeeze as a couple of fingers pinched on my eyeball. It was probably a human because I felt no significant energy aside from a soul.


    My hellfire should have burnt their fingers, but I guess I lost too much power to actually burn properly. I was also too weak to pull their soul right out from their fingers, so I had no other option than to submit to this impromptu examination.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ warm.¡±


    The human held me toward their face and smiled slightly. ¡°How much do you think something like this will sell for?¡±


    Another figure stepped into my peripheral from the left and took a glance at me.


    ¡°Looks like a dull piece of sapphire. Hold it up to the sun.¡±


    The fingers holding me twisted me around, and I faced the sun.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take it. Maybe the merchant will tell us something of its value.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The humans had put me in some kind of bag. I felt the shaking of the satchel as it bobbed back and forth with their movements.


    It¡¯s nice to be on the move again, even in such circumstances. I kept count; I had lied in front of that stone statue for twelve days.


    ¡°We¡¯re here. Get the gemstone.¡±


    I heard the sound of metal being knocked on, followed by the screeching of old hinges. It would Seem we had arrived at some kind of metal door.


    ¡°Ya here to trade?¡±


    The voice came from somewhere down to the left of me. Either it belonged to a child, or a dwarf.


    I never really could tell the difference.


    ¡°We found something you might be interested in. It¡¯s some kind of heat-emitting gemstone.¡±


    The bag holding me was opened, and I was rolled out onto the human¡¯s palm once more. My eye faced the merchant, and my suspicions were confirmed. It was a dwarf.


    ¡°I have never seen anything like this before¡­ Where did you find it?¡±


    The dwarf pinched down on me and took me over to a bench filled with all kinds of doohickeys and instruments. He laid me down in some kind of elevated metal saucer, and then went on to rummage through the things on the table below me.


    ¡°The place where our sister died. We¡¯ve gone there every other week to pay our respects¡­¡±


    The dwarf seemed to have found what he was looking for and brought it up to my eye, squinting inquisitively at the gadget.


    ¡°It seems to be filled with demonic energy¡­ Maybe this is a piece of a demon¡¯s corpse?¡±


    The tool hovering in front of me responded slightly to my demonic mana. I snickered slightly to myself and began siphoning what little energy the tool held inside.


    ¡°What the¡­?¡±


    The tool exploded with a comedic ¡°poof¡± and covered the dwarf¡¯s face in soot. He wiped his face clean and put the now broken thing down onto the counter again.


    ¡°Whatever this is, it seems to be a highly efficient conductor of some sort¡­ I¡¯ll pay you 30 gold coins for it.¡±


    The two humans nodded quickly, and the dwarf hopped down from the chair he stood on and rummaged through something outside my view.


    The tool didn¡¯t hold much energy, but it should be enough for me to reform my head. I imagined how my head should look and began utilizing my demonic regeneration.


    The humans looked in shock at me, as I continued to increase in size in front of their eyes. ¡°W-what the hell?!¡±


    As soon as my neck finished forming, I used what little energy I had left to catapult myself off the table with a small tentacle I formed underneath. I flied right toward the right guy¡¯s throat and after forming a mouth, I bit down.


    I sliced his head clean off and turned my head around quickly before forcing tentacles into his now vacant neck-slot. After fumbling a little with remembering how to control a human body, I clenched the corpses¡¯ right hand into a fist and punched the other guy in the face.


    The strength of this human wasn¡¯t that impressive, but after redirecting what little demonic energy I had left into the fist, the knuckles shattered as it hit the skull of the other person.


    His head accelerated quickly and smashed into the wall right behind him. His neck snapped almost instantly, as the body fell limp toward the floor.


    I began sucking the soul out of the human corpse I was puppeteering and after converting it to energy, I reformed my body inside it. I flared up my hellfire and as I did, the corpse broke apart and exploded out in all directions, covering the room in bone shrapnel and a thick layer of blood.


    ¡°Ah, how good it is to be back.¡±


    As I stretched my arms toward the ceiling with a small moan, my breasts shot out of my was-flat chest with a *bwoomp* as my body finished adjusting to its usual form before settling.


    The dwarf who had stood entirely paralyzed in fear in the corner of the room now whined with fear like a puppy, watching my newly formed body with intense dread beneath a thick layer of human blood.


    ¡°Do not fear, little dwarf. As thanks for feeding me enough energy to rematerialize, I shall spare your life.¡±


    I briskly turned myself around, and bent down to pick up the second human corpse. I rapidly siphoned out the soul inside, before lying the lifeless corpse back down.


    I was just about to go out of the open iron door when I heard the voice of the dwarf behind me. I turned around inquisitively.


    ¡°W-who... What are you?¡±


    I snickered slightly before turning around and putting a hand on the frame of the iron door, turning it red-hot with my hellfire.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Heltana.¡±

 How to train your human.

    I finally did it. My body had returned, and I was back alive.


    Now I had to figure out what happened after I died. More importantly, I need to find my way back to hell.


    It seems that the ritual Andras had done to breach the barrier between Hell and the living realm has either been dispelled, or he¡¯s dead. I might also just have died with all my power when I died in the war... That would mean Hell has a new second strongest demon.


    I can still siphon and control the souls of the living though, so maybe I can still get my position back. But if I''m going to do that, I need to solve the issue that I figured out earlier.


    I need to find an especially unique demon... Wasn¡¯t there a grey demon in that war? I vaguely remember seeing someone like that.


    If I remember, he could make weapons out of his body. That sounds like the type of demon I need to talk to.


