Two years ago in Baricka, the demi-human invasions seemed like they would never stop.
Ever since the day of Aulistia’s death and the corresponding enslavement of the demi-humans, half-blooded rebels invaded Baricka as retribution for its status as, one of many, demi-human slave trade towns. Blood was spilt day after day, animals ate the entrails of the dead and the rivers of the eastern forests ran red with blood.
The invasions continued as slaves fought for freedom against their former slave owners until one day, their leader passed away. The demi-humans made sure to keep this a secret from the humans, which allowed them time to make a burial for their fallen leader. A burial that made every one of them weep for the leader that had shown bravery, confidence, charisma and limitless energy. The leader that despite his status as general, had fearlessly led charges into battle alongside his troops; not for money or fame but for the same goal as the men and women surrounding him. To free their people from the black-hearted humans enslaving their people.
This made it all the more surprising when the day came. The day when the raids came to a halt and the leader of the demi-human rebel forces was lying on his deathbed, unable to keep the promise he told all of them. The promise of freeing every demi-human in the world and building a utopia where demi-humans could live free lives in peace. It was said that his last words before passing were an apology for the promise he couldn’t fulfill.
No one held it against him.
After stopping their invasions two years ago, the demi-humans began to seek help from the eastern region. They pleaded for assistance even though they expected it to take ages for a single reply to come back from those known as players, but just a day after they sent the message, the eastern region accepted their plead and informed them that they were sending four envoys to assist them. One of them was the green, eight-tailed kitsune known as Nisuki… who is now currently lost in ecstasy cuddling with me.
I sigh, as Nisuki hugs my small body with a soft grip that turns to feel more like an iron death grip the more I try to resist. Eventually, I just give in and let her rub my head. “Aden, is it? You’re so cute!”
“I get that a lot,” I respond as I try to relax as much as possible given the circumstances. Lilith is trying to hide a jealous frown as she watches Nisuki play with me. “Anyways...” she moves on, “keep talking Nisuki.”
Such a strange name. I’ve never heard anything like it.
“Of course, over the past two years, after the raids on Baricka have ceased, we’ve been recruiting demi-humans from this region. It took some time, but we’ve managed to recruit around five-hundred so far..”
“Five-hundred!? That’s a huge achievement, assuming there were really any demi-humans around here.” Nisuki sighs as she begins sniffing my head.
“Yes, it is. Most of them are escaped slaves from Baricka so if nothing else, then we can count on them to have the will to fight. If all goes well, I might be able to meet the shrine priestess again!”
“Shrine Priestess?” Lilith taps my shoulder, I turn and look at her.
“A shrine priestess is someone with an understanding and divine connection with a god.”
“A god?”
“Nevermind that, we’re getting off-topic Aden. Nisuki, I assume you’ve heard about the news.”
“Yes…” Nisuki lets me go and stands up while dusting herself off. “Five max-level adventurers, was it?”
“Yes, and it’s most likely that they’ll arrive in two days.”
“Me, Aruko, and Jun will take care of them.” The happy and bright expression Nisuki was making disappears and is replaced with a menacing and deathful aura. “Max-level humans like them will make perfect practice dummies…” That is when Nisuki looks down at me. Dread fills me. “I forgot to ask, is this entertainer of yours… a human? Lilith-san?”
But before Lilith could answer that, “Morph.” I say out loud. Lilith keeps quiet and simply smiles at me as my cheeks become scaly and my eyes change from human to reptilian-like.
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Your Morph has ranked up to Rank A! +2 END +1 WILL
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Lilith giggles, “Does this answer your question, Nisuki?” The dark, deadly aura Nisuki was sending out from herself disappears and is replaced with an expression that seems like half curiosity over the fact that her question is only replaced with more questions and half envy that Lilith had managed to steal me back.
“This… is a reptile? No… its presence feels much more dreadful than a simple lizard.”
Lilith continues to smile as she answers the question. “Close,” she says with a wide grin. “This is a dragon.” Nisuki opens her eyes wide for the first time since we met her. They were a bright jade green with dark pupils shaped like a pair of crossed slits.
“Hontou- I mean, really?” Nisuki looks down at me with her sparkling eyes wide open.
“Yes…” Lilith answers. Nisuki studies me closely as I begin to morph back into my human self.
