Author: Thomas Rosa

Chaos and Divinity Unleashed

“Release me.”

A voice echoed in Kaz’s head as he walked in a normal looking dimension, just a simple city. Nothing about the place seemed remarkable. It was the kind of world where people hurried to work, drank coffee, and lived simple lives without ever knowing the multiverse existed, very similar to his original world, so no reason for him to remain there.

“I can’t.” He answered quietly as he turned into a narrow alleyway between two buildings.

The shadows deepened there, muffling the distant city noise. Kaz raised his hand and opened a dimensional portal. Prismatic light spiraled outward like liquid glass tearing through space.

He stepped through.

…

TCRASH!

After a long fall, Kaz landed heavily on his face. He had fallen off of what seemed to be an abandoned temple, the floor under him had given in and he fell into the darkness beneath the temple.

“Release me.” The voice asked again.

Kaz raised himself off the ground with a groan, “I can’t…”

PRAM!

A huge piece of rubble fell on top of him before he fully stood up.

“Ow…” he mumbled under the rubble

…

It had been a month since Kaz had met and defeated a self entitled, tyrannic goddess of order, and much like with the demon queen before her, Berla, he gave in to his urges and consumed her, but only recently had the divine being been completely absorbed. While some might consider it karmic justice for the atrocities both the demon queen and the goddess had committed, the reality for Kaz was far more complicated. Their power now lived within him—but so did they.

Deep inside Kaz’s body existed a strange internal space.

For the two beings trapped within him, it appeared as a living chamber formed of pulsing flesh-like walls that shifted subtly with Kaz’s heartbeat. From there they could access fragments of his memories, occasionally glimpsing the outside world through his senses.

“Release me.” The goddess, Kah’ri, ordered from within him.

She remained floating, even while within her flesh prison, bronze, smooth sun embraced skin, long straight and gleaming yellow hair, reaching her perfectly peachy behind, ending in wisps of golden flames. Her face was indeed of a divine goddess in terms of beauty, having a touch of alien to her, having four eyes with golden irises yet no pupils in any of them. Her white robes gently hugged her voluptuous form and accommodated her two extra arms, a gentle cloth over her breasts and one shoulder, leaving her side boob, her under boob and midriff visible, and the faintest pouch on the lower area of her abdomen, before a long cloth closed around her waist and draped behind her legs. Her nails and toenails black polished with golden veins glowing faintly with power. She stood with arms crossed, while Berla stood behind her a few feet away in the room.

“He can’t!” Berla told her annoyed, “How many times are you gonna repeat that?!”

“Quiet, filth, do not assume you can speak over me.” Kah’ri said to Berla.

“Oh yeah? Or what goldie?” Berla said smugly, “You’re gonna smite me with your little holy power? Or should I say Kaz’s holy power, now that you’ve been assimilated too? Hehah!”

“I had expected more from a so called Demon queen…yet you’ve already given up” she looked at Berla with disdain, “I suppose it’s good that dirt like you knows its place in servitude though.” Kah’ri said calmly.

A vein popped in Berla’s forehead, “So high and mighty even after being eaten by a mortal boy who can barely talk to girls!” She said smiling angrily.

On the outside.

Kaz’s brow twitched at the two entities arguing in his head.

“Can you two not argue…just for a few minutes?” He asked tired, sitting at the edge of a cliff.

“This is your doing, mortal, to seal a goddess of order along with this…disgusting creature…” Kah’ri said as her brows furrowed at Berla. “However, if you release me, I give you my word I’ll show you mercy…”

Kaz sighed, “I cannot do that even if I wanted to, Kah’ri, you’re…part of me now, and I’m not gonna say you deserve it…but you did kill a lot of innocents in our fight alone…and you ate me…”

“I didn’t choose to fight you amongst other mortals, and besides, I could’ve reformed them if I wished to, make them better, like I had done hundreds of times before you arrived.” Kah’ri said “Your sympathy for them is unnecessary, they were mine to shape into perfect beings…no matter the cost…”

“If you’re trying to sound like an innocent little goody two shoe goddess, you’re failing miserably…” Berla said with her arms crossed. “Although I do admire your idea to slave humanity and force it into perfection, must have been quite the mental torture for them~…”

“Do not pretend a lowly beast like you can understand my divine obligation…” Kah’ri told her dismissively.

“You can call me whatever you want goldie~, it only makes it worse for you since, we are both the same in here.” Berla said, “Or rather, I’m your superior for being here longer~!”

Kah’ri turned her back to Berla, ignoring her, but Berla just giggled at the sight.

“Hmhmhaha! How about you get down from that high horse of yours?  And go grab me a beer, and give me a foot massage while you’re at it, put those four arms to work~! It’s only natural for an underling~.” Berla said holding one foot up, taloned toes wriggling playfully.

Kah’ri turned and looked over her shoulder at Berla, eyes literally burning with golden flames, furious. This demon queen with her ridiculous logic was indeed getting through the goddess’ calm exterior.

“I’ll tear you apart…piece by piece and then build you back again, over and over, until I am satisfied…” Kah’ri said in a low voice. “You embodiment of depraved malice…”

“Oh dear, I’m afraid I’m already perfect~.” Berla said smiling confidently.

“It won’t be to make you perfect, you can never be perfect…it’ll be for fun…”

Both women stared each other down.

Berla wore a confident grin.

Kah’ri’s expression twisted into a quietly furious scowl.

“Um…maybe you two should talk it out…” Kaz suggested nervously.
He tapped his head, and then the two entities went silent to him. The argument continued somewhere deep inside him—but now it was their problem alone.

Kaz stood up from the edge of the cliff.

“This is what I get for failing to resist my urges…” he sighed, then shrugged “I deserve it, I guess…”

Looking forward, seeing the world as he’s always seen it since getting his powers, colors more bright, tiny prismatic cracks in multiple spots of the space around him, floating in the air, shining with power behind them. He waved his hand up, and a portal split open in front of him just over the edge.

He stepped through it.

…

On the other side, he immediately tripped.

“Oh!” He gasped, falling forward.

He rolled down a hill, through leaves and twigs before stopping right on the edge of a precipice.

“Ah, man these portals suck sometimes!” He said as he lifted himself.

Shaking the leaves off of his clothes and his hair, he looked up, and saw quite the sight. It was a beautiful from his viewpoint, he was atop one of many floating mounts of rock and woods, like forest mounts suspended in the air high above the earth. He leaned forward to look down the precipice, the bottom was like a huge mixture of biomes, a forest on one side, and in the distance near the horizon there was a volcanic are.

“Wow…looks like avatar…” he commented in awe.

His mind filled with excitement at the sight of such a unique dimension, his lips turned into a smile.