    But first I need to become less conspicuous. I¡¯m too tall and... too demonic to just walk around in public. I need to find someone to possess.


    I looked down at the cobblestone roads below as I clenched my claws around the edge of the roof. There¡¯s bound to be a woman who will suit my needs walking by here eventually...


    My vision changed to outline people by gender by coloring males blue and females green. There were a lot of women walking down there, I just needed to pick one...


    Then I saw the perfect host. She was tall for a human, but more importantly she had just the physique I was looking for. She''s the perfect host.


    I leapt off the roof and tackled the woman to the ground. They were surprised at first, but the surprise quickly turned to anger as they grabbed my hand with both of theirs.


    ¡°What the hell?!¡±


    I smiled wide and clenched my hand around her neck. ¡°You¡¯ll make a fine puppet.¡±


    I smashed my larger body against the woman¡¯s, forcing my energies to flow into her and occupy the flesh-space inside. Her soul was in there with me, but I needed her alive; else the body would simply die and become useless to me.


    ¡°Let... Go of me!¡±


    As soon as the words left her mouth, I finished the demon bind. Perfect.


    Hello there. Now that we¡¯re in here together, what do you say we get to know each other better? My name is Heltana.


    The woman I had taken control of lifted herself off the floor and then clenched her head.


    ¡®Are you... in my mind?!¡¯


    Yep.


    ¡®What... what did you do to me?!


    The woman was speaking aloud, causing the crowd that had formed around her to step back in horror. One of the villagers broke off from the circle, likely going to get the city guards.


    Sorry sweetheart, I''ll have to explain this later. I hope you don¡¯t mind if I take control of your body for a moment!


    As soon as I finished saying that I overrode the electrical impulses coming from my hosts brain and pointed her palms toward the ground, firing off some hellfire. As we started flying up into the sky, the woman I was puppeteering started speaking out loud again.


    ''This is not real. This is just a dream, and I''ll wake up soon. Just close your eyes and go to sleep.¡¯


    I rolled my eyes and focused on where we should land.


    "So, you¡¯re a demon.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    "And why exactly did you choose me to be your host, again?"


    I had landed us on top of a mountain and gone outside of Helenas¡¯ body (that was the name of my new host). We had been talking for a little while, as she understandably had a lot of questions.


    ¡°The biggest reason was your physique, to be honest. As you can see, I sport quite the voluptuous body and when you merge with a human it is important to find a human sporting similar features.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Helena looked up at me from where she was sitting and snorted. ¡°You got that right. You look like you purposefully made your body to be as sexy as possible.¡±


    I chuckled slightly. ¡°Yeah, so? I mean, look at yourself. I could say the same thing about you.¡±


    I could see her cheeks flush red as she turned away from me with her hands crossed over her chest.


    I turned around to the horizon again and panned my gaze around the vast, open landscape. ¡°Have you ever been anywhere outside your city before?¡±


    I could hear Helena stand up behind me and she quickly moved over to stand next to me looking at the horizon. ¡°Not really¡­ Why?¡±


    I furrowed my brow slightly. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ a city we need to find. It¡¯s called valentine.¡±


    Helena looked puzzled and looked back over to her own city for a moment before shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a city called that. But after you showed my entire hometown that I¡¯m possessed by a demon now, I think I can¡¯t return anytime soon anyway.¡±


    She let out a contemplative sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll tag along with you. My life has been so dull and boring up until now anyway, it¡¯s high time I actually got to see the world.¡±


    I smiled broadly before patting Helena on the head. ¡°Good girl.¡±


    (Just to be clear, Heltana is 2.60m tall, whilst Helena is 1.9m. How does Heltana fit inside Helena¡¯s body? Well, Heltana can change her proportions at will, which (after her death) now also includes her height.)


    ¡°So, where we headed?¡±


    I spent some time teaching Helena how to fly using hellfire. It took some practice, but the few times Helena would damage her body (through mostly colliding with trees or walls) I would simply heal the damage.


    ¡®Okay¡­ I think I got it.¡¯


    Helena now hovered neatly above the small clearing I had spied in the forest below the mountain and was smiling happily.


    Yes, very good. Now, remember last time. Don¡¯t go full speed right off the bat, increase the throttle slowly.


    Helena nodded and increased the flames slightly. ¡®Like that?¡¯


    Very good. Now, try to land safely on the mountain we stood on a minute ago.


    I watched passively as Helena increased the speed a little more, and we started ascending the cliff-face quickly. I noticed that Helenas¡¯ heartbeat went a little faster than before, and that she had begun smiling. ¡®I got it!¡¯


    It didn¡¯t take long for us to reach the top, where she stopped mid-air and hovered gracefully.


    Now you just need to land. Preferably without shattering your femur. Again.


    Helena nodded and leant forward a little, causing us to drift above the safety of the mountain peak yet again. (I had taken the liberty to preemptively flatten the peak to make it easier for Helena to land on.)


    Now, release.


    Helena picked up on my lie and smacked her lips defiantly. ¡®Oho, you¡¯re not getting me twice with that one.¡¯


    I smiled broadly as Helena slowly decreased the throttle of hellfire, eventually causing her feet to tap against the stone floor of the mountain with softness akin to silk.


    ¡®I-I did it!¡¯


    I manifested my head outside Helenas body and smiled at her. ¡°You did it.¡±


    Helena looked at me with a broad smile on her face, almost like a child. ¡°That was¡­ Wow, that was amazing!¡±


    I snickered slightly. I suppose if it was the first time I flew, I would feel the same way.


