A heavy sigh echoed throughout the throne room. Karion was the greatest ruler demonkind had had for the past hundreds of years, but unfortunately, neither his wisdom nor his strength could prevent the seemingly endless stream of messengers from flooding into the capital.

The wolfman that had been the bringer of an uncountable amount of bad news, stood before him, awaiting his next command. He was only gifted with an eery silence from Karion, which shook him to the bone. The pressure that had spread through the room felt as heavy as lead and made single moments feel as long as days, even though I knew it had barely been a minute since the messenger had arrived. When Karion finally decided to speak, I could hear a series of relieved exhales around me.

 

"Are there any survivors?" He asked after sighing deeply.

"About five hundred my lord, probably less."

"What about Gorn?"

"The general fell in the midst of battle, like a true warrior, facing that vile hero."

 

The wolfman's voice held a considerable amount of contempt, which I presumed to be towards the hero, but there was also a hint of pride, too. He probably thought something praiseworthy had happened to his commander.

 

"How does dying in battle make you a 'true warrior'? That guy wasn't smart, but to think he'd die like that ..."

 

"And Morgana?" Karion asked after a moment of hesitation. "Where is she? Why isn't she here with you? Please tell me that she is safe!"

"I am sorry to inform you, my lord, the hero has slain--"

 

A deafening explosion cut off the beastman's words as his body was obscured behind a wall of flames and smoke. When the fire died out, the messenger was gone. There wasn't even as much as bones remaining.

 

"Karion ..."

 

Tears began to well up in my eyes. Normally, I would have been glad that his sister was now dead, in fact, I had wished for her death a multitude of times. But unfortunately, that dark part of me had never expected the confident, level-headed Karion to crumble like this right in front of my eyes.

It was too much for my heart. I loved him, more than anything else in this world, but I would rather have him revert back to his sister-loving and happy self than being forced to watch what he had become now, a mere shell of his former self.

I remembered how only five months ago, all twelve of us were waiting to read Karion's every wish from his lips, but now there were only five of us left. Neither the courageous yet idiotic Gorn nor the infamous and merciless sorceress Morgana would ever return. And even out of the remaining, I was easily the most capable, although I had never really fought in a battle against the humans.

I was standing in between the four other generals, all of which were more beast than demon. To my right, there was a 'demon' with the head of a goat, it was covered in black fur and had two menacing red eyes that were now staring at my beloved. Next to him stood a tall, muscular bull, which somehow adapted and learned to stand on his hind legs. I couldn't help but notice his uneven breathing, which was probably a sign of anxiety.

To my left stood a hunched lizardman, his silver scales clearly visible. It was a rare color for his race to have, as I had never seen other one besides him that wasn't either plain green or brown. The last of the demons looked similar to a red-haired ogre, though it was turquoise in color and had a far more stinky body odor.

All of these men were physically strong and loyal as you could be, but I was certain there were wild dogs that would make better tacticians then any of these imbeciles.

I was the last card Karion could play, no matter how hard it was to admit it. The hero was just too strong to beat in a frontal assault. I was the last general with enough mental capacity to even have a slight chance of stopping the hero.

Karion tried his best to hide his emotions. He raised himself off of his throne and slowly, with each step resounding in my ear louder than the last, stepped towards me. All I could do was to stare at him in disbelief.

 

"Is he serious?! Yes, I may be the most capable but that doesn't mean I'm alright with a suicide mission! Am I really nothing but a sacrificial pawn to him?"

 

"Karion, I don't-"

"You are the only one capable of doing it," he immediately cut off my words, denying me from declining his mission. "You know exactly what I mean, Talia. You alone and only you can do this!"

"But... but... I- I can't fight!"

"You won't need to! Only you can save our race!"

"... you know all I can do is seduce men. That's all I'm good at!"

"Precisely! Only you are able to seduce the hero. We need you to do this!"

"You want me to seduce the hero!?" I was getting even more confused, as I knew that the hero was blessed with several layers of demon repelling magic. "You know I'm not as strong as Gorn! I'd die by simply coming to close to him!"

 

Before I could continue further, he placed his hand on my cheeks, softly stroking it and stopping the tears which were rolling down my face. He gazed directly into my eyes with his once prideful and striking golden eyes, which now had turned mellow and full of sorrow.



"Don't worry. I won't send you as a demon."

"What do you mean!? I'm a succubus, I can't transform into a human!"

"I had Sarato prepare a magic just in case a dire situation like the one at hands would occur."

"Sarato? The lich? What kind of magic could it possibly be? And can it really kill the hero, even though all the godly blessings he has gotten? Why did you not use this at the start?! Gorn, Morgana and the rest of the generals wouldn't have died to the hero if we did so!"

Karion's expression turned sour as he gnashed his teeth. "Not even Sarato's strongest spell could kill the hero," he stated before taking a deep breath, exhaling quickly. "I planned on using the magic to protect her ..."

"Morgana?"

"Yes. It would have transformed her into the being which the hero is most comfortable and happy to be around."

"What exactly would that 'being' be," I couldn't help but pry and ask for more information.

"The hero has a harem of some sort."

"A... harem?"

"Indeed, that lustful hero, according to our spies, has a harem. I'm presuming that it's girls which he's intoxicated with and thus Sarato's spell would transform you into the girl of his dreams, one he'd fall head over heels with immediately."