The power of flight was quite simple to him, his dimensional energy allowed him to change certain aspects of the reality and space around him, manipulate and convert the energy itself into certain elements, so flying was one of the first things he learned.

Yet, when he willed his power forward, it was blocked.

“Hm?” He blinked in surprise.

He tried again, body glowing faintly, but he felt a block again and then his body suddenly jerked, the energy recoiled abruptly, as if the space around him had suddenly grown resistant. A strange pressure wrapped around his body and his power twisted inward violently.

“What the—?”

His question was cut short as suddenly his body shrunk down to the size of an olive. He dropped onto the ground with a soft thud, landing on his back in the dirt.

“Oh no…this again?!” he groaned with an irritated sigh.

Under rare occasions, when Kaz entered a dimension, it was almost as if the dimension itself didn’t like it, as though some realities instinctively rejected a foreign traveler saturated with dimensional energy. On these occasions, whenever he used his dimensional energy, he’d be shrunk, both powers and body compressed on the literal sense, down to a grape usually. It is only temporary, eventually the dimension becomes accustomed to him, but there’s no way for him to tell how long that will take.

Kaz shook his head, rubbed it in annoyance, and then took a deep breath, realizing that his exploration of this mythical world would have to wait.

PIN…!

He angrily kicked a pebble, that was half his size now, down to the precipice.

“Why!?” He yelled.

His yell echoing faintly in the area.

SWISH—RUSTLE…

From the forest behind him came the sudden sound of branches shifting. Leaves crackled and bushes parted as something moved through the undergrowth, approaching quickly.

“Oh shit…” he muttered quietly, realizing his little outburst had just attracted attention.

The rustling grew closer until a hand emerged through the foliage, pushing the bush behind Kaz gently aside.

A woman revealed herself from the woods.

Perched atop her head was the skull of some horned beast, worn like a crown. Time had bleached the bone pale, and faint carvings etched along the surface suggested it had been carefully shaped and decorated rather than simply taken as a trophy. Through the hollow eye sockets of the skull emerged a pair of fox-like ears—fluffy, alert, and covered in dark fur that matched the long black hair cascading down her back. Her hair fell in thick strands over her shoulders and chest, slightly tangled from moving through the forest. 

Her skin carried a sun-kissed tone, warm and lightly weathered by years spent beneath open skies. Her face appeared young—perhaps mid-twenties—yet carried the calm confidence of someone who had lived most of her life hunting and surviving in the wild. Amber-colored eyes scanned the area in front of her with sharp focus. White tribal paint marked her face in clean, deliberate shapes. Two interlocked downward-pointing triangles rested on her forehead beneath the edge of the skull crown. A thin horizontal line ran across her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose, while two parallel lines began beneath the center of her lower lip and continued down her chin.

Her upper body was bare except for a necklace hanging loosely around her neck, adorned with the teeth and fangs of various creatures she had likely hunted herself. Her long hair naturally draped over her chest, hiding her nipples but still leaving her round, voluptuous boobs very visible, their perfectly round shape hard to look away from. Her abdomen was firm and lightly toned, faint muscle lines visible beneath her skin. Along both sides of her torso ran three white painted streaks resembling stylized tiger stripes. Around her wrists were bands made from leather and bone fragments, small pieces clinking faintly as she moved.

She wore simple brown leather panties tied with thin cords around her hips and a seemingly tribal cloth dropping between her legs. Similar white markings continued along her thighs, mirroring the tiger-like patterns on her torso.

Strapped securely against her right thigh was a dagger with a bone handle, its blade partially visible within a worn leather sheath. A scratch scar crossed the surface of her left thigh—long healed but still clearly visible. Another smaller bite-shaped scar marked her right forearm.

She paused and looked around the clearing curiously, her gaze sweeping across the floating island’s breathtaking landscape.

For a moment she saw nothing unusual. Then her eyes lowered and her gaze locked onto Kaz.

Her pupils narrowed into sharp slits, and her fox ears shot upward in sudden surprise—even though the rest of her expression barely changed.

Kaz looked up at her nervously, painfully aware of how tiny and helpless he currently was.

“Um…hi…” he waved nervously.

One of her ears twitched, before she slowly leaned down and reached for him.

From Kaz’s perspective the approaching hand looked ominous, her shadow looming over him and fingers spreading as they descended toward him. The sight was both startling and slightly terrifying.

“H-hey hold on!” he blurted, instinctively stepping backward.

His foot slipped on loose gravel as he stepped back, making him loose balance, and fall backwards. Glancing over his shoulder, he realized too late that he was about to tumble straight off the cliff’s edge.

But before gravity could claim him, the woman’s fingers snapped forward and caught him mid-fall. She pinched him gently by the torso between two fingers. Her nails were polished black and sharpened into small claw-like points, yet her grip was surprisingly careful.

He felt relieved for not falling, but that relief was cut short by her pulling him up. 

She quickly pulled him up to her face, close to her eyes as she looked closely at him, her amber feline eyes magnified and rather intimidating as they stared down at him.

“A…human…?” She said, her voice calm, but confused.

She turned him in her fingers, analyzing him over, her other hand moving up to hold his limbs.

“No fae wings or antennas…no mouse ears or tail…” she said thoughtfully. “Why are you tiny?”

“Uh, it’s a long story…” Kaz said as he was turned over. “Can you stop handling me…?”

Then her attention turned to his cloak, brown on the outside like his hair, but the inside showed the sight of a night dark bluish sky, with an actual depth to it, it was beautiful, and unique, she gently grabbed it and pulled it.

“Hey!” Kaz yelled as he pulled his cloak back, “That’s is mine, my cool cloak!”

She seemingly ignored his protest, and pulled the cloak off of him. She admired it for a moment. Her black fluffy tail swinging from side to side slowly behind her.

“Pretty…” she said to the cloak, then turned back to Kaz. “You won’t be needing it anymore…”

“I disagree!” He said.

“I don’t care.” She said, a small smile forming on her lips, “Food doesn’t need pretty things with it…”

“What?”

The hunter fox woman opened her maw, her tongue licking her fangs and upper teeth before dropping slightly over her lip like a carpet, waiting for Kaz to come in. Her breath washing over him, a faint scent of fruits mixed in her breath.

“W-wait just a second! At least give me my cloak back!” He pleaded.

She ignored his plea and tossed him into her open mouth.

He landed with a wet tap on her tongue, and she quickly closed her lips, sealing him in darkness.

Kaz tried to push himself up from the soft, wet surface but his hand slipped, making him fall on his face, before the tongue immediately began to throw him around.

“Hm…!” She hummed in surprise at his taste, tasting him like a candy, “Slosh slosh Not bad…tashte better than fairiesh…slosh slosh”

Her tongue pressed him against her cheek, slowly licking him while keeping him pinned, unable to even fight back at his weakened state.