    ¡°But¡­ What do we do now?¡±


    My smile faded a bit, and I quickly let out a hum. ¡°Our best bet is still to find Valentine. The only problem is¡­ This landscape looks so foreign to me. Do you know the name of the largest city around here?¡±


    Helena sat down on the ground and put a finger under her chin. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen it myself, but my mom always spoke of our capitol when she¡­ was alive. She told me it was the most beautiful city she ever visited¡­ Never said the name though, only the directions to get there. It should be off somewhere east of my hometown.¡±


    Helena got on her legs again and pointed toward east, past some mountains in the distance. ¡°She said it was right past those mountains there.¡±


    I nodded and pulled my head back inside Helenas¡¯. Let¡¯s go then. There¡¯s bound to be someone who knows how to find Valentine there.


    Sorry about your mom, by the way.


    Helena sighed and kicked off the mountaintop before starting to fly. ¡®It¡¯s all right. It was a long time ago.¡¯


    We flew from mountaintop to mountaintop. None of the mountains looked familiar to me, unfortunately. The winds must have carried whatever remained of my body very, very far away¡­


    ¡®I think that¡¯s the capitol down there, Heltana.¡¯


    Helena pointed a finger toward the ground, right at a very large and pompous-looking castle. Good eye. Let¡¯s land.


    Helena quickly stopped the hellfire, and we began falling toward the ground. It didn¡¯t take long for us to reach the forest canopies, and before long we had reached the underbrush. Helena took care to soften the landing with hellfire.


    ¡®If we had just landed in the middle of the city, people might ask questions. If we do it this way, we¡¯ll seem like just another weary traveler.¡¯


    I smiled. Good thinking. I¡¯m not used to having to be so inconspicuous. When I was second strongest in Hell, it was a borderline necessity to show off. Having to be so¡­ silent is not something I¡¯m used to.


    ¡®It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m here. Just follow my steps.¡¯

 Where am I?

    This area is... Confusing me. There is almost nothing I recognize.


    Sure, the grass and tree leaves are green, but the trunks of the trees are white. I¡¯ve never seen a white tree in my life.


    There looks to be snow and ice everywhere around here too. Wherever i am, it must be much colder than what I''m used to.


    Of course, I can¡¯t feel that. My skin is perpetually on fire after all.


    But the people of this place seem to dress the same as what I''m used to seeing at home. Nobody seems to be dressed in especially thick clothing.


    Maybe they have lived, well, wherever this is for so long and been so isolated from other human societies that they have adapted naturally thicker hair, or something like that? Helena seemed to be pretty similar to humans I am familiar with though, so I''m not sure.


    ¡®You¡¯re quiet. Are you thinking about anything?¡¯


    Helenas¡¯ words snapped me out of my thoughts. We were standing right outside the city gates now, and Helena had leant herself against a light post. There were people coming in and out of the city at a pretty consistent pace. This place must be a traders¡¯ guild, or something of the like.


    People usually don¡¯t move in and out of big settlements like this, this frequently, unless they¡¯re bringing or are out of wares to sell.


    We¡¯ll probably find someone who can tell me¡­ us, where we are in here. Or at least, where we are in relation to Valentine.


    Helena looked back toward the city gates with a small frown. ¡®You¡¯re right. I still don¡¯t really know why you want to get there so bad, but it¡¯s not like I have a choice¡­¡¯


    I¡¯m not going to kill you.


    ¡®That¡¯s not what I¡¯m worried about. I¡¯m worried that once you find whatever you¡¯re looking for, you¡¯ll just abandon me and go on your merry way alone.¡¯


    Helena took a deep breath, and I could feel that it hurt her to say this. ¡®I don¡¯t want to be alone. Not again¡­¡¯


    Helena sighed melancholically and I could feel her thoughts. She was recalling something deep and traumatic.


    Do you¡­ want to talk about it?


    Helena wiped the single tear which had rolled down her chin off and brought her head up towards the city gates again. ¡®No, no. It¡¯s fine. It was a long time ago.¡¯


    I wanted to learn more, but I didn¡¯t want to pressure Helena into saying anything she wasn¡¯t comfortable with sharing. I couldn''t leave her body now to give her a hug and tell her it¡¯s all right either, because of the huge crowd which she had walked into.


    Oh well. Maybe if I gain her trust a bit more, she will tell me about it. For now, I guess we both just have our little secrets.


    We had gone through the city gates without much fuss. There was a city guard at the gates but apparently, they were only there to protect against robbers and raiders since we didn¡¯t need any documentation or permits to enter the city.


    Must be a drifter town, I suppose.


    The people behind the stalls around us all yelled to get our attention. They were each offering their set of products or produce to sell, but Helena politely declined all their attempts. We¡¯re looking for information, and material goods can wait.


    Eventually we reached a tavern at the side of the road. It wasn¡¯t a significantly pretty or notably worn-down building, just your run-of-the-mill tavern. There should be at someone willing to barter for information in there.


    Helena opened the doors with a small shove. The people inside didn¡¯t seem to react to our entry and continued their ongoing conversations without giving us much regard. The tavernkeeper seemed to notice our entrance however and greeted us with a hearty laugh when we entered the tavern.


    ¡°Hello traveler! Welcome to Bill¡¯s!¡±


    Helena walked over to the bar and smiled at the fat man behind the counter. ¡°Hello. I take it you¡¯re Bill, then?¡±


    The chubby man laughed heartily again and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Welcome to my humble tavern!¡±


    He brought up an ale mug and started rubbing the inside of it with a clean towel. ¡°Would you like a drink? There¡¯s a party in town today, first one¡¯s on the house.¡±


    A party? That¡¯s interesting.