"Why would you want to subjugate Morgana to that kind of magic and more importantly, a life forever stuck as the hero's plaything! Did you want her to seduce him?!"

"No, you are a far better choice for the second option. All I wanted was for her to be safe, and no matter how much I hate him, I've got to admit, no place is safer than by that pest's side."

"Karion ..." I tried to think of a response but he had already started again before I could think of what to say.

"Talia, I want you to get revenge for her. Not just her but the other generals as well. Seduce him until he is comfortable with your presence, then stab, poison or burn him! I don't care how you do it." Karion's voice turned cold, losing all empathy and emotion except hate. "Make him suffer for what he's done. Pay our retribution with his blood. Make it so their sacrifices weren't in vain, Talia."

"But what if-"

His face softened, as he stroked my face again, before letting my hand run through my long, purple hair. "I will accept you. Should you ever return after the hero's death, I will accept you."

 

I was shocked. Tears once again began to stream down my face, but they were tears of joy this time.

 

"Accept me?"

"You shall become my wife, queen of demons, the only gem in my eyes. My Talia. So will you do this for me?"

 

He didn't even need to ask a second time. My decision was made the moment he told me I'd be accepted. The hero would pay for his crimes, for all the lives he would take. I would make it so he'd beg for mercy.

 

"I will get revenge! Not only for Morgana but for all of them! I will kill him for sure!"

A weak smile appeared on his pale lips. "I knew I could trust you ..."

 

...

⊱————-　A few hours later　-————⊰

 

A flock of birds was attacking me. Their chirps and cries slashed through the darkness surrounding me and swiftly pulled me out of what felt like an eternal slumber.

 

"Just a little longer."

 

I raised my arm and nonchalantly waved it around. It felt abnormal, almost weak even, but I knew I had been transformed, so I didn't put much thought into it. The birds continued with their annoying chirping, seemingly calling reinforcements as I heard even more chirps soon. I felt their presence surround me, a few even stabbed me with their sharp beaks, trying to inspect me this way.

 

「OUCH!」

 

I opened my eyes and let out a scream of pain at the flying pests, only to realize they had grown monstrously tall, almost towering over me. They were taller than bears and horses! When I peered at the faces of the birds pecking at me, I found three pairs of black, beady eyes staring down at me as if I were lunch.

They hesitated for just a second seeing that I was alive but then continued pecking me once that moment had passed. All the birds tried to plunge their dagger-like beaks into my soft, squishy flesh, once even attempting to stab my eyes out. I tried to scream profanities at my attackers yet no matter what I tried, I couldn't emulate my voice. All that left my mouth were a series of high-pitched squeals.

 

"My voice! What happened to it?!"

 

Whatever happened to my voice, it had stolen my ability to fend off these black monsters. Even after trying it a second, a third and a fourth time, I was only rewarded with weird sounds much like those a small, ugly dog would make when somebody accidentally stepped on it. Naturally, the ravens weren't impressed the slightest.

 

"It hurts! It hurts so much! I have to escape! I can't die to those pests! I have to see Karion again!"

 

With a newfound resolve, I commanded my legs to bring me to safety, I even tried my best to scream at them, wordlessly, to move at least slightly faster. My once long, alluring legs were gone. I felt four short legs that were trying their best to follow my orders, even though they were trembling in pain and fear.

 

"This can't possibly be a human's body!"

 

Mustering all the strength I could make my new legs use, I managed to escape the birds. My panic-stricken flight led me through hedges, thorns, mud and what seemed to be hundreds of different hurdles. When my feet finally slowed down, all the strength I had before dissipated. I could feel my entire body aching.

After I had grasped my breath, I searched for the wounds on my new body, but where I expected my battered skin to be, a seemingly endless amount of red-brownish, fluffy fur awaited me. My fears had been proven right, this wasn't a human's body. It wasn't the ravens that had grown to giant sizes, it was myself that had shrunk!

Almost taken by panic, I searched for something which could substitute for a mirror while ignoring the pain I felt. My curiosity and fear had overcome my will to rest and take care of my wounds.

My eyes fell on a puddle, not far from me. I hurriedly ran towards it, leaned over it and peered at my reflection. A small, red-brownish creature with a pointy nose and two stunning purple eyes awaited me. It had dog-like ears with dark tips and legs of the same color. Its stomach was snow-white, at least at the spots that hadn't been sullied with fresh blood.

When I looked at my back, a fluffled tail greeted me. It was hanging right where my own succubus-tail once had been. Instead of a heartshaped tip, its end was just white, much like my stomach.

Yes, it was a fox, all of this belonged to a fox! It wasn't even an adult one! Sarato had given me the body of a fox pup!

 

"THAT BASTARD! HOW INCOMPETENT CAN HE BE?! OH, PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT HIS BITCHES, GREAT LICH! PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT HOW THAT SON OF A WHORE HERO FEELS MOST SECURE AROUND HIS BITCHES! HOW DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL HIM NOW?! YOU WANT ME TO LICK HIM TO DEATH?!?"

 

A series of loud, angry yelps echoed throughout the forest. I tried my best to scream insults and curses, then even more insults, but only weird, high-pitched squeals and yelps left what should have been my mouth. The annoying noises resounded within the entire forest, fading into the silence of the night.