He felt the tongue slide under him, pulling him back to the middle and then pinning him to the ceiling. Then she began to suck on him.

Kaz felt powerless for the first time in a while, but he was still resilient, he felt no pain, just an overwhelming amount of embarrassment at being treated like food, being played with by a giant lady as if he was nothing more than a treat to her. The main problem to him however was that he lost his cloak now, and he’s very attached to his cosmic cloak.

“C-come on! You can’t even wear the cloak at its current size!” He protested.

The pressure holding him softened, but her tongue didn’t lower, it shifted until Kaz began to slide down, towards the throat.

The huntress smiled, then with a flick of her head.

GLUCK!

She swallowed, rather easily, surprising Kaz a little as he thought she’d at least try to chew him before swallowing. He still struggled, a small, trembling bulge traveled down her throat, his struggles causing her to sigh blissfully.

“Hm, a shame I can only eat you once little one…you’re one of the tastiest I’ve ever had.” she said, her hand gently patting her abdomen. “And I thank you, for the pretty little cloth…”

And with that, she turned back into the forest, making her way through the leaves and bushes.

…

Being squeezed by living flesh and contracting muscles from all sides, Kaz was pushed steadily downward through the dark passage. The walls around him flexed and tightened in rhythmic pulses, guiding him deeper with an almost mechanical precision. The air was warm and heavy, filled with damp echoes and the faint sound of movement all around him.

Thump thump…THUMP THUMP…thump thump…

The sound of a heartbeat echoed around him, slowly growing louder, before slowly receding.

A moment later—

PLOP

He dropped into the chamber below.

“Urgh…!” He groaned as he landed face down.

Kaz pushed himself up slowly, wiping his face as his eyes adjusted to the dim surroundings. At first, everything was shadowy and indistinct, but gradually shapes began to form. The stomach walls curved around him in smooth, dark surfaces, rising and falling subtly with each breath the huntress took.

The entire space shifted with quiet life.

A faint, constant rhythm pulsed through the chamber—her heartbeat—echoing softly through the walls and into the ground beneath him. Occasional gurgling sounds broke the silence, blending with the distant movement of her body as she walked through the forest outside.

Scattered nearby were the partially digested remains of fruits—softened pieces floating or resting along the curved floor, slowly breaking down.

Kaz exhaled in frustration.

“Damn it!” he snapped, slamming his hand against the stomach wall.

The surface yielded slightly under the impact, warm and flexible.

“Oh…” the huntress’ voice murmured faintly from outside, her tone amused. She let out a quiet chuckle. “Hm…”

Poke!

Suddenly, the wall in front of Kaz bulged inward.

The pressure pushed against him without warning, knocking him off balance. He tumbled backward, rolling slightly before landing flat on his back.

“I enjoy struggles, little one… but I’m not in the mood right now…” she said.

“Oh I’m soooo sorry to inconvenience you!” Kaz shot back sarcastically as he pushed himself up again.

There was no response this time.

Seems she could feel him, but not hear him as she remained silent now, leaving only the quiet sounds of her body around him.

Kaz rubbed the side of his head and let out another tired sigh.

“Fine! Guess I can wait for my powers to come back while in here…” he muttered, trying to convince himself to stay calm and to look at the bright side of things. “Then I get my cloak back!”

He lowered himself down and leaned back against the curved wall.

The surface pressed gently against him—warm, soft, and strangely steady. The rhythmic motion of her breathing created a subtle rise and fall beneath his back, almost like a living cushion, that mixed with the small tremors from her movements and the sound of her heartbeat, it was almost too hard not to be soothed.

Given that he wouldn’t be digested, and with nothing else to do, Kaz allowed himself to relax slightly.

For now… all he could do was wait.

An hour later.

After remaining inside the stomach for an hour now with nothing to do except wait, Kaz was starting to get a bit too bored, the only company being the occasional water and fruit pieces that the huntress’ drank and ate.

Eventually, he could hear voices from the outside.

…

On the outside, the huntress approached the entrance to a village, built into the trees of the forest, humble, somewhat primitive, yet big in both size and numbers.

She strolled casually now as she approached.

“Chief…” the two woman guards, one a fox woman and the other a fox woman like the huntress, bowed respectfully.

“At ease you two…” the huntress said. “Have there been any reports lately about fae fairies in the area? Or any other tiny races?”

“No, the Fae have been keeping themselves off our territory, did you perhaps find one in your hunt, chief?” One of the guards asked.

“Hm…” she gave her midriff a rub, “I don’t know…he didn’t look like one, and he’s stopped struggling already…” she said pondering. “Oh well, it was probably just a neera without its ears and tail…”

“Maybe it was their mating season…” one of the guards commented. “Seems we’ll get more then soon enough.”

The other guard sighed dreamily “I miss eating neeras…”

“Let’s try not to overdo it this time and almost make them completely immigrate to a different region…” the huntress said smiling. “See you two later.”

“Yes, chief Kitsara!” they bowed again.

Kitsara turned to walk into the village.

“One more thing, chief.” The guard said to her. “The elder wishes to discuss an important issue with you.”

“I can guess what it is, thank you.” Kitsara said before continuing into the village.

She continued through the settlement, weaving effortlessly through the towering forest village. Sometimes she walked along suspended wooden paths, other times she simply leapt upward onto tree roots, branches, and elevated platforms with practiced ease.

Villagers greeted her respectfully wherever she passed.

The village itself, though rustic in appearance, was lively and densely populated. Homes carved into hollow tree trunks mixed with elevated wooden huts bound together with rope and bone. Lanterns made from glowing insects hung beneath bridges, swaying gently in the breeze.

Only women inhabited the settlement.

Fox women like Kitsara moved confidently through the walkways, neko women climbed effortlessly between structures, and harpies perched along massive branch platforms overlooking the forest below.

The harpies were particularly striking.

Most stood nearly twice the height of the fox and cat women, their powerful feathered wings partially folded against their backs while taloned feet gripped the wooden platforms with ease. Yet despite their imposing size, the relationship between them and the tribe was clearly cooperative rather than hierarchical.

Some of the neko and fox women rode comfortably upon the harpies’ backs as they traveled between the upper village levels, the great winged women launching themselves gracefully from branch to branch and gliding through the open air between floating forest platforms.

Kitsara eventually approached a much larger structure built high above the rest of the village.

Unlike the other homes, this one carried an almost regal presence despite still being made from natural materials. Its roof curved tightly around the enormous tree supporting it, and thick greenery spilled from the edges while flowers bloomed across the wooden structure as though nature itself embraced it.

Presumably, it was Kitsara’s home as the village chief.

She pushed aside the hanging veil serving as the doorway and stepped inside.

The interior was simple yet authoritative.