    ¡°What¡¯s the party for?¡±


    Bill looked a bit puzzled at Helena and scratched his head. ¡°You haven¡¯t heard? A Hydra which was terrorizing our trade routes for years was finally put down today! Sure we had some losses, but getting rid of that monster will make life a lot easier for our little drifter town.¡±


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    Helena seemed a bit disinterested and answered quickly. ¡°That¡¯s really something. By the way, Bill, have you heard of a town called Valentine?¡±


    Bill put a hand on his chin and hummed. ¡°Valentine? Oh, you mean that Valentine, yeah, that¡¯s a far while from here. You¡¯ll need to cross the ocean and go to the other island, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    Island? That¡¯s valuable information.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Well I¡¯ve never. There are multiple Islands?


    Does that mean there are multiple hells for each Island? When I had control of the book of souls in hell, I never saw anything which would indicate there are more Islands. There was always just our world¡­


    Helena acknowledged my confusion and continued asking Bill. ¡°How would one get to this¡­ other island?¡±


    Bill let out a tiny laugh. ¡°You take a boat, of course. The nearest dock is about a week from our town on horseback.¡±


    ¡®I suppose we can fly?¡¯


    Yeah.


    ¡°Where, if you could just point in a general direction, would this dock be?¡±


    Bill shook his head and smiled. ¡°Here. Just take this map. I¡¯ll give you a compass too, so you don¡¯t get lost. You seem like a decent woman, so it¡¯ll be free of charge.¡±


    Helena smiled heartily and took the map and compass from the man. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Bill smiled wide and nodded. ¡°My pleasure. I hope you find what you¡¯re looking for.¡±


    We left the city and I had told Helena to find a random mountain nearby. I left her body as soon as we reached the peak, and I sat down in contemplation.


    ¡°I¡¯m intrigued at what Bill said about multiple islands. I wonder if I can get to hell from here, I¡¯ll just need about 2 bodies worth of blood.¡±


    Helena¡¯s face turned pale and she looked at me. ¡°H-how much blood?¡±


    I shook my head rapidly. ¡°No, not your blood. And yes, it¡¯s quite grisly. Summon Dorm is about the only way for us demons to get to hell now that the barriers between the living realm and it are closed again. When the war broke out ¨C Never mind. What matters now is we have to find two random people, preferably some that won¡¯t be missed.¡±


    Helena nodded in understanding, yet also in slight fear. ¡°I¡¯m starting to get why they call you demons.¡±


    I grimaced slightly and turned toward Helena. ¡°It¡¯s not like I chose to have the spell require blood. I¡¯m just doing what needs to be done.¡±


    I turned away from Helena and spoke under my breath. ¡°It¡¯s not like I chose to be a demon either¡­¡±


    Helena chose to stay behind on the mountain while I scouted around for people fitting of the ritual. That was fine by me, I just need to stick to the shadows and try to remain unseen.


    I had flown onto a roof of the drifter town I was at before, and I was looking down at the people going by just like I had done when I was trying to find Helena. There were some people traveling in groups, which are out of the question entirely.


    I looked to my side and into a dark alleyway. There were homeless sitting there, apparently outside some kind of poverty home.


    It really pains me to do this, but these people won¡¯t be missed if they go missing. I grit my teeth and jumped into the alleyway, spooking the homeless sitting there.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    I grabbed two of the people at random, instantly getting a solid grip around their necks. The rest of the people around me all stood up in defiance, but they were too slow. I had already gone off the ground and started flying toward the nearby mountain before the homeless even had the time to get up properly.


    ¡°Oh my god, I¡¯m gonna die!¡±


    The woman I had grabbed with my left hand appeared to be entirely stoic, almost as if she had accepted her fate. The man in my right hand, however, was screaming and crying for his life.


    I couldn¡¯t bare to say anything to the two and just continued onward until I reached the mountaintop. Helena looked petrified at my arrival and watched in disgust at what I brought.


    ¡°You¡­ You just took these people.¡±


    I let the pair go now that they had no chance to escape anyway. ¡°I wish there was another way.¡±


    The man who I had taken finally seemed to realise what had happened and stood up to face me. ¡°Kidnapper!¡± He threw a punch toward my body, but it didn¡¯t do anything. All that happened was that he charred his fist, and he recoiled in pain. ¡°This must be a nightmare. That¡¯s right, I just need to close my eyes and-¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, I plunged my hand into his forehead. I felt the wetness of his blood coat my hand as my fingertips emerged from the back of his head, covered in gray matter and skull fragments.


    I quickly withdrew my hand after sucking out his soul and his body fell limp toward the mountaintop, lying to rest there on the stone. I paid my respects by closing his jaw and eyes before turning to face the homeless woman.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    The woman seemed content. They were an elderly lady, if I were to guess, she was in her 70¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯s all right. The life I¡¯ve been living once I ended up on the streets wasn''t worth living anyway.¡±


    She sat down in contemplation, almost as if in thought. ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered what the afterlife is like. Maybe you can show me.¡±


    Helena stood stock still in my peripheral and looked at the corpse of the dead man I had slain. I sighed contemplatively and bent down toward the woman. ¡°I¡¯ll make it painless.¡±


    Just as the words left my mouth, I quickly shot a ball of hellfire into the lady¡¯s forehead. The fire did its damage, painlessly severing the brain from the rest of the body in a mere millisecond before burning the brain matter to ash from the inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    The corpse of the woman limply fell toward the mountaintop and blood started leaking from the entrance hole the hellfire had made and mixed with that of the guy¡¯s. Now on the mountain stood me, and Helena in a shallow pool of blood.