When I fully turn back, Nisuki takes a deep breath, “This is my first time seeing a Dragonborn.”
I respond by nonchalantly telling her, “Well, I am the first Dragonborn.” There is a sudden pause, until Nisuki kneels down and picks up my right hand with both of hers.
What she says next took me by surprise. “Please, join the invasion! If you were to tell who you are to everyone, it would surely boost their morale!” I stare at her closed eyes, even if they were closed, it didn’t take a lot of perception to tell that Nisuki’s eyes looked up at me with desperation. I smile.
“Of course, we wouldn’t be in this forest if we weren’t going to join.” Nisuki smiles and stands up.
“Shall I lead you two to the camp then?” I was about to answer, until Lilith answers for me.
“No, Aden and I will reside in Baricka. We’ll send intel as to who the max level adventurers are and if they arrive sooner than expected.” I look at Lilith.
I understood the advantage we have. Thanks to Lilith’s false statuses, we can go in and out of Baricka without having to fear being discovered. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the military were to block all ins and outs of Baricka. Now that they know that demi-humans are going to invade again, they will most likely block all exits on the day the max-level adventurers arrive.
“Oh,” Nisuki begins to speak, “I would like to ask a favor.”
I turn to Nisuki, “Hmm?”
“There is a spy we’ve sent into Baricka, it’s been five days since he departed and he hasn’t responded ever since. I would like you two to find him.” Lilith sighs upon hearing the request.
“How do you know that he isn’t dead yet?” Lilith asks. I can already hear signs of annoyance in her voice.
“I would be surprised if he is. After all, he’s part of us four sent here and one of my students.”
“Oh? What does he look like?”
“He’s a single-tailed golden kitsune. He’s like me, but with golden fox ears and a golden tail. Unlike Aden, he can’t morph, so it won’t be hard to find him.”
“A golden kitsune? A descendant of Tamamo?” I turn to Lilith with a surprised expression.
“He’s a descendant.” Nisuki answers.
“If he’s a descendant, why isn’t he studying back in the eastern region?”
“He was given permission to join the invasion.”
“So that means…”
“Yes, he’s a second child. He has an older sister studying under Tamamo currently. Anyways...” Nisuki turns and begins walking towards the demi-human campsite. “I believe it’s time we part.”
“Yes, see you soon Nisuki, we’ll find the kitsune.” Lilith turns to walk towards Baricka, but before she did…
“Nisuki!” Nisuki stops and turns to see me.
“What is it, Aden?”
“What’s the kitsune’s name?”
“...His name is Kin, Kin Akame.” Nisuki then goes back to walking back into the forest until she disappears in the dense foliage.
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An hour later…
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“...I prefer wine over juice.” Lilith sighs as she looks down at her dinner. Some apple juice, cooked grey wolf meat, steamed carrots, steamed corns, and steamed broccoli. The same dish I have.
”I feel like a child drinking this.” she said.
“But aren’t you thirteen?” I ask back.
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Lilith has never looked so close to ending my life than she did at that moment. Well, that is how it looked like, but I feel like she isn't going to kill me for some reason... but do something worse.
We were back at the inn, where we last eavesdropped on the adventurers, and coincidentally sat at the same table. I cautiously picked at my dinner while everyone in the inn stares at me.
I tried more than I should have, but it just isn’t possible to eat with a mask on.
Well, at least something good came out of it as the innkeeper gives us a discount on our meals and stay. Lilith gladly accepted it, before I could protest. I would rather hang myself than accepting a deal from a normal tavern owner because he thought I looked like a prince.
I mean seriously! Why can’t I be treated the same way as everyone else in this place!
“U-umm…”
“Hmm?” I look up and see a young waitress, with a juvenile, brown-haired girl behind her, looking at me with an uncompromising stare.
“M-my little sister says she wants to hug you. You don’t mind that, right?” I can hear it from her voice. She seems really embarrassed to be asking such a request. I would be too. It isn’t every day that you walk up to strangers and ask for hugs.
I sigh, wipe my mouth with a napkin, and spread my arms out. The little girl jumps up and hugs me. She lets go a second later and runs behind the waitress again just to back to her boundless gaze.
I turn back to my meal and continue eating.
Alright… time to go back to eating-
I look up and saw Lilith, smiling at me.
“What is it, Lilith?”
