The Last Drop of Hope, Chapter 25 (Patreon)

With her armor gone, Tina didn’t have many choices for clothing and ended up in a yellow cocktail dress. It was hardly how she’d prefer to be garbed for battle, especially against a Duke of Hell. Whatever that meant. As far as weapons went, their options were even more limited. The only remotely weaponlike things that Tina had found were some plastic hair sticks, which were better than nothing but a far cry from what she’d prefer. 

“But I don’t remember any of this!” Rain cried, scrambling around in a frantic search for her possessions. They were currently all in a lavish bedroom that had clothes set out for them, which included only lingerie, cocktail dresses, and a variety of outfits that Tina could only describe as fetish gear. If she’d been alone with Claire, it might have been exciting to try on a latex bodysuit or maid outfit. As it was, it just made her feel filthy despite having just showered. 

“That’s the point. We got slipped a mickey,” Claire growled, stalking about the room like a caged tiger, peering again and again under the mattress, behind the curtains, in every drawer, and in the closet for something even remotely resembling a weapon. So far, she’d fashioned a shank out of a clothes hanger but wasn’t satisfied. 

“A magical one,” Tina agreed, keeping her own eye on the door. “The question then becomes, how do we get out of here, and how do we kill those bastards that did it?”

“Without them doing it again,” Rain added, finally giving up and slumping on the bed next to Cecily, who was in a bit of a daze.

“We’ve got skills, even without weapons. And magic,” Claire declared, sitting down to fashion another shank, this one out of another hair stick. “We can take them.”

“No we can’t,” Cecily croaked, lifting her arm from her face. She still looked completely drained, having spent a great deal of mana to break whatever spell had been put on the others. She hadn’t succumbed to Mind Down, but it had been close. 

“Why not? He can’t be stronger than Beldia,” Claire pointed out.

“He’s stronger, probably,” Cecily sighed, closing her eyes again. 

Tina shot Claire a worried look, but her partner was focused on fashioning her makeshift weapon still, rubbing the plastic up and down against the metal edge of the bed frame. “Stronger? You said he was a Duke of Hell, what does that mean?”

“I don’t really know, just that it means he’s powerful. Aqua said Maxwell and Vanir were both Dukes of Hell, and stronger even than the Demon King,” Cecily whispered. “I don’t know if even Iris would be strong enough to beat Maxwell.”

“Her Majesty is strong enough to beat anything,” Claire snapped, looking up with fury in her eyes, but Tina could sense it was born more of fear than anger.

“Direct combat isn’t the way to solve this,” Tina sighed, feeling completely out of her element. She racked her brains, trying to come up with what to do, and drawing a blank. “So…what do we do about Alderp?”

“I’d rather die than bear that pig's child. Any disagreements on that?” Claire demanded, looking up at the others. 

Tina nodded emphatically immediately, while Rain hesitated for a moment, but then nodded her agreement. Cecily just gave a thumbs up, then dropped her hand listlessly back onto the bed. 

“So…what do we do then?” Tina said, looking around. “We could try to escape, get word back to Iris and Aqua, but…”

“But we’d be leaving a mess behind us, and we don’t have a good extraction plan. There are too many guards, and none of us are bullet proof,” Claire said grimly. 

“Um, I might have a solution,” Rain said, raising her hand. “I…I can cast the Sleep spell. If I did that, then, um, made Alderp think he’d done it with me…”

“That could buy us some time,” Tina agreed. She frowned, folding her arms and rubbing her chin with one hand. “However, we still need to find a solution…”

“I’ll try to get Alderp to talk in bed,” Rain sighed. “You know Walter. Can you get him to talk?”

“Probably. For being the son of a complete asshole, he’s not the worst,” Claire said, holding up her finished shank and admiring it. She held it out to Tina, then turned around so that she could fix Claire’s hair with the pin.

“Then that’s what we do,” Tina agreed. “We’ll get Walter to talk, and, well, put Alderp to bed.”

“What if my spell doesn’t work?” Rain asked, fiddling nervously with the bedsheet.

“I’ll make you a shank,” Claire promised. 

Rain gave her a pained smile, but Tina nodded grimly. She had thought this would be a situation where she could use her usual method of simply beating things into submission. Why did everything always have to get so damn complicated these days?

Kazuma had thought that the scariest thing was being alone in space with every single person for a million miles trying to specifically hunt you down and kill you. That had been terrifying more in an existential sense, but at least he’d had a clear goal and had known how to survive.

