The bold red demon smirked and contorted his face in sheer amusement. "Huh? You must be a feisty bitch.>" The demon's hands clawed deeper into Kalika's shoulder. "
SLISSHH
The demon hand flew off, splattering on the stone road like a piece of meat. The once bold thug, back away. He opened his mouth and was instantly met with a dagger to the neck. Flesh and bone sliced at the force of the dagger as Kalika ripped it from the demon's neck.
Blood pulsed, covering Kalika and the ground alike.
Her icy glare turned to the bold demons' friends who watched in pure shock.
"
In an instant, two of his friends charge at Kalika. One conjured a sword as the other used his fist.
Kalika dodged the fist and dug his dagger into the demon's arm. He winced, forced to watch as she sliced up his arm and slashed his neck. Acting fast, she turns, blocking the second demon's attack.
"
" Another of the demons stabbed through her chest. Unconcerned, Kalika pulled her dagger back, taking a hard blow to her shoulder.
" Suddenly, the demon was pulled by the horn and stabbed through the head.
His friend reeled back in shock.
" Kalika sighed. Slowly, the swords implanted in her cracked and broke from her body. "How boring. Are you all really demons? Or are you all just this weak?>" Kalika questioned.
At the moment, the remaining Demon field. "I suppose this makes this stupid dream a little more entertaining."
Kalika chased them. She followed into the narrow alley and watched as the four split through the alley, annoying Kalika somewhat.
"[There's a dead end in the left path.]" Zorbian echoed.
Listening to the hint, Kalika turned and followed one of the fleeing blue-skinned demons.
Hitting the dead end prophesied, the demon turned back in terror " The demon glanced back, watching as Kalika slid to the end of the alley. Her feet planted to the back wall, and warning, she bounced from one wall, trapping the demon in a blinding flurry of attacks that left trails of red across his body.
The demon screamed in pain before being completely silenced with a dagger through the back of the mouth.
Kalika, indignant, whipped the blood off her blade, splattering it on the already bloodied demon. "That was a little more entertaining…"
"[You're not going to chase the other's?]" Zorbian asked.
"I'll kill them all the same." Kalika coldly stated, "When the time comes, you'll tell me where they went. But right now we still have to kill that other demon you wanted dead."
"[Right you are.]"
"Before I'm rudely interrupted again by some other demon, I want you to tell me how to control this stupid blood magic thing, Bjorns has been talking about. You said you knew something, but haven't said a thing yet."
Zorbian's laughter echoed within Kalika's mind, annoying her. "[That I did. I take it that you want to test the limit of our dark magic.]
Kalika cringed and departed the bloodied scene. "Are you going to tell me or not?" she questioned..
"[There are a couple of ways that I could help you. The first is that you brute force our magic, rendering your blood magic irrelevant. The second is that you find my core.]"
"Right, and that's locked behind those old demons. Alright. Fine. So how do we brute force this stupid magic?"
"[It's simple. Intensify the feeling of emptiness. Only then will our magic emerge like before.]"
********
Charla's eyes slowly crept open with a hazy vision. She took a deep, shallow breath, trying to recollect what happened—remembering the Attacking thugs. Charla shot up. " She scanned the room, realizing how clean it was. She whipped her head, frantically searching the room. " She discovered Donovan sleeping, sitting against the wall facing the only door. " Despite her initial curiosity, she stood and approached the sleeping Donovan. Her lips trembled as a relief washed over her. A deep desire rose within, seeing his sleeping face. Flushed, she reached to brush his hair, only to touch that same invisible wall she had become too accustomed to.
Her eyes fell to the ground, downcast. Just before she could pull away, she caught a glimpse of her bag, finding it guarded by Donovan.
She cracked a subtle smile, pulled her bag from him, and gave him space. The splashing, boiling water, and other liquids suddenly invaded her ear along with the clinking of glass. She stood and, out of curiosity, crept to the door and peeked out.
Just outside in her view, she noticed Cyrus tinkering with various vials and beakers. He slowly and carefully dropped the petals of the black flowers into the water and boiled them.
"No, what will you give me?"
The boiling water intensified, splashing all over the room. "Gah!"
With a new mess made, Cyrus quickly cleaned his lab and jotted notes in his blue journal. He then closed it and looked at the small glowing crystal above.
"It's morning already." He turned. "I should-"
He stopped, stunned to see Charla awake. "You're awake."
Charla, being cautious, reached into her bag. " Cyrus cleared his throat. " Charla, not seeing any reason to suspect him, drew her hands from her bag.
" "C-Cyrus!?"