Smooth bamboo flooring covered the room beneath her feet, while clay and carved wooden walls enclosed the circular space. In the center stood a large table, and atop it rested a detailed map of the surrounding region weighted down with carved stones and bone markers.

Several seats surrounded the table for council members.

At the far end of the room, elevated atop three wooden steps above the others, stood a much larger chair.

It resembled a throne more than a seat.

Bones, feathers, carved wood, and hanging charms adorned it, giving it an imposing yet natural beauty fitting for the leader of the tribe.

Stepping farther into the room, Kitsara heard the faint rustle of fabric from the veiled opening beside her elevated seat.

Another figure emerged.

She was a fox woman like Kitsara, though the resemblance between them extended beyond their shared vulpine features. Where Kitsara possessed black ears and a single dark tail, this woman’s ears were covered in pristine white fur tipped with deep crimson. Behind her spread an elegant fan of nine enormous tails, each similarly white with red coloring at its end. They drifted independently behind her with slow, almost hypnotic movements, giving her an unmistakably ancient and supernatural presence.

Like most women of the tribe, her clothing was minimal, leaving much of her voluptuous figure exposed. Yet her appearance carried none of Kitsara’s rugged hunter aesthetic. Long, flowing white sleeves covered her arms, decorated along their edges with delicate red patterns, while a thin white veil concealed much of her face.

The combination gave her the graceful appearance of some ancient shrine maiden.

And yet, there was something faintly eerie about her.

Through the translucent veil, a pair of crimson eyes stared outward with unnatural clarity, their glow subtly visible through the fabric. Between those piercing eyes and the nine tails swaying silently behind her, there was an immediate sense that she was far older—and perhaps far more powerful—than her youthful appearance suggested.

“Hello, Elder.” Kitsara said, placing a hand on her hip.

“Ah Kitsara, how many times must I remind you, when we’re alone, you can call me ‘mom’…” the fox lady said with a smile.

“Oh, of course mother, I’ve just been…a little absent minded today, that’s all…” Kitsara said.

“Frankly I’d prefer ‘mommy’ like you used to do a few centuries ago…but no matter!” She said with a chuckle.

Despite the dignity of her appearance, the playful remark immediately stripped away some of the mysterious atmosphere surrounding her.

Kitsara stepped closer to the central table, the soft padding of her bare feet barely making a sound against the bamboo floor. Her casual demeanor faded as she approached the map, her amber eyes settling on the markings scattered across the region.

“The guards mentioned you wanted to speak with me.” She said, attention fully on her mother now.

“Ah, yes, there’s a matter we must discuss…” Kitsara’s mother said.

The warmth in the elder’s expression diminished.

One of her nine tails slowly curled behind her as she approached the opposite side of the table, crimson eyes lowering toward the map between them. The playful mother from only moments before seemed to disappear beneath the composure of the tribe’s elder.

Whatever she had called Kitsara here to discuss, it was clearly no small matter.

Kitsara’s mother raised one slender finger toward the table. The sharp point of her nail gleamed with a faint crimson light as she traced it over the scattered sand, then slowly lifted her hand.

The sand responded immediately.

Countless grains trembled before suddenly shooting upward, swirling together in tightly controlled streams. Hills rose from the tabletop, valleys carved themselves between them, and great formations of stone took shape in midair. Within seconds, the loose sand had transformed into an intricate three-dimensional map of the surrounding region, complete with forests, mountain ranges, and miniature floating islands suspended impossibly above the landscape.

“As you know, a few months ago, an army of demons was spotted by our patrols, seen marching towards the drow kingdom northeast from here…” her mother said.

At her words, one section of the floating map began to glow. Sand gathered together, forming towers, walls, and tiny structures representing the distant drow kingdom.

Then a red glow appeared at its border.

Like spilled blood spreading across parchment, the crimson wave swept through the miniature kingdom until every structure disappeared beneath it.

“…and the kingdom was massacred, then they marched northwest, towards the Dwarf kingdom…massacred as well.” She said as another settlement rose from the sand, only to be swallowed beneath the advancing red tide.

“Yes, I’ve heard the reports, what is your point, mother?” Kitsara asked calmly.

“The army is coming towards us, or rather to the Beastfolk kingdom south of us.”

“Oh…I see, you worry they’ll attack us.” Kitsara said. “But why would a wolf care for an insect barely in its path?”

“The wolf wouldn’t, and it would also not notice if it just crushed it as it walked by…” her mother replied.

Her crimson eyes remained fixed on the map as the glowing wave crept closer to the tiny representation of their forest.

“The army leaves nothing but ashes in its wake, and we are in the way, for now…”

Kitsara stared silently at the map for several moments. Her previously relaxed posture stiffened slightly before she drew in a deep breath.

“So, we should move then…”

“It’s all we can do, I’m afraid…”

With a gentle sweep of the elder’s hand, the magic holding the map together disappeared. The floating mountains collapsed instantly, streams of sand raining back onto the tabletop until only several uneven mounds remained.

“We have not moved in centuries…and where can we go, that the demons won’t reach?”

“We can search for a few spots, the army is still a week away from us…”

Kitsara sighed heavily and brought a hand to her face. The responsibility of her position suddenly seemed far heavier than the bone crown resting upon her head.

“And then what? Wait until the army once again turns its trajectory to whatever is past us again?”

“I know dear, it’s definitely not ideal, but we are a simple village, we keep to ourselves, so there’s nothing we can do against it…nothing…” her mother said.

For the first time, the ancient kitsune sounded genuinely uncertain.

“All we can do, is hope a hero appears from any of the kingdoms left…”

She stepped around the table and approached her daughter. One of her hands settled gently upon Kitsara’s shoulder, the gesture carrying considerably more warmth than her eerie appearance suggested.

“We will be okay, we always have been…” the mother assured.

“I don’t know in this case…mother…ahh, I need to think…” Kitsara said.

“Of course, but before you go…”

Her mother’s attention suddenly shifted downward.

She gently caught Kitsara’s hand before she could leave and raised it between them. Wrapped loosely around Kitsara’s little finger was the tiny piece of cloth she had taken earlier.

“Where did you get this?”

“This little shiny thing?”

Kitsara wriggled her little finger playfully.

The tiny cloth shimmered as it moved. What initially appeared to be dark fabric revealed an impossible depth within its folds—a purple-blue night sky filled with countless pinpricks of distant starlight. It looked less like cloth and more like someone had torn away a tiny fragment of the cosmos and wrapped it around her finger.

“I got it from a little neera I found…”

“You found a neera? I was certain we had eaten all of them in the region…” her mother pondered. “Well, I feel an odd…energy from it…”

Her demeanor immediately became more attentive.

