Dragons, Decay, & Too Many Legs 12 (Patreon)

I smiled proudly as the makeshift training dummy fell to pieces. A mere three days of practice, my nubile (and impregnated, as was proper) warlock waifu was able to manifest the most basic bitch warlock spell: the obligatory Eldritch Blast. It nearly brought a tear to my eye. She still only hit the target maybe seven times out of ten, but we’d be working on aim, and I’d settled on a very enjoyable reward system. One orgasm for every time she hits the target twice in a row, and when she reaches the point of hitting them ten times in a row, I’ll eat her out.

When I told her that, Kaede's aim vastly improved, to where she was now. Unfortunately, it was getting late, and I only had access to the warehouse we were training in for about another half-hour. First rule of corrupting peeps: start small, ask for little things (like an empty warehouse and a bunch of old, half rotten pallets) and then work up to the contract signing away their soul and firstborn. Enough times getting minor favors from old Danny boy, and I'll have him in so deep he has no choice but to let Yao Ming have the Docks. Also more time to manipulate Taytay.

“Alright, let's wrap it up,” I told Kaede, holding up a hand to forestall her protest. “You do have school tomorrow.”

Her pout was adorable, making me laugh before leaning in and kissing her on the lips, before sending her home. A member of the Brute Squad would make sure she made it there safely, I on the other hand had an experiment to conduct. The Little Mouse Formerly Known as Sophia had finally cracked, agreeing to do whatever I told her. I’d be putting that to the test soon. Ya see, sooner or later Yao Ming wanted me to put Oni Lee through the same ritual that made the Brute Squad… well, the Brute Squad.

The thing is, until we found out what the effect of putting a parahuman through the ritual would be, it was too risky to do so with our serial suicide bomber. That’s where Little Mouse came in. She was a parahuman, and if that made it so she didn’t come back from the ritual or she lost her current power, then there’d be no great loss. Sure, some of the men would be upset at not getting to fuck her anymore, but with how many men had been with her I’d be more inclined to fuck Squealer than her. I bit back a shudder at the image that thought put into my head. Bleg, now I’d need to find out if anyone in Brockton Bay sold Brain Bleach.

So, on a less disturbing topic: I’d need to tell Yao Ming about the whole warlock thing, but I don’t know if I can form a Pact with anyone else at the moment. On the face of it, Pacts were the simplest form of bargain based magics. The two prospective parties hash out an agreement, one providing the other power in exchange for goods/services rendered. No religious faith or beseeching nebulous spirits of questionable sapience needed.

The issue is the fact that doing so forms a tether, a bond, a link. Were we in the world that the original Ophioc came from, I’d have never considered forming a Pact while I was this weak. If magic were commonplace in this crazy version of Earth Bet, then it would be possible for someone to use the patron bond I formed with Kaede like a twisted version of a voodoo doll.

On top of that, doing so… it didn’t take up a portion of my power, not exactly. But it was a lot harder to form and maintain multiple Pacts than having the same number of clerics. If I had to make a comparison (which I probably will when telling Yao Ming about this), then it’d be like investing in the stock market. Clerics were the result of a god investing a tiny amount into a crap ton of different companies. Sure you might hit the jackpot, but by and large you’ll get a little bit back for a small amount of risk. Warlock Pacts were putting heavy investments on only a few companies. Bigger risk, but the potential reward…

The comparison kinda fell apart with one key detail: I had no fucking clue how to grant divine spells or when I’d reach the point that I’d be able to. Eh, I’d figure out a better way to explain it later, for now I had a thoroughly raped and broken bitch to talk into ritual suicide so she’d rise as an undead abomination magically enslaved to my will. Which doesn’t sound creepy or ominous at all!

Shaking my head, I made my way into the warehouse. The ritual circle had been used so much by this point that it had etched itself into the floor, which made the set up a lot easier. Now I just had to say the words, the victim stabbed themselves, bled like crazy, died, then got back up. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

“You have arrived,” Yao Ming observed as Little Mouse was led in, naked except for the extension cord wrapped around her neck.

“Was working with my girl, I’ll tell ya more later,” I said as Little Mouse froze, her eyes wide as she stared in sheer terror at Yao Ming.

Clapping my hands, I gave a rakish grin to Little Mouse as she turned to look at me, “So Little Mouse, here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to stand inside this circle, right here. I’m going to say some gibberish, you’re going to ram that knife into your heart, and in exchange you’ll become a predator again instead of our prey. If you don’t, not only did I already beat you when you had a full load out, but do you really think you’d be able to escape him?”

She glanced fearfully between me and Yao Ming, before slumping in defeat. She was going to die, one way or the other. The only question was if she’d stay dead or come back stronger than before.