But being alone in a deserted city with no idea why or even how everyone and everything was just gone? That was truly existentially terrifying. 

Well, not completely alone, Lolisa was there too, so Kazuma tried to project an air of macho calm and confidence. You know, for her sake. 

“We’ll check out that building,” Kazuma said, pointing. “I’m not picking up any hostiles with Detect Foe, but you stick close to me, just in case.”

“Are you sure? You feel terrified,” Lolisa said, looking up at Kazuma with concern. 

“Pff, what, me? Nah, this is nothing. Besides, we took on Beldia, how bad can it be?” Kazuma bragged, swaggering forward with a confidence he truly didn’t feel.

Lolisa hurried after Kazuma, catching up to him and walking alongside him. After a moment, she quietly slipped his hand into his, giving Kazuma a small smile. He blushed, but he didn’t let go of her hand. Not because it was romantic, but because he was completely terrified, and it was good to have a reminder that there was another living soul in this tomb. 

The first building they searched was a storefront, one that had clearly been thoroughly looted of foodstuffs. However, a chill ran down Kazuma’s spine when he used Pick Lock to pop open the register. Inside, he found a full cash drawer, several hundred NyteTech credits, just laying there. 

“That’s not right,” he muttered, staring down at all the money. Part of him wanted to take it, but the rest of him…well. It was fairly worthless these days. 

“Kazuma, look over there,” Lolisa said, pointing to the shelves. Kazuma followed the line of her finger, then swore. While the booze, cigarettes, and hard drugs had been cleared out, there were still high quality electronics locked up, as well as toiletries and clothing. 

“What the fuck,” Kazuma muttered, going over and inspecting what was left. Some of the shelves had been cleared out and probably looted, but not as much as you would think. 

“Yeah,” Lolisa agreed, looking around, her lips pursed. “There has to be a reason for this. Food is gone, so are the drugs. But not the valuables. What’s the pattern?”

“I dunno,” Kazuma said, shaking his head. “It’s like…everyone got up and just…walked away. But where? And why?”

“I don’t think we’ll find answers here,” Lolisa whispered, peering into the shadows at the back of the store. “Come on, let’s search the next building.” She headed to the exit, then waited for Kazuma to catch up, slipping her hand back into his and giving him a smile, squeezing his hand. 

He swallowed, and not just from the creepy crawlies. His mind didn’t know what to do. But it was a comfort, and that was enough for now. 

They next made their way back onto the road, passing near more small shops. A few had windows smashed and had been looted, but most of them were shut up tight, or even just unlocked, and it wasn’t obvious that they’d had much taken. Again, the same pattern: Food and consumables were gone, but regular goods were left to rot on the shelves. 

After what felt like an eternity of searching but hadn’t even been a half hour, Kazuma’s Sense Foe finally twinged. It wasn’t a strong hit, but he got the sense that there was a possible threat, and the direction.

“There,” Kazuma said, pointing to a building not far from them. “There’s something in there.”

“I don’t feel anything, let’s get closer,” Lolisa said, taking out her gun and flicking off the safety. She had to remove her hand from Kazuma’s to do it, and he tried not to resent that. It was practical, after all. 

Kazuma drew his pistol as well, then hesitated. “Should we call for the Crimson Demons?”

“Not yet, it could just be an animal, or a machine that you’re picking up. Sense Foe just tries to find potential hostiles, but I’m not sure how it would react to automated defenses. That might be more of a Detect Trap thing, but I never learned those skills,” Lolisa said quietly. “Come on.”

They hurried across the street, moving towards the vague sense of danger. As they moved, Kazuma’s impression grew stronger, and he was able to lead them through a couple of back alleys, then to a rather dilapidated bar. 

“Oh heaven above,” Lolisa groaned, putting out a hand as they drew near to the door. “I can feel that. You shouldn’t go in there.”

“What is it?” Kazuma hissed. 

Lolisa bit her lip and blushed, then sighed. “I can feel the lust. That danger you’re sensing? It’s succubi feeding. At least two of them.”

“Feeding? I thought you said you couldn’t…” Kazuma trailed off, then swallowed.

“Not until the magic started coming back, but with Aqua around… that might be enough,” Lolisa whispered. “Call for the Crimson Demons. It wouldn’t be a good idea for you to go in there.”