Her white kitsune ears rose beneath her veil as she leaned closer, the nine tails behind her becoming unusually still. Crimson eyes glimmered through the thin fabric covering her face as she studied the tiny cosmic cloth.

“Is it magic?” Kitsara asked.

“No…”

The elder brought it slightly closer to her face.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen…”

“Hm…the neera did look a little unique…but nothing special… oh!”

Kitsara suddenly stiffened.

A small but unmistakable thud came from somewhere inside her abdomen.

For an instant, both women went quiet.

“Is it still alive in there?” her mother asked.

“Well I found him just before coming back…” Kitsara replied casually, placing a hand against her slim stomach and giving it an absentminded rub. “Tastier than most, that’s for sure.”

“Hmhm, well perhaps we can gather a few of them before we move, if they truly have repopulated the region.”

Her mother chuckled softly before releasing Kitsara’s hand and turning away, her nine tails fanning behind her once again.

“I’ll make the preparations, you can rest for now dear~.”

“Very well, thank you, mother.”

Kitsara turned toward the adjoining room.

She pushed through another hanging veil and entered her private quarters, finally allowing the composure expected of a chief to loosen.

With a tired sigh, she reached upward and removed the beast-skull crown from her head. Freed from beneath it, her long black hair spilled naturally around her shoulders and down her back, while her dark fox ears flicked lightly at the sudden freedom.

She placed the skull carefully beside several others arranged along the wall—different shapes and sizes, each fashioned from the remains of some formidable creature she had hunted in the past. Together they formed a quiet record of victories accumulated over years.

Kitsara lowered herself onto her bed.

For several minutes she simply stared upward, one arm resting over her forehead as thoughts of evacuation routes, approaching armies, and the future of her people churned relentlessly through her mind.

Eventually, exhaustion won.

Her breathing gradually slowed, her tense muscles relaxed into the bedding, and her black tail curled loosely beside her.

Before long, the huntress chief had drifted into an uneasy sleep.

…

Inside Kitsara’s stomach, the outside world had become little more than muffled voices and distant vibrations.

“Looks like a small crisis is happening in this dimension…” Kaz said as he sat comfortably within the warm chamber.

He raised one hand experimentally.

Dimensional energy immediately answered him.

A faint prismatic glow gathered around his fingers, flowing between them in thin strands before settling neatly into his palm. There was no violent recoil this time, no strange resistance from the surrounding reality. The energy responded exactly as it should, perfectly stable and completely under his control.

“And my powers are back…hm…”

Kaz slowly closed his hand, extinguishing the glow.

Having overheard the entire conversation between Kitsara and her mother, he found himself pondering what to do next. Technically, nothing was keeping him here anymore. His abilities had returned; he could teleport out of Kitsara, retrieve his cloak, open another portal and leave this dimension behind without ever involving himself in its problems.

Or he could stay.

The choice lingered in his mind as he leaned back against the gently yielding stomach wall.

Around him, the rhythms of Kitsara’s body had gradually changed. The movements that had accompanied her walking through the village had completely ceased. Her breathing had become slow and deep, while the heartbeat resonating faintly through the chamber settled into an equally relaxed rhythm.

Kaz tilted his head slightly as he listened.

She was in deep sleep.

“Hm…I guess I can help, even though she ate me…” he said with a small shrug. “What do you two think?”

With a thought, Kaz removed the mental barrier he had placed between himself and his two unwilling companions.

Almost immediately—

“I think I’ll find a way to throw up in here if you keep helping people that you’ve never even met!” Berla complained inside his mind, sounding thoroughly irritated.

Kaz blinked.

“Seems like you two aren’t fighting anymore…” he pointed out.

“Apparently we can’t die in here…or really hurt each other at all, trust me, we tried.” Berla said.

There was an almost disappointed quality to her admission.

“Yes, we did.” Kah’ri confirmed with considerably more dignity. “And it is rather confusing how you’re willing to help someone who treated you as food…”

Kaz glanced around at his rather unusual surroundings, then smiled.

“I can forgive and forget.”

“You didn’t do that with me!” Kah’ri snapped, some of her usual divine indignation immediately leaking back into her voice.

“Or me!” Berla added.

“You two wanted to eat me for much more evil reasons than just nutrition!” Kaz protested.

“Well that was one of my reasons!” Berla replied without hesitation.

Kaz stared blankly ahead for a moment.

“That’s still…ugh…” he sighed. “Anyway, this will also be nice for the two of you.”

A brief silence followed.

“How?”

The demon queen and goddess spoke in perfect unison inside his head.

Kaz focused his power, his body slowly glowing brighter.

“It’ll be a nice surprise don’t worry…” he said smiling.

Kaz then teleported.

Reappearing outside of Kitsara’s body, Kaz materialized soundlessly on the bed beside the sleeping huntress.

He was still tiny, barely larger than a grape against the broad expanse of woven bedding beneath his feet. But with his dimensional abilities responding normally again, he knew his reduced size was temporary. It was only a matter of waiting for the last effects of the anomaly to wear off.

For now, he took a moment to look around.

Pale moonlight filtered through the open window, spilling across the bamboo floor in thin silver streaks and outlining the bone trophies and simple furnishings around the room. The distant nighttime sounds of the forest drifted through the window alongside a cool breeze.

“Hm…cozy…” he commented.

Kaz stretched his arms above his head, enjoying the fresh, cool air against his skin after spending so long enclosed within Kitsara’s stomach.

Then he turned around.

Kitsara remained peacefully asleep beside him. Her long black hair spilled freely across the bedding now that she had removed her skull crown, partially obscuring her face and draping over her bare chest. Her breathing was slow and steady, her chest gently rising and falling with every sleeping breath.

Without the intense stare and imposing hunter’s posture from earlier, she looked remarkably peaceful.

And beautiful, Kaz quietly admitted to himself.

It was the same thought that had briefly crossed his mind when he had first seen her.

Right before she ate him.

“Oh, I know why you wanna help, you’re attracted to her!” Berla suddenly announced inside his head.

Kaz immediately stiffened.

“W-what? No.” Kaz denied.

“Oh come now Kaz, I’ve been with you long enough, if a lady is pretty enough, you’ll fight hell itself just to serve them!” Berla teased with a giggle.

“Is that why I refused to serve you and defeated you instead, Berla?” Kaz shot back.

“…”

Berla went completely silent, apparently caught off guard by how quickly he had turned that argument against her.

“Pff…”

A poorly concealed sound of amusement came from Kah’ri before the goddess swiftly composed herself.

“I do what I want with these powers that were given to me, Berla, and right now, I want to help those in need.” Kaz says.

“Yeah yeah, you have a heart of gold blah blah blah!” Berla grumbled with an audible pout. “I hope she gets creative with you when she wakes up!”

“Creative?” Kaz repeated, genuinely confused. “What?”