“Oh, nothing ~ ♡.” I look back at her for a moment before beginning to eat my dinner again.
It was ten minutes later that we finish our meals. I couldn’t even remember if the food was good or not since all my attention was focused on the dozens of people watching me eat like they were a pack of undead. Or zombies? Walkers. Whatever people call dead things that aren’t quite dead yet in this world.
The worst part was that it wasn’t only females, but males as well. If I remember correctly, Charles told me that I shouldn’t be anywhere near guys.
I don’t get it. They’re males too, so my Charisma shouldn’t be able to affect them, right? Just thinking about this made me lose my appetite. Thankfully, I already finished my meal before such a thought came to mind, so I’m happy.
I stand up from my wooden chair and stretch. I was about to take my leave, until…
“Lilith, what are you doing?”
“Hugging your arm until we get to our bedroom ~ ♡. Is there a problem with that?” Lilith hugs my right arm, making me uncomfortable in the process.
“Yes, there is a problem. It’s causing a scene.”
“Aren’t you the one who caused a scene first when you took off your mask?” I have no more objections.
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Ten minutes later…
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I jump onto my bed and lay comfortably as Lilith and I are in our rented room. It isn’t anything special really. It's a small room with two beds at opposite ends, a window with a push and pull wooden cover in the middle, and a small dresser just below the window, with a single lit candle. The beds themselves look a bit worn out, but they are surely better than the beds me and Charles slept in back at our treehouse.
This led me to question how exactly these beds are so comfortable but the details didn’t seem too important.
Actually… I missed Lexigon. I missed the crowded roads, the hard labor, the trees, flowers, and wolves in the forests… But, I knew that if I were to go back there, I would end up even sadder than before.
I mean, I could go back there right now, but I felt like it would just be a waste of time.
I begin to sit up and was about to get ready to get undressed into my sleeping wear, until I sit up to seeing Lilith undressing, exposing her small naked body to me, without the slightest attempt to hide anything.
However, I didn't give any notice to it. Lilith notices my lack of interest and looks up at me with a surprising gesture.
“Oh? You don’t mind a girl undressing in front of you? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Why would I be embarrassed?” Lilith falls silent, uncertain on how to react to such an uncommon response.
I sigh and continue to change into my sleeping wear. I did catch a few glimpses of her glancing at my body while I changed, which struck me as a bit odd.
I didn’t really get it. What was wrong with undressing near a person in a bedroom? It wasn’t something I did every day, but it wasn’t something to get too drawn into either. Was it that rare for males and females to undress in front of each other? I’m sure Lilith wasn’t really affected by this either but I would like to know what she was thinking… Oh well.
Of course, I notice Lilith smiling at me, which sent a chill up my spine. For some reason, I sensed that she was getting hungrier the longer she looked at me, which makes me worried as a memory of her eating an entire wolf in one bite comes to mind. We just ate so that couldn’t be right. I suppose it’s due to my perception being low compared to my other stats. I thought it was higher than most people but I probably need more if I want to correctly guess what people are thinking just by them looking at me. That’s kind of disappointing.
I write it off as nothing, lay back in my bed, taking a deep breath, and look up at the ceiling.
…………………………………………………I couldn’t sleep.
“Skills and Masteries,” I whisper. A screen pops up in my mind.
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Skills and Masteries:
Draconic Heavy Swing: (Rank C)
Sword Mastery: (Rank 9)
Critical Mastery: (Rank F)
Evasion: (Rank A)
Blood Moon Arts: (Rank 7)
Parry: (Rank B)
Block: (Rank B)
Create Campfire: (Rank B)
Natural Armor: (Rank C)
Natural Senses: (Rank B)
Morph: (Rank A)
Morph Overtake: (Rank F)
Natural Instincts: (Rank C)
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I look at my skills and sigh. It didn’t seem balanced at all. To be honest, it is all over the place. I never really use Draconic Heavy Swing since I couldn’t find any use of it in my fighting style, Blood Moon Arts. My Blood Moon Arts did rank up three times, but mostly due to my other self fighting the golem.
"Wait… if one of my other selves killed the golem back in the dungeon, why hasn’t my Morph Overtake ranked up?" I think in confusion.
I stare down at my Morph Overtake, which is still at Rank F.
