CH13 (Patreon)

Aoi didn’t know where Rictor was anymore. None of the satellites under her control pinged his signal, not that she had many anymore. Something was taking them out, and they could not get up there to find out. Her email was full of messages from Senator Franklin. Each one was the same. Where was Ally with Zack? An orange glow appeared on her monitor, reflected in the dark room.

The communications specialist turned to see her future husband’s father smoking a cigar. At his back were his bodyguards built to keep important personnel safe. She had one redhead in a blue dress that could punch through a Minotaur demon’s skull. They were built by the Tinker core.

Tinkers are a code name given to the few humans with technology-related powers gifted by prophetic dreams. Unlike Aoi and many others, the researchers contracted by Senator Franklin managed to awaken their powers early.

It did them a little good. They were no better off than they were before they told the Senator; worse, nothing changed. It was like no matter what they tried, the beginning of the invasion couldn’t be changed.

Ever since they asked his father for help, nothing has been exemplary. Rictor was needed on missions to collect artifacts, scrolls, and black keys before anyone else. He was last under her gaze, walking into castle Dusk at the coast. Rumor had it a unique soul weapon could be gained there.

Aoi stared at the pale-skinned androids with glowing yellow eyes. Within two years, the tinkers managed to leap ahead, and thanks to their team, many of the elites had been saved. Earth Defense was supposed to be about saving the world, but it didn’t feel like anything was saved except the rich and powerful.

“We need Mr. Sin; his essence gets us the Chinese. I don’t care who you have to send; we need their manufacturing base. Get it done, or I’ll extract your essence and give it to someone who can. The Tinkers think the next subject will retain 60% of their cognitive functions,” the senator said.

She wanted to scream at him and unleash all her rage. Aoi was denied the demons that she could use to coordinate attacks. No one trusted her not to betray them. She was a foreigner from a fallen country. When she tried to use assets to try and save her family, they found out and stopped her before the mission could begin. She hated the man who claimed they were loose ends, which was a better fate for them.

Aoi watched a video going around the few places that still had internet. Demons captured a class of high school students, turned them into blows, and snorted them. It broke her. Rictor wasn’t there for her, so she was left to deal with the man who stopped her from saving them.

What were the androids even for?

The man smiled at her and puffed on his cigar. “Tell our show pony to get to work, or he’s fired too.”

The man left shutting the door and leaving her alone in the dark. 

…

He was in the office of the hospital, thinking instead of killing. His whole body ached even as he felt the eyes of Uhrlisa of the Lisa family. Zack was getting a handle on succubus names, at least. Different families varied plays on the last four letters of their names. Was she telling the truth?

He wasn’t sure.

Zack felt his mind cloud before shaking it off. That was the problem with succubi: they couldn’t help themselves. Werzelith was busy looking over her rank-up options and couldn’t help him. Moka was sitting beside him and clinging to his arm. Her soft fur pressed against his skin as he struggled against his attraction to the MILF.

Pleasure was always a reward, not something to indulge in. Zack didn’t like the idea of having sex in the situation he was in. So, he decided to break away from it and focus on something else.

That led him to question why he hadn’t explored his powers more. In the dream, he always focused on powering up like he had been doing. Never had he attempted to do something other than use brute force.

It was incredibly short-sighted and not like him.

As the demoness across from him leaned down to expose herself, his mind drifted to a thought: What could he do with his pressure?

He had five strings to play with, each with 86 pressure. That was a lot of power. Zack had wrapped his strings together to make ropes more potent than the strings were individually. While that was direct, it wasn’t the most effective use of his power. It couldn’t be.

Zack stared down at his hand and focused. Two small black strings appeared in his soul vision, and he rubbed them together. Bright blue sparks blasted across his palm, hungry. They were hungrier than anything he had ever felt. It was surprising and reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since the situation began.

The prophet smirked and tried again. When the sparks appeared, he fed them a little pressure. As he did, a small blue and bright flame appeared in the lit room. It was strange and very hungry. The flame wanted to consume and would like nothing more than to turn everyone around him into charcoal. It floated above his palm, eager to ravage the world if he would let it.

The woman clapped. Uhrlisa leaned in and gripped his hand.

“Soul fire is a desirable trait to have. You seem to develop more like a young demon lord than a human. Why didn’t you show me your power before, my lord? I would have treated you right.” Uhrlisa said.

Zack extracted his hand from her and glared at the big-breasted succubus. The fire in his palm roared to life, rising to the size of a long blowtorch. Waves of heat radiated off of it, twisting the air around it. Zack could see a path to wind from it that seemed promising. How far could his power reach?

She only smiled at the demonstration. Her hands were soft and comforting, but Zack didn’t like that. He mistrusted feeling positive around such a temptress. Besides, this was only a tiny break for Werzelith. Soon, he would go back to killing demons. What would the demoness think when her colleagues died by his hand?