Berla released a long, defeated sigh.

“How did we get eaten by him?!” she asked Kah’ri.

Kaz merely shook his head.

Then something shifted beneath his feet.

Kitsara stirred.

Her breathing changed slightly as she unconsciously adjusted herself in her sleep, one shoulder rolling as her body began turning toward him.

Kaz’s eyes widened.

“No no n—…”

He barely managed a yelp before Kitsara rolled over.

Kitsara rolled over, settling onto her stomach, and subsequently her round, well endowed breasts smooshed down onto Kaz, pushing him and pinning him down under their soft warmth.

“Mmh…” Kitsara sighed in her sleep, now stomach down on her bed, relaxed.

Kaz was pinned under her weight, barely able to move, but not in pain, even quite comfortable and a tad erotic for him, but he shook his head, and tried to push the soft, sun-kissed skin embracing him, his hand sinked slightly into Kitsara’s boob, and the more they sank, the more he blushed, and he also realized, it wasn’t really moving, her breast was too big and soft, even if he tried to push her off, at the size of a grape, he barely moved her body.

“What’s the matter Kazy? Just teleport~.” Berla suggested with a tone that gave away that she had a grin on her face.

“You know I can’t if I can’t focus, and I cannot focus like this!” He said, red as a tomato.

“Hm?”

Kaz stopped moving upon hearing a mumble from above, from Kitsara, then he felt the weight over him to loosen, and then be lifted off of him. 

Cool air suddenly returned as Kitsara moved slightly, only for a hand to slide across the bedding beside him. The instant her fingers encountered something unfamiliar, they instinctively curled around it.

Kaz was scooped up.

He emerged from beneath her and was lifted toward her face.

Kitsara remained half-buried in her pillow, strands of messy black hair falling across her features. Between them, her amber eyes gleamed faintly in the moonlight, heavy with sleep as she stared at the tiny figure in her closed hand.

“…”

She blinked slowly.

“…what?”

“Um…hello…again…” Kaz said nervously.

Kitsara stared at him as though her half-awake mind were still deciding whether he actually existed.

“…a dream perhaps…?” she murmured to herself, pulling Kaz closer.

“No, i-it’s not a dream!” Kaz said quickly, already suspecting exactly how she might test that theory.

She brought him toward her lips.

Her tongue slipped outward and passed slowly over him.

“Ssssslip…”

Kitsara clicked her tongue thoughtfully as the familiar taste lingered.

“S-stop!” Kaz protested, his face flushing as he wiped saliva from his hair.

“Hm…no, it’s not a dream…you taste too good…” she concluded.

Gradually becoming more awake, Kitsara pushed herself upright and settled cross-legged upon the bed. Her black tail curled loosely beside her as she looked down at the tiny traveler in her grip.

“What are you?”

Kaz wiped more saliva away with his sleeve.

“I’m just…a traveler, of sorts, and a human…of sorts, but not a fairy or whatever a neera is!”

Kitsara’s sleepy expression immediately sharpened.

“That’s impossible…” she said. “Humans are extinct, they were killed off decades ago…”

“What?” Kaz asked, genuinely surprised.

“Humans attempted to conquer the demons, and in return the demons hunted them down until the very last one of them…” she explained. “You’re the first I’ve seen in the past three decades…”

Kaz fell silent.

That revelation carried considerably more weight than he had expected.

He had visited worlds where humanity was struggling, worlds where civilizations had collapsed, and even dimensions where life itself had vanished. But standing in a world where his own species had specifically been exterminated felt different.

For all practical purposes, the woman holding him was looking at something she believed no longer existed.

“That’s…scary, honestly…” Kaz admitted.

“And you’re also tiny…” Kitsara pointed out.

Kaz blinked.

“Oh, ahem…”

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I’m not from…this world…”

“…”

Kitsara’s eyes narrowed.

“Is that so…?”

She slowly brought him closer again.

In the darkness of the room, her enormous amber eyes seemed almost luminous as they scrutinized him from only inches away, slit pupils narrowing while she searched his face for any hint of deception.

“Y-yes…please don’t eat me again…” Kaz said, suddenly very aware of how easily she could do exactly that.

A smile slowly appeared on Kitsara’s lips.

She chuckled at the frightened little traveler trembling helplessly in her grasp.

“Heh…fine, let’s say I believe you…and what is such a scared little thing doing in this world, and why, pray tell, should I not eat you~…” she asked almost playfully.

“I can help you with your problem.” Kaz said.

The playfulness disappeared.

Kitsara’s smile faded, and her fingers tightened slightly around him.

“Help me?” she repeated. “I’m not in the mood to be mocked right now, little one…”

“I’m not mocking you, Miss…Kitsara, right?” he said, remaining surprisingly calm beneath her stare. “I can probably deal with the demon army for you…”

Kitsara stared at him for several long seconds.

Her slit pupils gradually softened as she studied his expression, apparently searching for some sign that he was joking.

There wasn’t one.

Finally, she sighed.

“I suppose I’m a little desperate, and you did survive my stomach…” she admitted. “But why would you, a young man, just want to help me…?”

“Oh, why does everyone ask me that?”

Kaz rolled his eyes. Somehow, no matter what dimension he entered, people always seemed baffled by the idea that he might help them simply because he could.

“I have the power to do so, so why not help others?”

Kitsara’s eyes widened slightly.

For a moment, she simply looked at him.

“Hm…alright little one, I’ll accept your kindness…as odd and…sudden as it is.” she finally said. “How do you intend to deal with the demons, at your size…?”

“Oh yeah, well, I should grow back to normal at any moment now…any moment…” he said, suddenly sounding considerably less confident.

He glanced toward her hand.

“Can you give me back my cloak?”

“No, it’s mine now…” she replied immediately.

“What?!”

Kaz raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

Kitsara managed to hold her expression for only another second before chuckling.

“I’m joking, here…”

She reached toward the tiny strip of cosmic fabric wrapped around her little finger and carefully untied it. Even reduced to Kaz’s current scale, its interior still shimmered with impossible depth as she offered it back to him.

“I’ve forgotten how amusing it is to tease males…we not often see them here…” Kitsara said.

Kaz paused halfway through putting his cloak back on.

“Wait…It’s an all female village?” he asked, already beginning to blush.

“You’re the first male in months.” Kitsara told him.

“I suppose that’s probably bad…” Kaz said cautiously.

“Not really, some of us have been wanting offspring lately…” Kitsara remarked casually, glancing off to the side.

Kaz went completely rigid.

“I-I’m sorry?!”

“Hmheheheh.”

Kitsara covered a quiet giggle, clearly entertained by how quickly his entire face turned red.

“I’m joking…sort of…you’re very easy to tease for a male.” She said as she loosened her grip, then opened her hand to let him sit on her palm.