    ¡°You¡¯re a monster.¡±

 Expectations broken...

    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, I can always get rid of you too. I have space for allies, but I can¡¯t afford to have enemies. Are you my enemy, Helena?¡±


    Helena looked down at the two homeless in shock. ¡°I¡­¡±


    I genuinely had no intention of killing or hurting Helena. This was just a test of her loyalty. People will always die; it doesn¡¯t matter what does them in. That old lady was as good as dead anyway, and the guy didn¡¯t seem like a worthwhile contribution to the human gene pool anyway.


    Helena seemed to gather her thoughts before looking directly into my eyes. She seemed to be trying to look through the veil, and into my thoughts.


    She seemed to reach a conclusion and opened her mouth to speak. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have done this if it wasn¡¯t necessary.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Helena seemed to be at a loss for words and stuttered. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll look at you the same way ever again. With that said, even though this is grisly, it¡¯s still better than the hell I-¡±


    Helena stopped herself mid-sentence and looked down toward the floor and away from me. ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s just do what you were planning to do. These people should not have died for nothing.¡±


    So, she isn¡¯t comfortable with telling me. A shame, but I suppose we haven¡¯t really had time to get to know each other yet. Maybe if we spend some more time together, develop a bond and some trust, maybe she will tell me then.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    I stretched my arms out, prepared to cast Summon Dorm. But as I did the incantation... nothing happened.


    I was left somewhat speechless. I thought this spell would work for sure...


    Helena looked up at me with a speechless face. ¡°Are you joking with me? You killed these people and now you¡¯re standing here, waving your hands?!¡±


    I was speechless. ¡°I... The spell has never failed before. It must be related to this second island that Bill mentioned, for some reason My incantations won¡¯t work here... How?!? Hell should be a world-reaching dimension!¡±


    Then it hit me. The reason I never saw mention of any second Island in my book is because the people here go... nowhere when they die. Maybe they all went to Heaven before the war, but now, all these souls are going straight to purgatory.


    When I get back to hell, I have to fix this immediately. So many souls, lost to the Aether to suffer forever... Poor humans.


    Helena looked at me with eyes giving me a glare that would certainly put me in the grave if looks could kill. I couldn¡¯t do anything but drop my arms back down to my sides and sigh. ¡°I suppose those two died for nothing then. I¡¯m sorry but that¡¯s how it is sometimes...¡±


    Helena¡¯s lips quivered with anger. She was at the cusp of saying something, but right before she did, she let out a pained ¡°ugh¡± and turned away from me. I could only lower my head in regret, sorry for what I had done.


    ¡°Is there any way I could make it up to you...?¡±


    Helena refused to speak to me. She was just glaring out into the open, hands crossed over her chest. God knows what she¡¯s thinking of right now.


    ¡°Look. If you have anything to say, say it. As I already said, I have time and space for my allies, but not for my enemies. You¡¯ll have to decide which you want to be right quick young lady, before I decide that for you.¡±


    Helena finally turned around to face me, tears flowing down her face. ¡°You have to promise me that you didn¡¯t know that the spell wouldn¡¯t work.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I promise. Now, please step back from the ledge before you hurt yourself.¡±


    Our legs were still covered in blood. The shallow pool which had drained from the bodies of the homeless I had killed had not yet started to flake, and my steps made soft pitter-patter sounds as I walked toward the shaking woman. I landed my palm on her shoulder, reassuring her. I started moving her away from the ledge, toward the center of the mountain. Helena didn¡¯t fight against my movements and silently shook.


    ¡°Sorry. I wouldn¡¯t have done that if I knew.¡±


    I brought the woman into an embrace, hugging her. She started sobbing and wrapped her hands around my back. I closed my eyes, only muttering small sentences. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Let it out.¡±


    Helena eventually calmed down, and the blood finally flaked and flied away in the wind. I had sat down on the ledge of the mountain, putting a hand on my chin.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°Just where we¡¯re going from here. There¡¯s still someone I need to see, and I thought that going to hell would help me find him. Now, that¡¯s not an option.¡±


    Helena put a hand on my shoulder. As my host, she can¡¯t be hurt by my hellfire, so this didn¡¯t hurt her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can find him, wherever he is. Who is he to you? A friend? A¡­ Lover?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°The only love I¡¯ve ever felt was that of desperate men taking advantage of me when I was weaker. This¡­ body, well, it seems like males are especially attracted to it.¡±


    I turned my head to the side. ¡°But that was their love for me. It didn¡¯t go both ways.¡±


    Helena¡¯s hand on my shoulder squeezed harder, as if to reassure me. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Those people can¡¯t get to you now.¡±


    I snarled. ¡°Damn right they can¡¯t. They were my prime motivation to become stronger. To be able to protect myself.¡± This memory stung deep, and I took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°I memorized their faces. Their colors. As soon as I was strong enough, I killed them. One after the other.¡±


    If I could cry, I would probably shed a tear right now.


    ¡°So, if you ask me if he is my lover, the answer is no.¡±


    I removed my mouth which I¡¯d had on display up until now. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not even sure I¡¯m attracted to men. They are so filthy.¡±


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    Helena looked a bit taken aback by this comment and looked to be struggling with finding the right words. ¡°A-Actually, me too.¡±


    I turned toward Helena. Would this finally be the time she tells me a bit about herself?