“Soul flames can be used to extract soul energy. They are the primary tools of young demon lords. Do you know what prey gives you the best results?” Uhrlisa asked.

Zack shook his head and lowered the pressure until only one mass of pressure fed the flame at a time.

She smiled at him like the cat who ate the canary. “I wouldn’t think one of the lith would know. They are practitioners of lust storms. We are closer related to the demon lords than they are. So we know more of the secrets. This information is valuable. What will you give me in exchange?” Uhrlisa asked.

“I can infer enough from what you’ve already said your information can’t be that valuable,” Zack said.

She shook her head. “My knowledge will save you time, and maybe years or centuries will be shaved off your training. Come on here, me out. At least, what do you have to lose?” Uhrlisa asked.

Zack stared at the woman, felt his cheeks heat up at her beauty, and couldn’t trust that. Not being able to trust his own emotions was disheartening.

“What do you want in exchange for your information?”

“What does any young mother dealing with hormones want?”

Zack stared at her.

Uhrlisa grinned. “That’s right, the soul of the demon that impregnated me.”

Zack raised an eyebrow.

“We aren’t all impregnated by a collection of souls. I mated with a mighty Elite Shadow. He was as powerful as he was, and that demon beast was very hung.” Uhrlisa said.

Zack wasn’t sure why he bothered hearing her out. “What’s he doing here?”

“Will you help me consume his soul to nourish my child?” Uhrlisa asked.

He didn’t like the sound of helping her consume souls, but she would do it regardless. Agreeing would add it to the contract and force her to tell him what she knew. Once she gave him the information, he would have to go out of his way to kill the Elite Shadow.

“What’s the shadow’s name?” Zack asked.

“Vex, he is powerful even for an Elite. Killing him won’t be easy, but if we work together and I seduce him, it is possible.”

 Zack wanted to get out of whatever this was but couldn’t see a way to do so if he wanted her information.

A flash stole his attention, and he let his fire die out. It would need more practice.

Werzelith's horns grew around her temples, spiraling as her hair, the color of sparkling moonlight over a calm lake, eased down her back as her wings grew wider. Her tail grew thicker at the base and end, and the tiny fork became a long cylinder. Droplets of mucus fell on the ground as his best girl moaned, and he felt his own body change a little. It was subtle, but he felt his face shift a little, and the bones in his shoulders move. Maybe his waist thinned, but his attention returned to the changing succubus. A tiny tattoo appeared just above the rear of an eagle in tasteful black ink. She turned, and her breasts had jumped a cup, almost ripping her white sweater. The definition of abs appeared on her tight lilac stomach as her butt filled out a little more. Tiny bolts of lust lightning gathered around her as she finished her transformation.

Werzelith lvl100

Species: Elysium Succubus

She was beautiful even more than she had been before, and when she smiled, it stole his breath and blanked his mind. A smile from her was a dangerous weapon, and he felt his charisma gains increase to absurd levels. Once Werzelith gained a few levels, he would become much more powerful. It felt like a charm status fired off from only looking at her.

How did she get such a broken rank path? For a succubus, she was becoming quite overpowered. If a minotaur fell on his knees instead of fighting her, it wouldn’t get far.

Zack sucked in a breath and let it out. He felt the way her pressure pushed against his own. That was also something he had to be careful of. She could use her pressure. Noel couldn’t do that even with her Styx rank.

He tried to replicate her charm effect but couldn’t; it was beyond him, especially since he had only started trying it.

“What are we waiting for? Let's kick some ass,” Werzelith said.

Zack smiled and stared at the door leading deeper into the facility. Why were they so confident a honey trap would get him? It wasn't very smart, but maybe it was what was expected when dealing with elites. Zack drew Artemis and kicked the door open to see a shadow turn its attention to him. It was a collection of shadows formed into a human shape. Instead of firing, he raised his hand and unleashed a flamethrower.

The shadow shrieked, and he felt more mass than normal. Although the shadow was only level 102, it had greatly increased his mass. Did his flame have something to do with it?

He found a hallway with many doors that seemed to go on forever. How could Elites do that? He didn’t understand the power of demons. He wanted answers to it, but he couldn’t find a demon, even contracted, that both knew and would tell the truth.

 He turned his attention to his demons. “Uhrlisa, with me, the rest will fan out and cut down all the shades you find. Grab anything important and call me if you see anything interesting. Stick to groups of 2 and ambush whenever you're able.” Zack said.

It was time to kill and figure out the mysteries of his flame. Uhrlisa would help or lead him down a dead end. It all depended on if he wanted to put down another Elite so soon after his last battle. Zack looked out the window and saw the bane of his existence. The abyss ogre must be destroyed.