Cyrus raised a brow at her call. Unexpectedly, Charla brushed past the door and into the small lab. In an instant, she presented a scroll, surprising him. " "Zigfred? Ah~. I knew that name 'Charla' sounded familiar. So this is Incubus's sister. Hmm?" Cyrus's eyes caught sight of the slave crest on her chest. "A crest? Hmm… she must be part of that coven of sucubi causing trouble in the city. Either that or trying to join them. Not too surprising, but it doesn't matter right now."
Cyrus took the scroll and read its contents. "< I'm surprised you came in your brother's stead. I'm assuming her in tro- O-oh. The blood ogre clan, huh? That is a tight bind. Not ones to forgive either… I see he wants my elixirs as a bargaining chip and->"
Cyrus glanced at Charla, seeing her become more detached as if lost in thought. He sighed and rolled the scroll up. " Charla jolted awake at the statement. "Huh?"
" " "Hrm? With a focus, Charla pulled a cloth-covered glass bottle and unwrapped it, revealing the soft yellow liquid inside. " "< something to that effect… Huh? And what exactly is this?>"
" " " " Charla grew silent as memories of her eating the Krefon sac resurfaced. She panicked. Her plan had fallen apart in seconds, leaving her mind in a silent void.
" Charla suddenly fell flat on the ground, startling Cyrus. Her eyes hazed as she looked at the ceiling, silently muttering. " Cyrus sighed as Charla continued to ramble on about wanting children and wanting Donovan. Hearing Donovan's name, Cyrus raised a brow as her rambling turned into an obsessive monologue. "Hmm…"
Not long after, Donovan stumbled from the room. "Charla, there you are."
Charla jolted awake and gazed directly at Donovan.
"You had me worried for a second," he said. Donovan's gaze then turned to Cyrus and the bottles. "So…. Uhh. What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing. Charla there wanted to make you a gift, but erm… Didn't have the ingredients."
"Really?"
"Yes. She seems to like you a lot. I could say that she's even a little obsessed with you."
Donovan chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Y-yeah, she's been like that since we first met a couple of weeks back. She's been a little obsessed with sex, but I think she's been calming down a little."
"That's not too surprising. Succubus, during their season of heat, they become desperate to find a fast mate, virgins especially."
"Y-yeah. You wouldn't happen to know how to fix that, would you?"
"Nope. The best way to give me what they want. They tend to follow the demon they cling to in their hearts, no matter where they go. I heard of a karnal once, who traveled across the entire pit to get away from a succubus but ended up captured in the end."
Cyrus turned to his boiling petals, watching as the results finally flowed in. The concoction turned purple, bringing a smile to him as he quickly jotted the results. "By the way, Incubus's are no different. They do the same. It's just not as bad as the succubus from what I hear."
"So there really is no escaping it, is there?"
Cyrus blurted a laugh. "I'm surprised she hasn't tried to tie you down already. She must have a strong will to fight against her own instincts."
"N-no…" Donovan glanced at Charla, who continued to look at him, unsure. "I don't think that's the reason."
Donovan could only imagine the disastrous situation of letting her lose from the enslavement contract.
"Well, in any case, she does seem to care a little bit about you. It's very rare among her race."
"Is that so?"
"Yup." Cyrus closed his journal and turned back to the two. "Hmm. You don't look too happy about it."
"D-don't get me wrong, I think it's flattering in a way, but… I'm not the greatest when it comes to women. They kinda petrify me, really."
Surprised, Cyrus crossed his arms and glanced at Charla. "If you're afraid of women, how do you expect to live your life?"
Donovan sighed, exhausted. "Well, it's not like I want to be scared of other women. I'm still trying to get over it. Eventually, I want to have a family of my own too…. But not something that's… forced or sudden. That's not love, it feels… fake."
Charla watched as a red aura grew stronger within Donovan. "Donovan…?"
"Ah. So a faithful follower of the Serulian ways." Cyrus noted.
"You know of our sect?"
"Hmm, yes of course. I've had…. Past allies who followed the ways of Cassell. To love and stay faithful is one of the many testaments I remember reading from the scriptures. But that was over a hundred years ago." Cyrus doused the flames in his small boiling pot of water. "And we should really get moving. The sooner you're able to heal your companion, the sooner you can complete your contract."
"Right." Donovan turned to Charla, who sat, turtles away. Although a little surprised. He spoke up. "Hey, Charla, we need to get ready to leave."
Without our word, she stood back up and re-entered the room to gather their belongings.
"Oh? Does she understand the human tongue?"
With a cold sweat, Donovan rubbed the back of her head. '"Y-you could say that. Yeah."
Charla, within the room, stopped. Her gaze fell, and a pit in her stomach widened.