    She turned for a moment, looking out at nothing in particular. ¡°I¡¯ve also experienced what you say. Minus the killing¡­¡± She smiled a bit and turned to face me again. ¡°We¡¯re not so different, I guess.¡±


    I smiled back, putting a hand on her shoulder as she had done with me. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Her smile widened and she pulled me closer to her and before I knew it, we shared a hug. ¡°It¡¯s okay to be vulnerable. The important part is moving forward, and not letting the world keep you down.¡±


    We hugged for a good minute before we finally parted again. ¡°So, what do you say we find this demon pal of yours?¡±


    I snickered. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go find him.¡±


    I had gone back inside Helenas¡¯ body. She was looking out at the horizon, to nowhere in particular.


    ¡®So, any leads on where this gray demon could be?¡¯


    The best lead we have is still to get to Valentine. If Andras is still alive, the people at Valentine are bound to know where he is.


    ¡®Sounds like a plan.¡¯


    Helena looked toward where Bill had said the docks were. ¡®Let¡¯s go, then.¡¯


    She kicked us off the floor and started flying.


    I felt now was as good a time as any and interrupted the silence. By the way Helena, did you mean¡­ you¡¯re also not interested in men, when we talked earlier? Or was it just the rape part?


    I could feel Helena racking her brain. She¡¯s probably debating whether she trusts me enough to admit this yet, or not.


    ¡®Yeah... Well, I''m more bisexual, I think.¡¯


    Wow. I didn¡¯t expect her to be so honest with me.


    Thank you for sharing.


    ¡®Yeah, same to you.¡¯


    We eventually reached the water¡¯s edge. It took about 20 minutes to fly there, mostly because Helena was unwilling to go full speed which I totally understood. It must be rather painful to break the sound barrier when you have a body filled with nerves and pain receptors.


    We landed a fair way outside the city, just like we had done with the drifter town earlier. Helena dusted herself off after landing and chimed in to my thoughts.


    ¡®So, what¡¯s the plan? Just take a ship and see what happens, or?¡¯


    I didn¡¯t really have a plan. What¡¯s sure is that I don¡¯t know which direction or even the path to take to get back to what was apparently my island, so I guess our best bet is to take a boat there. Yeah, we¡¯ll have to take a ship.


    Helena simply nodded and we walked to the city gates. There were guards here too, but there wasn¡¯t a constant flow of people like it had been at the drifter town. The guards meticulously inspected every carriage before opening the doors for one after the other, letting one carriage roll out while another rolled in.


    We¡¯ll certainly need papers to get into this town.


    Helena rummaged through a satchel she had on her waist, and eventually found a scroll. It looked to be some kind of identification paper, confirming that she was herself. ¡®I think it¡¯s outdated. Can you maybe do some demon woo-woo to change the date there?¡¯


    She pointed at some numbers. ¡®I think it¡¯s the¡­ 3¡¯rd of may today. The year¡¯s¡­¡¯


    Helena took a moment to do some math before she continued. ¡®1023.¡¯


    Okay, so¡­ wait, what? I¡¯ve been dead for 122 years?!


    No wonder things are so much different now.


    I extended my finger outside Helenas¡¯ and swiped over the date to display the correct date. There we are. I¡¯ll put its expiration date to a year from now, just to be safe.


    Helena nodded and continued walking toward the city gates. One of the guards stopped us with a hand outstretched, wielding a spear in the other. ¡°Halt.¡±


    Heltana did as instructed and handed the guard the scroll. ¡°Here you go, officer.¡±


    The guard read through the document lazily before giving it back to Helena ten seconds later. ¡°Have a nice trip.¡±


    The guard opened a smaller wood door in the city walls, allowing us to step through. On the other side we were met with a small rope fence, which was also accompanied by a guard.


    I guess they don¡¯t want people to go out the same door we entered through.


    ¡®Strict security. What could be so special about a harbor?¡¯


    Helena looked up and I finally noticed that the entire city had a huge dome of radiant energy closing it off completely.


    Damn. Glad we didn¡¯t try to fly in here.


    Helena walked over to one of the stalls at the harbor edge, and politely greeted the clerk. ¡°We ¨C I would like to get a spot on the boats leaving here, if that¡¯s possible.¡±


    The lady behind the counter looked to be an older woman, kindly smiling at Helena and I. ¡°Of course! That¡¯ll be 4 gold.¡±


    Helena quickly talked to me. ¡®I only have 2 gold.¡¯


    Put your hand behind your back and pretend like you¡¯re looking for your money.


    Helena did as I said and as her hand left the ladies¡¯ line of sight, I simply manifested 6 gold pieces in Helenas¡¯ palm.


    ¡®Well, that¡¯s useful.¡¯


    She paid the old lady, which gave us a small paper in return. It was a ticket.


    ¡°Just go to the guard over there, and he will stamp it for you.¡±


    The old lady pointed toward a guard standing right beside the ramp going up toward one of the ships. ¡°Safe travels, young lady!¡±


    Helena smiled goodbye and she walked onto the ship after having the ticket stamped.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lovely view, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The boat had left the harbor. As the day neared night, eventually the deck was cleared of passengers who would rather spend the night inside their cabins as the outside air on the ocean was rather cold. I¡¯m warm enough to heat an army though, so I simply shared some of my heat with Helena by sticking close to her.


    The boat was driven by wind, so it glided almost silently across the mirror-like surface of the water. This far out from shore you would have thought there would be more waves, but I guess not.