“I mean, we did come to find the succubi, right?” Kazuma asked, and Lolisa shot him an irritated look. “I’m not saying I should go in there. But you can, right? I’ll call the Crimson Demons so you have backup at least. I don’t want my soul sucked out, promise.”

Kazuma made the call, then waited tensely. It did feel like there was something bad in there, but what it was he couldn’t really tell. As they waited, the impression faded, and Lolisa breathed a sigh of relief. 

“They’ve finished. Though what that means for the poor men in there… If they were truly feeding, they’re probably dead,” Lolisa whispered. 

“Uh, so is it safe for me?” Kazuma asked worriedly, but with a twinge of disappointment. When Lolisa had sucked his soul out, it had felt really, really good. Right up until he died and it was painful, but hey. 

“Let’s just wait for the Crimsons,” Lolisa said, looking up. “There’s Megumin now.”

Kazuma sensed nothing, and saw less, squinting up into the twilight of the sky. 

Then someone tapped him on the shoulder and he about jumped out of his skin.

“I don’t see anyone, why’d you call me? Get scared?” Megumin demanded as Kazuma spun.

“Don’t do that!” Kazuma hissed, as even Lolisa jerked around, clearly taken by surprise even though she’d sensed Megumin somehow. 

“There are succubi in the building, probably with some, ah, males,” Lolisa said, pointing to the bar, which had a sign up front that read “Down and Dirty Pete’s.” 

“Hmph. Well, let’s go take a look,” Megumin said, striding forward. “If you’re too scared, Kazuma, you can just wait here.”

Feeling frustrated, Kazuma looked to Lolisa, who shrugged helplessly, then nodded for him to follow after them. They found the door locked and boarded up, and Megumin got ready to knock it down. 

“Hold on, let’s do this quietly,” Kazuma hissed, then used Pick Lock on the door. He studied the boards for a moment, then simply swung them open on a hidden hinge. “Just decoration. They want people to think it’s more abandoned than it is.”

He stepped aside, bowing to Megumin. “After you.”

“What a gentleman,” Megumin said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Then she broke down the door anyway and charged right on in, leading Kazuma to smack his palm against his face as Lolisa let out a squeak of protest. “She certainly leaves an impression,” he groaned. 

“Crimson Demons always do,” Lolisa agreed, then stormed in with her gun raised. After a moment’s hesitation, Kazuma followed. He wasn’t going to be left out, and he certainly wasn’t sticking around here on his lonesome. 

The main area of the bar looked abandoned, with a few overturned tables and chairs to show Megumin’s path. Nothing else was there: Empty shelves and a few bits of rubbish here and there. There were shouts and cries from the back however, and Kazuma and Lolisa hurried through two sets of smashed doors into a private lounge hidden up a flight of stairs. 

There, they found a far more comfortable nest: there were pillows and mattresses everywhere, in dark velvets and lacey silks, along with an entire shelf of canned goods and MREs. A dozen naked men were either sleeping on the mattresses or groggily trying to sit up, while three terrified succubi had been herded against the wall. To Kazuma’s surprise, they were dressed, given a somewhat loose definition of the term, and were looking flush and healthy. 

Lolisa let her gun hang from its shoulder strap, bending and checking on one of the men who was still laying there. He was flaccid, though by the mess he’d made of himself, Kazuma could tell he’d just blown his load. 

“Strange,” Lolisa muttered. “His vitality is low, but not dangerously so.” She put a finger to some of the emissions, to Kazuma’s disgust, then held it up and sniffed it, before making a face and wiping it on the coverlet of the mattress. “Fed upon, but not in the usual way…”

“-telling you, we weren’t hurting NOBODY!” the lead succubus cried, shying away from Megumin. She was perhaps the classical form of succubi: tanned skin, wavy blond hair with red bat wings poking up, absolutely stacked, and dressed in lingerie with fishnet stockings and gloves that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

He swallowed, then noticed that Lolisa was flushed and very pointedly not looking at him. “She’s alright,” Kazuma commented. “If you’re into the whole gyaru thing.” 

Lolisa blinked, then snuck a glance at Kazuma. “Gyaru?”

“You know, the fake tans, boob jobs, and dyed hair. Looks kinda trashy. Plus, the whole vicious predator thing. You’re much cuter,” Kazuma told her.

“Not the time,” Lolisa huffed, but she was smiling as she did it. She stepped forward as Megumin continued to menace the other succubi with her sword, putting a hand on the pint-sized terror’s shoulder. “Megumin, the men are all alive.”