Things went fairly smoothly after. Little Mouse, trembling like the animal I’d named her after, stood in place, the athame I’d made for this ritual held in her hands. Yao Ming watched, his curiosity over the outcome visible in his eyes. I spoke the words, the magic swirled around us, concentrated [DEATH] zeroing in on a girl that for years had only thought she knew what power was. When the moment came, she drove the knife into her heart, whether to complete the ritual or escape the hell her life had become in the last two and half weeks, it didn’t matter.

As the athame buried itself into her chest up to the hilt, that’s where things went… screwy. I’m sensitive to death and things dying in a way that nothing else is or ever can be. And the amount of [DEATH] that was called there in that moment…

My musing was cut off, as the concentrated energies were released in a shockwave that knocked the observers ass over teakettle, and there was an ethereal scream of pain, agony, and sheer, unadulterated terror. I felt my jaw drop as I reached out with my divine senses and realized what happened. I… the ritual killed Sophia’s Shard. I don’t mean that the connection was severed or the extra dimensional computer was turned off, I mean it was dead. Everything I thought I knew about Shards said that that wasn’t possible, they weren’t truly alive, even the simple VIs from Mass Effect were more alive than them. Yet, perhaps for the first time in the history of this scrap of multiverse, a fragment of an Entity knew mortality. For the first time, it understood what life had for billions of years.

“Well, that was… interesting,” I muttered as I stood up. The ritual seemed to have worked, as Sophia herself was standing there, looking at her hands with the hilt of a dagger sticking out of her chest. Still, there needed to be the main test. “Can you still use your power?”

She looked up at me, awe and reverent worship in her eyes as she gazed at me. Wisps of black smoke drifted off her before she burst apart and drifted over to me, reforming in a kneeling position as she spoke, “More than that, My Lord. I feel it has grown stronger, I do not yet know how, but it is more than it was.”

I grinned at that, before turning to Yao Ming, “Well, I’d call that a successful experiment.”

He gave a nod, his gaze roaming over the warehouse, “I assume that you will need to wait before performing the ritual again?”

I closed my eyes, reaching out, feeling the concentration levels of [DEATH] in the warehouse. Way more than I was comfortable doing the ritual again, so with a suppressed wince, I told him, “Yeah, this much energy needs to dissipate or freaky things could start happening. At this level, I’d say a week, to be safe.”

He was quiet for a moment, his eyes narrowing in contemplation, before giving a sharp nod and saying, “I will be leaving with Oni Lee in two days. You will have command of the ABB while we are gone. I expect our return within four days. You will empower Oni Lee within a week of our return.

“While we are gone, you are to put pressure on the Empire and determine what new abilities your ritual has awoken in Nezumi. I expect a full report on her capabilities and your progress in combating the Empire upon our return.”

“You got it boss,” I said while snapping off a two finger salute. “Mind if I ask what the out of town business is about?”

“Recruitment.”

Huh, looks like in addition to an assassin, the ABB would be getting ourselves a tinker. At least, assuming that Yao Ming was heading out to grab Bakuda like I was thinking. Wonder if I’d be playing the role of Senpai? If she looked anything like some of the fanart I’d seen before being yeeted here, I certainly wouldn’t mind sowing some oats with her.

Shrugging it off, I considered what to do with the still kneeling Little Mouse. Didn’t exactly have a spare apartment to hand out like Yao Ming could, and she didn’t need to sleep anymore, hmm…

Come to think of it… turning to Little Mouse, I told her, “You are going to write down everything you know about how the Wards and PRT work, patrol patterns, training regiments, the whole shebang. When you are finished, you are going to compile it into a report and give it to me.”

“Yes, My Lord,” she said, pressing her forehead to the floor.

“Good, come on. We’ll get where you’re staying figured out tomorrow, for now, I have a MILF to make as pregnant as her daughter. You can get started on the list while I’m fucking her.”

Ah, the poleaxed look on people’s faces never gets old.

[hr][/hr]

“Welcome home, Master,” Kaede greeted me as I walked in, before pausing at seeing the still smoking form of Little Mouse behind me. Her eyes narrowed, and she all but spat out, “Hess.”

“Relax, Kaede,” I told her as I shut the front door. “She’s going to be doing a lot of writing, she won’t be joining us. I’ll be figuring out a place for her tomorrow, but for now do your best to ignore her.”

“Of course, Ophioc-sama.”

“Well with that out of the way, onto more important matters: what’s for dinner?”

“Kaa-chan made katsudon, it’s a rice bowl with breaded pork chops and…”

“Say no more!”

I ran for the dining table, to the amused laughter of Kaede and Yumi who came out with three steaming hot bowls. She made to get a fourth upon seeing Little Mouse, but I stopped her and got her to understand that Sophia didn’t eat anymore.