    Nobody was still on-deck to witness that a demon was on the boat, so I took the liberty to exit Helenas¡¯ body again. ¡°It is.¡±


    I turned toward Helena and smiled. ¡°You know, I never imagined I would become so attached to a human. Sure, I¡¯ve had other hosts, but I feel you and I share something more than that.¡±


    Helena turned her head from the silent water drifting by and looked at me inquisitively. ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Well for one, you¡¯re my host. That in and of itself brings two souls closer, I think.¡± I smiled and looked toward the water. ¡°But¡­ you¡¯ve shown me what it means to be a human. Sure, I¡¯m not a human and never will be, but I would like to understand you better, regardless.¡±


    Helena smiled. ¡°Yeah, I guess I have. You¡¯ve also taught me some valuable lessons, like accepting death.¡± She let her smile fade slightly and turned back toward the black water. ¡°It¡¯s always been a fact, of course. But getting to hear your opinion on how much a mortal is worth, how we should cherish our lives, well, it¡¯s gotten me to realize that I want to do more with the time I have here.¡±


    I could see a slight blush form on Helenas¡¯ cheeks and she turned back toward me. ¡°And I would like to spend that time with you.¡±


    I returned her smile and chuckled slightly. ¡°I¡¯m glad. I thought I was the only one who thought so.¡±


    Helena chuckled and her blush broadened slightly. ¡°Do you¡­¡±


    I put a finger on her lips and formed my mouth. ¡°Shh. Use those lips for something other than talking for once.¡±


    Helena giggled and pulled my hand out of the way. ¡°Come here you long-tongued demon.¡±


    I wrapped my hands around Helenas back, and she did the same. We brought our faces together, until we connected. It was no demon bind, but rather our lips.


    ¡°I love you.¡±

 The witch.

    I awoke with my heart pounding like a hammer against my chest. I panted and looked around frantically.


    Was all that just a dream?


    I looked down and oriented myself. It looked like i was lying... in a bunk bed?


    Someone had draped some kind of fireproof blanket over me. It looked like i was lying on the top bunk too, from the looks of it.


    Who in god''s name would be able to lift me-


    ¡°Hey, are you all right?¡±


    I recognized Helenas¡¯ voice. She was calling to me from the bottom bunk. I covered my face with my hands, completely embarrassed. It was totally all a dream, wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°G-good morning...¡±


    Helena chuckled from the bottom bunk. ¡°Had a nice dream, I''m guessing?¡±


    I let out a long and defeated sigh. ¡°You could say that...¡±


    I decided not to recount my dream to Helena. Instead, I went back inside her body since we were leaving our dorm, and I didn¡¯t want people to freak out that there was a demon on board.


    Having entered her body I noticed that she had a scratch on her arm. I didn¡¯t think much of it and just healed the damage with my demonic powers. After being healed, Helena looked out over the vast sea and eventually spotted our destination. It was an island on the horizon, but due to some mild fog it was hard to make it out. We would probably arrive there in an hour or two.


    ¡®Let¡¯s hope we can find that grey demon of yours there.¡¯


    I hummed a quick ¡°mhm¡± as the boat neared the docks.


    I haven¡¯t told you this yet but as far as I''m aware, I''m the only higher demon alive who does not have a full-power form. The gray demon could form weapons out of his body, last time I saw him... so maybe we¡¯re similar in a way. He seemed proficient at it, and as far as I know, he¡¯d only been a demon for a day or two.


    Imagine his skill after a hundred years of training.


    Helena nodded in agreement. ¡®That sounds like a good lead. It sounds like whenever you find them, we might go our separate ways, though.¡¯


    I felt stung, having my original plan recounted to me. Yes, that was my original plan, you¡¯re right about that. I took a small pause before continuing. But lately... I¡¯ve started to realize that I¡¯ve never had a host quite like you before. There¡¯s something special about you... But I don¡¯t know what it is yet. I want to figure that out at least, before we go our separate ways.


    I could feel Helena¡¯s heartbeat accelerate.


    ¡®There¡¯s nothing... Abnormal about me. I¡¯m fine.¡¯


    Hm.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to get off the boat, miss. We docked 10 minutes ago so unless you want to come back with us, you¡¯ve got to leave.¡±


    Mine and Helenas thoughts were interrupted as the strong hand of a crewmember landed on her shoulder. Helena jumped a bit in shock before uttering a quick ¡°o-oh!¡±


    Helena apologized for her tardiness and walked off the boat. The crewman simply stood watching us leave, only giving a quick nod toward our direction.


    ¡®So, where is valentine from here?¡¯


    Helena scratched her wrist as she stood nowhere in particular in the dockyard city. She looked around, clearly waiting for my answer.


    I¡¯ve never been to this particular area before. From valentine, you can¡¯t even see the shoreline. I didn¡¯t even think I lived on an island before i came back to life wherever we came from.


    ¡®I guess we can ask around then.¡¯


    After fruitlessly asking random people where to go to get to Valentine, we eventually reached the city gates where there was a single horse carriage. There was an elderly woman at the reins, who offered to take us to Valentine as she was traveling with goods there regardless.


    Etariel, the old lady, asked for Helenas name in exchange for the lift. She gave it, and Etariel smiled broadly. ¡°What would such a young lady like you want to be doing in a place like Valentine, may I ask? It¡¯s turning into quite the hotspot.¡±


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    Etariel gave a playful chuckle and lowered one of her hands from the rains she was holding, palm landing on a cat which was purring contently on her lap. Helena looked down at the small feline with a smile, then back up at Etariel again. ¡°Cute kitty. What¡¯s its name?¡±


    Etariel smiled. ¡°Her name is Alice. An old friend gave her to me, when he¡­ never mind. She¡¯s been with me for a long time now.¡±


    Alice looked up at Helena with a slight tint of disdain, before lying her head down again. Etariel looked a bit hurt and sighed quickly. ¡°She¡¯s usually more friendly than this. Maybe it¡¯s something about you?¡±


    Might be me.