“Great. That gives me more people to ask questions,” Megumin said, a vicious grin on her face. “Now, here’s the deal. The first one to talk gets to live with no elective surgery. The second gets to live with elective surgery, I’ll let you choose the limb. The third? Well, we ran into some hungry cannibals. They’re always interested in meat.”

“You’re working with a filthy Crimson!?” the gyaru succubi demanded of Lolisa. “Traitor! You turn to our ancient enemy!?”

“When hell itself abandoned us, I saw no reason not to,” Lolisa said quietly. She slowly half turned, lifting her hair to show the base of her neck. The other succubi sucked in a breath.

“No!” one of the others, an even bustier one with pink hair and the suggestion of a maid outfit on. She burst into tears, collapsing to her knees. “Please, no, don’t take us too! We’ll do anything, please! Just don’t chip us!” 

Another simply took out a gun and put it to her own head, a look of complete hopelessness on her face.

“Woah! Hold up! We’re not here to chip you, or do whatever was done to everyone else in this city!” Kazuma cried. He extended a hand, and shouted, “STEAL!” 

The gun, along with the succubus’’ bra, fell into his hand. He groaned. Well, at least it had sort of worked. He blushed and passed the bra to Lolisa. “Uh, sorry.”

“Mana?!” All three succubi surged to their feet, taking a step forward, hunger in their eyes.

The report of the gun was deafening in the room, and the naked men all woke up in a hurry, letting out cries of panic. 

“Back off,” Lolisa growled. “He’s not for eating.”

“We can share, sister,” the gyaru offered, drooling as she licked her lips. “Just a taste…”

“The next one won’t be into the floor,” Lolisa said flatly, raising her SMG to point at the other succubi. “Now, talk. Or I won’t bother to hold the Crimson back.”

Megumin let out a mad cackle, then went about rounding up the terrified men, herding them into another corner and forcing them to put on the clothes that had been left in a pile there.

“Then… you’re not with Serina?” the gyaru asked. She swallowed, then offered, “I’m Carla. This is Becky and Triss. We’re the only ones that dodged the sweep, I think. We managed to break the hold on these men and get them back here.”

“Slow down. Serina?” Kazuma asked, stepping over to the pile of clothes. He picked out two shirts, then came back and tossed one each at the succubi. “Put those on. I know what you can do, and I ain’t interested.”

“Really? She must be amazing then,” Carla said, glancing at Lolisa, but she pulled the shirt over her head. 

“You have to know about Serina,” Becky the Maid told him as she tugged the shirt on herself. “CEO of the Church of Revenge?” 

“We know of her, but what did she do? Why is the city empty?” Lolisa asked. 

“The magic came back,” Triss said, smoothing her own shirt. It was just a bit too short on her, coming down to only her belly button, probably because her boobs were even bigger than Wiz’s. Not that Kazuma kept a mental list of such things. 

“Obviously, they know that,” Becky said, frowning at Kazuma. “You used a skill. And that Crimson…she came in with Zephyr Step. How did you…?”

“Aqua is back,” Lolisa said simply. 

The reaction of the other succubi was immediate. The all three pressed themselves against the wall and crouched down, wings drooping as their eyes went wide with sheer terror.

“No, no, no, not her,” Triss moaned, curling into a ball. “Not the Axis Cult!”

“We’re dead. We’re fucking dead,” Carla panted, rocking back and forth on her heels. Becky just wept quietly, clinging on to Carla desperately. 

“Uh, is that normal?” Kazuma asked, turning to Lolisa.

“The Axis Cult has a certain reputation among Succubi,” Lolisa said grimly. “Let’s just say I was extremely surprised when Aqua didn’t immediately exorcize me the moment she laid eyes on me. Well, she tried, but I’m still stunned she didn’t finish the job.”

“You met the blue terror herself?!” Clara gasped, looking up at Lolisa with something approaching awe. “But…but you’re chipped! How could you…how could ANY demon stand up to her?!”

“By helping me kill Beldia,” Kazuma said with a shrug. “Lolisa’s decided she’s on heaven’s side now.”

Lolisa groaned as the other three succubi looked at her with pure hatred in their expressions. “He’s…sort of right. But do you honestly want to go back to hell?”

“Well, obviously no,” Clara said, her voice dripping with venom. “But I’d never sell out my sisters to the Axis Cult. That’s what this is, isn’t it? You’re rounding up your own sisters to sell to those zealots to save your own hide!” 