“I’m not exactly used to being teased by pretty ladies that are wearing basically nothing…” he muttered, immediately turning his gaze away as his blush deepened.

“What are you talking about, I tease you all the time!” Berla said in his head.

Some footsteps approached from beyond the doorway, soft against the bamboo floor yet distinct in the otherwise quiet room.

The hanging veils shifted aside.

Kitsara’s mother stepped gracefully through them, her nine white-and-crimson tails trailing behind her in a broad, flowing fan.

“Kitsara dear~, I heard a male voice…oh!”

Her sentence stopped abruptly.

Through the translucent veil covering her face, the elder’s crimson eyes locked immediately onto the tiny figure in her daughter’s grasp. They widened with unmistakable surprise, her white fox ears springing upright as all nine tails simultaneously lifted behind her.

Kitsara and Kaz turned toward her.

Kaz’s own eyes widened at the sight of the nine-tailed kitsune. He hadn’t gotten a proper look at her while trapped inside Kitsara earlier, and seeing the elder now—her statuesque, voluptuous figure framed by flowing sleeves, nine enormous tails and the eerie veil concealing her features—left him momentarily speechless.

“Holy…!” Kaz yelped.

“Oh, hello mother, this is…” Kitsara began before blinking in realization.

She glanced down at the little man in her hand.

“What is your name, little one?”

“Oh, it’s Kaz.” Kaz said.

Before he could say anything more, a faint crimson light suddenly surrounded him.

Kaz felt his feet leave Kitsara’s palm.

“Woah!”

The aura swept him across the room as effortlessly as though he weighed nothing. He floated helplessly through the air before stopping directly in front of the elder kitsune.

She raised her clawed hands around him without touching him. Every subtle movement of her fingers guided the crimson aura surrounding Kaz, rotating and repositioning him while her glowing eyes studied him from behind her veil.

“What a fascinating little thing…!” she said.

“Um…K-Kitsara…” Kaz called, becoming increasingly alarmed by the inspection.

Kitsara rose from her bed, her tail flicking once behind her as she approached.

“Mother, he’s not a neera, nor a fairy, and not yours…” she said.

“I know that, dear. He’s human, or was, at least…” her mother answered without taking her eyes from Kaz. “I’m afraid you can’t see what I see, dear…”

Kitsara folded her arms. “And what do you see?”

The elder’s expression became more focused.

Her crimson eyes narrowed.

And the world revealed to her was nothing like what Kitsara could perceive.

Kaz’s tiny physical form was almost lost beneath the sheer intensity of the energy surrounding him. Prismatic power blazed from him in shifting layers, refracting into colors that seemed to exist somewhere beyond ordinary magic. It wasn’t mana, divine energy, spirit energy, or anything else Matama had encountered throughout her centuries of life.

It was foreign.

Alien to the laws of this world.

And buried deeper still were two additional presences.

One burned like an imprisoned golden sun—radiant, divine and ominous.

The other seemed almost its opposite: a dark, cold presence resembling an abyss given consciousness.

Her ears twitched.

“She can see us…” Kah’ri said quietly within Kaz’s mind.

Her narrowed eyes softened.

“I see a hero…” she said with a smile.

“…” Kaz stared at her, visibly taken aback by the word. “Y-you do?”

The crimson aura faded.

Rather than letting him drop, the elder positioned one hand beneath him, allowing Kaz to descend gently into her open palm.

“Where did you find this little one?” she asked Kitsara.

“He was the supposed ‘neera’ I ate earlier today.” Kitsara said.

Her mother looked down at Kaz with renewed amusement.

“And you simply allowed her to do that to you? What a naughty boy~…”

One clawed fingertip descended and gently stroked across his head.

“Allowed?” Kitsara repeated, sounding mildly offended by the implication.

“I didn’t allow her! I was just…it’s a long story, Miss…um…”

“You may call me Matama, little boy.” the elder said.

“I ate him fair and square, mother, and I could do it again if I wished to.” Kitsara affirmed.

“Oh, I meant nothing by it, dear. It’s just…he’s really powerful!” Matama said.

That caught Kitsara’s attention immediately.

Her amber eyes returned to Kaz, studying his tiny form with noticeably greater interest than before.

“Hm, if mother is saying that about you, then you weren’t bluffing.” Kitsara said with a smile. “He’s already offered to help with our problem…”

“Really? Huh…did you already seduce him, dear?” Matama asked brightly. “I’m so proud~!”

Kitsara paused.

“I…didn’t have to.”

“Y-yeah she didn’t!” Kaz protested, his cheeks immediately coloring again.

Matama tilted her head. Several of her tails curled inquisitively behind her. “Really? “Then why is he offering help already?”

“He says he just wants to help.” Kitsara said calmly.

“…”

Matama stared at her daughter for a moment.

Then she slowly looked back down at Kaz.

Her crimson pupils narrowed into thin, predatory slits behind her veil, though the playful curve of her smile made her intentions deliberately difficult to read.

“Well perhaps I can reward him for such a kind gesture~…”

“What?” Kaz asked.

“Why don’t you go back to sleep, dear? Tomorrow you and I can take him to our problem. I’ll keep him company for the night.” Matama said.

Kaz immediately became wary. “W-wait, you really don’t have to!”

“Mother…” Kitsara said, her eyes narrowed knowingly.

Matama’s shoulders sank with an exaggerated sigh, her nine tails drooping slightly behind her.

“Okay, dear, I promise not to do anything indecent to him. I’ll just make sure he sleeps well.”

Kitsara kept one eyebrow raised, clearly unconvinced by her mother’s sudden innocence.

Then exhaustion caught up with her.

She yawned and allowed her shoulders to relax.

“Fine then…”

Matama immediately brightened.

“Good! Sleep well, dear~.”

She turned toward the doorway with Kaz still resting in her hand.

“K-Kitsara, I’m not so sure I trust her word…!” Kaz called back.

“You’ll be fine, mother doesn’t bite, little one.” Kitsara said, already walking back toward her bed.

“I much prefer to swallow, hmhm~!” Matama giggled.

Kaz’s expression immediately fell.

Matama swept through the hanging veil before he could appeal to Kitsara again, carrying him away from the room. Her nine tails flowed silently behind her as she disappeared into the moonlit halls, taking her tiny and increasingly apprehensive guest toward her own chambers.

…

Tap tap tap

“Hm hmhm hmhmm~”

The quiet corridor carried little more than Matama’s gentle humming and the soft, rhythmic taps of her bare feet against the smooth floor. Her nine tails drifted behind her as she walked, swaying lazily with each unhurried step, while Kaz remained safely carried in her hand.

Kaz, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly annoyed that the rest of him hadn’t returned to normal yet. His dimensional energy was behaving perfectly again, but apparently his body hadn’t received the message.