    Helena scratched the spot where she had that scratch before I healed it earlier today. ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate. How long is it to Valentine from here?¡±


    Etariel had put her focus, and second hand, back onto steering the carriage and smiled while keeping her eyes on the dirt road. ¡°I have a secret way to get there, so don¡¯t be surprised if we get there sooner than you might think. It would take anyone else around 4 days to reach Valentine, though.¡±


    Hm, so this Etariel lady is either a witch, or she knows teleportation of some kind. That¡¯s good to know, I suppose.


    Helena and Etariel¡¯s conversation died down before we eventually reached a cross in the road, where the right road went into a thick-looking forest and the other continuing onward into the plain plains.


    Etariel nodded to a fallen tree right at the edge of the forest. ¡°We¡¯ll take the right here.¡± She lightly whipped the reins of the carriage, and the horses quietly complied before trotting onward into the forest.


    Helena looked a bit worried.


    What¡¯s up?


    Helena jumped a bit in her seat. ¡®Gosh! I forgot you still were here. You¡¯ve been so quiet.¡¯


    Well, hello, I suppose.


    Helena¡¯s brow slightly furrowed as she remembered my question. ¡®I feel a bit¡­ Weird. Not to worry you too much, but I think the scratch I got earlier was¡­¡¯


    Was¡­?


    Helena shook her head. ¡®it¡¯s probably nothing.¡¯


    I decided not to pry further. As Helena eventually brought her attention back to the road, it became clear that we were in the middle of a severely thick forest. The sky wasn¡¯t even visible here since the trees were so tall, but there were lanterns hanging out from the side of the trees which gave good visibility. The carriage was on a strip of road which bent quite intensely to the left, but Etariel kept a sensible speed to make the turn smooth.


    Is it just me or are we going¡­ very fast? Like, it looks and physically feels like we¡¯re going slowly¡­ but there was a psychological interference. My mind was telling me that we were going kilometers at a time.


    Do you feel that, Helena?


    Helena let out a quick, slightly pained grunt and nodded. ¡®Yes. What¡¯s going on?¡¯


    Etariel let out a chuckle as the sensation faded away, just as suddenly as it had arrived. ¡°We¡¯re almost there now, dear.¡±


    As the turn ended and straightened out again, I could see the end of the forest about 20 meters away. We¡¯re almost out of the forest again?


    This is suspicious...


    Etariel only chuckled in the driver''s seat and pointed forward, for about a second, before turning her finger to the right. ¡°Your town is out of the forest here, then to the right.¡±


    ¡®Didn¡¯t she say the trip would take 4 days...?¡¯


    Something fishy is definitely going on. She¡¯s not expressed any hostility so far, so just keep calm for now...


    Nothing happened. Helena and I felt a bit silly, having gotten worked up for nothing. Etariel only chuckled, realizing that Helena had gotten so on-edge.


    ¡°And we¡¯ve arrived.¡±


    The carriage stopped at a horse stall. Some farmhand boys quickly grabbed the horses'' reins, and guided the carriage in until the horses were standing comfortably. Helena nodded toward Etariel, thanking her for taking us here. She got down from the carriage, landing on the semi-moist mud of the stall.


    ¡®So, where do we go?¡¯


    I panned my vision around the village as Helena moved her gaze. I was looking for unsuspecting people... There have got to be at least two people around here who won¡¯t be missed.


    I¡¯ll have to try to do the ritual again... Just, try to get into a back alley or something. We need to kill 2 people.


    Helenas¡¯ mouth sunk to a pout at my words, but she nodded regardless. ¡®If we must...¡¯


    Looking around, I spotted a few ragged-looking individuals. I¡¯d go for that old man there... And that guy. We can take them to a mountain nearby. You won¡¯t have to do the deed, if you don¡¯t want to.


    Helenas¡¯ eyes seemed to go blank, and they somewhat dimmed in... life. She only nodded and went over to the old men before grabbing each by the throat and flying upward, over the forest from whence we had just come. She did it in such great speed it was a miracle the two men¡¯s necks didn¡¯t instantly snap, but her tight grip on each of their throats muffled any sound of resistance they could voice. They clawed at her hand, to no avail.


    And, just as quickly as she had picked the two up, she squeezed her hands together. The two men¡¯s necks provided little resistance against her demon-strengthened grip, as a gush of blood erupted from the two necks she was holding. She let go of the two men¡¯s bodies, and fell downward herself.


    As the two bodies made a thud against the forest floor, so did Helenas¡¯.


    Helena? Are you okay?


    For a moment, Helena snarled in the air like a wolf. She then quickly shook her head and her eyes returned to normal, though completely puzzled. ¡°What- What was that!?¡±


    I thought back to the scratch I had felt on Helenas¡¯ arm earlier. Of course. Why didn¡¯t i see it before now? She scratched herself and somehow, Werewolf spit got into her wound.


    Helena, listen to me. I understand that you didn¡¯t trust me enough to tell me, but turning into a werewolf when a Demon is inside you will lead to your death. You¡¯re lucky I found out before the full moon arrived... It¡¯s going to show itself tomorrow.


    Helena¡¯s eyes widened as she looked down at her palms, completely covered in blood.


    ¡°I¡¯m a monster.¡±

 Lets do some paperwork.

    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...


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    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.¡±