Becky spat at Lolisa’s feet. “Kill us now, and save us the agony! Better to die like a mortal than be tortured by those freaks.”

“Aqua’s not torturing anyone. She’s offering a truce,” Lolisa said with a heavy sigh. The other succubi looked incredulous, so she explained, “The real enemy are the CEOs. Especially Duke Vanir. You remember what he did to us. Is it so surprising that I’d ally with even the deadliest of the gods to repay that debt?”

The other succubi mulled that over for a moment. Clara slowly got to her feet, dragging Becky up with her. “OK, that does make a weird sort of sense. But Aqua was never one to negotiate with us. What’s the angle?”

“No angle. We ally with Aqua, and we heal this world. Everything went wrong when the Devil King won and the CEOs took over. We lost our magic, and were cursed to an endless hunger.” Lolisa nodded over to the men, who were cowering in terror before Megumin. “You figured out a way to feed again. That’s because Aqua’s back. You owe her. Not the CEOs. Not Hell.”

“I don’t like it still,” Clara muttered, hugging herself. “I don’t think-”

“Komekko! Yunyun, keep her out of here!” Megumin snapped, and Kazuma turned to see Komekko and Yunyun in the doorway. 

“Why?” Komekko asked, wrinkling her nose. “It stinks in here.”

“Um, Komekko, why don’t we just leave?” Yunyun said, tugging on the back of Komekko’s collar.

“Uh, sorry squirt, maybe you’d better…” Kazuma trailed off, then looked at the succubi. All three had eyes locked on Komekko, their heads cocked to one side like dogs who’d just seen a cat. 

“Oh hey, you found the succubi!” Komekko said, wiggling out of Yunyun’s grip and dancing through the maze of mattresses and pillows. Thankfully, by this point all the men were dressed, but Kazuma still blanched at it.

“Hi!” Komekko said eagerly, looking up and grinning at the succubi. “I’m Komekko!”

“Oh my Lucifer,” Triss gasped, putting her hands to her cheeks. 

“She’s ADORABLE!” Clara squealed, kneeling to pat Komekko on the head. 

“Would you like a snack, sweetie? I’m Bethandrilina,” Becky said.

“Hi, Bethandrilina, yes please!” Komekko said cheerily. 

Becky scurried over to grab a can, as Lolisa watched in slack-jawed amazement. Komekko turned to the other succubi. “What are your names?”

“I’m Gelantriss,” Triss said cheerily, grinning like an idiot at Komekko.

“And I’m Claranovika,” Clara added hastily. 

Becky came back with an open can of fruit, and Komekko reached it, pulling out some yellow slices and slurping them down. Then, she held out a piece to the succubi. “Want some?”

“I…I really shouldn’t,” Becky said, kneeling before Komekko. “But…” She accepted the peaches from Komekko, and a blissful look came over her face. “Thank you, Mistress.”

“You’re welcome, Bethandrilina. And you two?” Komekko said, proffering more fruit to the other succubi. 

They eagerly knelt and accepted their own slices, gazing at Komekko adoringly as she repeated their names.

“And that’s the contract formed!” Komekko said, her expression turning smug. She glanced up at Lolisa, a wicked grin on her face. “Do you want to tell me your real name, too?”

“I…I think I’ll pass,” Lolisa said, her eyes very wide as she hid behind Kazuma, breathing heavily. 

“Eh, too bad. I’ll get it later, I guess,” Komekko said with a shrug. 

“‘Mekko…w-what did you do?” Yunyun asked, coming up behind her. “You didn’t…you didn’t bind them, did you?”

“Yep! I was gonna try and bind Lolisa so she didn’t eat Kazuma. Even if he’s dumb, he’s funny! But I couldn’t get it to work on her for some reason. These three were easy though!” Komekko said proudly. “You’ll be good pets, won’t you?”

“‘’Yes, Mistress,’’” the succubi said in stereo.

“Uh, that’s freaky,” Kazuma said, making a face and taking a step back. “How did you…?”

“I’m a Summoner! I just specialized in Demonology! ‘Cause we were gonna be talking to succubi and stuff,” Komekko explained. Then she turned to her new…pets? “OK. So, you’re gonna tell us why the city is empty now, right?”

“Of course, mistress!” Becky said eagerly. 

“It all started two days after our magic came back,” Clara began.

As she talked, a dawning sense of horror washed over Kazuma, and he felt sick to his stomach. 

Whatever he’d imagined, this was somehow worse.