"Why is it still at Rank F? Did Lilith steal the kill? No, I doubt Lilith is that type of person. Why didn’t it rank up? I’m probably going to need to talk with the dragon inside of me to find out, not only that, but I'm also going to ask it about the other two inside of me."
I continue to ask myself questions as I lay my eyes on the skill, until Lilith jumps on my bed.
“Lilith, what are you doing?”
“I want to sleep with you. Is there a problem with that?”
“...No. There isn’t really.” As I said that, Lilith proceeds to cuddle right beside me on the bed. We lay together in silence as I continue looking through my skills for a little bit, until Lilith asks a question
“Aden, can I test something?”
“What is it?” I turned my head to face her.
“Charm.” Lilith’s pupils glow bright pink as she stares into my eyes, it is until a second later that they turn back to normal, but…
“What? Charm?” I stare at Lilith confusingly, unable to find out what she is trying to do. She then sighs about something, which I have a feeling is a skill... failing?
Wait... what is Charm?
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Lilith Perspective:
Your Charm is unable to affect your target, due to them being immune to it!
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“As I thought, since your charisma is double of mine, it has next to no effect, however… it would have said it was blocked, but from what I’m seeing, you’re immune to it.”
“Hold on, I don’t even know what the skill is.” Lilith silently stares at me.
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Charm
Description: By using this skill with your overall charisma, charm your opponents and make them do your bidding.
Requirements: Devourer (Level 20)
Type: Skill
Effects: The percent chance of success on this skill depends on both the target’s charisma and the user’s charisma.
Usage: None
Cooldown: None
The higher rank this skill is, the higher chance this skill will hit, 1% higher chance per rank up.
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“...Oh, wait, why did you try charming me in the first place? You already know my charisma is… terrifying.” Lilith sighs.
“I’m just testing, besides,” Lilith inches her face closer to mine, “now I don’t need to worry about anyone cheating their way towards you.” I blink at her for a few moments, until looking back up at the ceiling.
“Say, Lilith.”
“Hmm?”
“Once this invasion succeeds, where do you think we should go?”
“That is up to you. Remember the deal we made? I promised that I’ll allow you and Charles to go wherever and I’ll follow.”
“Well… you did say you’ll kill us if we were to bore you, so… I’m just asking where you want to go.” Lilith turns her body around, facing the other way. She lays there in silence for a few moments, until responding,
“I’ve… always wanted to go back to the eastern region.” I smile.
“Then how about we go there, after murdering every single bastard in this town, Lilith?”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you so friendly to me all of a sudden? Didn’t you swear you’ll kill me no matter what?”
“Of course… but… I’m sure everyone in Lexigon wouldn’t want me to become bent on vengeance.” Lilith lays still, listening to every word I said. “I mean, I still hate you… but, I know that I can’t hate you forever.”
“If you become that way to me, you’ll end up as a murderer of humanity. You’ll come to despise every single aspect of your past self and humanity as a whole. Do you want to truly become a monster?”
“I’m already a monster, besides, I’m beginning to hate humanity anyways.” Lilith turns her body towards me, and upon doing so, she sees me, looking up at the ceiling with desperate eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, there are still some aspects of humanity that are good. But…”
I still remember after we bought that rusty sword, the fat bastard’s grin as he drags the demi-human cat girl away. “It’s bastards like these in Baricka that need to be killed. That’s why I don’t care if I kill off a few humans, as long as I can make a place… a place where Charles never loses his smile… If I can do that, I’ll become a servant of destruction for all I care.”
I am taken by surprise as Lilith jumps on top of me and lays on my belly, with a smile as she moves her face closer to mine. I stare into her eyes as she did into mine. We continue to gaze into each others’ eyes until Lilith slowly moves her lips closer and closer to mine. I close my eyes with an uncaring face, as if telling her that she could do whatever she wanted with me. Lilith knew what I meant by it and moves closer as if she wouldn’t have anyways, until…
“HEY! STOP THAT DEMI-HUMAN!”
I immediately open my eyes. Lilith jumps off of me, to get out of the way, and I get out of bed in my sleepwear. I run to the window and pried it open. That is when my eyes lock on him. On top of an adjacent building, I see a boy with golden ears and a long golden tail, carrying a familiar catgirl on his back, as he jumps from building to building.
We found him. Kin Akame.