He sighed.

“I’m glad you seem to be in a much happier mood now than during your talk with Kitsara earlier today, miss Matama…” he said.

“You heard us? Oh right, you were in my daughter’s stomach…” she said chuckling, “I did say that all we could do was wait for a hero to appear and defeat the demon army, and look at what’s in my hands right now~.”

Kaz immediately became bashful, scratching his head while looking away.

“I wouldn’t call myself a hero…”

“Well I don’t know if you’re a true hero, but if you’re willing to help us out of the kindness in your heart, then you’re at the very least our hero, little one.” She said. “And I can usually tell when one truly has kind intentions, I’ve met very few people like that in my centuries of life.”

“Centuries?!” Kaz yelped in surprise.

“Heheh, yes I’m over a thousand years old little one, but your reaction is adorable, and appreciated~!” Matama said as she entered her chambers.

Unlike Kitsara’s practical quarters, Matama’s room seemed to belong to another age entirely.

The faint aroma of incense hung in the warm air, sweet and earthy without becoming overwhelming. Intricate markings had been carefully painted and carved across portions of the floor and walls, some glowing so faintly that Kaz initially mistook them for reflections of moonlight. Small charms hung from cords around the room, occasionally turning despite the still air, while an unusual altar occupied one side of the chamber, decorated with offerings, feathers, polished stones, and objects whose purposes Kaz couldn’t begin to guess.

The entire chamber carried a quiet magical presence, ancient but peaceful, as though generations of rituals had left something behind in the very wood.

“Each tail took a hundred years to grow, I’m one of the few kitsune that managed to reach heavenly status…” she said proudly as she lowered herself onto a large cushion in a kneeling position.

Her nine tails spread naturally around her, surrounding the elder in an enormous halo of white fur and crimson tips.

“It is also why I can see that power in you, little Kaz.”

She brought her other hand beneath him, cupping Kaz carefully between both palms. Despite the black and red claws tipping her fingers, her touch remained remarkably delicate.

“Hm, does that mean Kitsara is over a hundred years old?” Kaz asked.

“Uh…well…” Matama looked away, “Little Kitsara is a but of a special case…she was born without magic…”

“Oh.”

“A kitsune without magic is extremely rare, and she never grew more than one tail, she’s over four hundred years now.” Matama said reminiscing.

Her expression softened noticeably as she spoke of her daughter.

“And yet, she showed a lot of physical prowess ever since young, the nekos in our village taught her and she grew stronger and stronger…I’m quite proud of her…”

“That’s nice…” Kaz smiled at the tale.

“Yes, don’t tell her but she’s my favorite…”

“How many do you have?”

“Ten so far.”

“S-so far?!” He said shocked.

“I have one every century or so…our village is ever growing Kaz, hmhm.” She said.

One of Matama’s tails swept forward.

The enormous appendage curled gracefully around her body before settling across the floor in front of her, its pristine white fur spreading into a thick, inviting surface.

“And if you succeed tomorrow, we’ll continue to grow…”

Matama lowered her hands and carefully placed Kaz upon it.

The moment he sank into the fur, his expression changed.

It was impossibly soft.

Individual strands surrounded him like warm silk, yielding beneath his tiny weight until he was partially nestled within them. Heat lingered beneath the surface, making the tail feel less like fur and more like an absurdly luxurious living blanket.

Kaz stared down and experimentally ran both hands through it.

“Wow…” Kaz sighed.

“It is rare I allow anyone to touch my tails, especially a man, consider yourself lucky, Kaz.” she said.

“I’m… a little surprised, you’re being so gentle with me…” Kaz commented.

“What? You thought I was going to eat you?” She raised an eyebrow while smiling behind the veil.

“Yeah…” he said honestly.

“Oh believe me I am tempted…it’s been far too long since my last neera or fairy…” Matama licked her lips, “But, it’s been even longer since I had some company at the end of the day, someone to talk to and rest with…”

Matama reclined onto the remaining tails on her side her, disappearing partially into the immense bed of white fur they created. Her veiled face remained turned toward Kaz, crimson eyes watching him with quiet amusement.

“Hm…may I ask…I thought this was an only female village, how do you…um…maybe I shouldn’t ask…” Kaz said nervous and embarrassed.

“How we make children?” Matama said smiling, “Well, when a man and a lady love each other very much…”

“Okay I know that part!” Kaz said annoyed but amused at her playfulness.

“Heheh, I jest, sometimes males end up in our village my mistake, if it’s mating season for any of us, we offer supplies and aid in their way home, if they’re willing to offer their seed.” She said casually, “If not, then we offer directions but nothing else.”

“Oh, ok, it’s a lot more friendly than what I thought…” Kaz said relieved that they’re not exactly like the usual ‘Amazons’ from myths.

“Hmhmhm, we’re not savages Kaz…” Matama said chuckling.

Then her laughter softened.

Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly behind the veil as she looked down at the tiny young man resting defenselessly among her fur.

“Though, it is hard to control myself sometimes, especially if the male has a kind soul~…nervous and defenseless in front of me…” she whispered the final words.

Kaz’s face warmed immediately, but he shook off the implication.

“But…”

Matama slowly extended a finger toward him again.

Rather than teasing him further, she placed its tip gently against the top of his head. Her claw remained carefully angled away as she stroked his hair, gradually guiding him until he was lying comfortably on his side within the thick fur of her tail.

“I promised Kitsara not to do anything to you…except give you a good night’s sleep…so sleep, little one, nothing will dare harm you while in my grasp…”

Kaz’s embarrassment gradually faded.

“Hm…thank you, miss Matama…I don’t often get to sleep like this…” Kaz said, finally relaxing and allowing his body to sink farther into the warmth beneath him.

“How sad…” she commented.

The teasing quality in Matama’s voice disappeared.

Her expression softened as she continued gently petting him, each slow motion of her fingertip barely disturbing the fur surrounding his tiny body.

“Know that at least for tonight, you’re safe…”

Kaz didn’t answer immediately.

His eyes had already begun to grow heavy.

Between the warmth surrounding him, Matama’s slow touch, the lingering scent of incense, and the profound softness of the tail beneath him, his remaining tension steadily disappeared. His breathing slowed, his eyelids finally closed, and his body relaxed completely into the white fur.

Within moments, Kaz had drifted peacefully to sleep.

…

The following morning…

High above the clouds, four figures soared through the open sky.

Far beneath them, the world was reduced to distant stretches of green and stone, occasionally disappearing beneath an endless blanket of white clouds. Floating mountains rose through that sea of mist like enormous islands, their forest-covered peaks drifting silently past as the group traveled between them.

Kitsara, Matama, and Kaz rode together upon the back of a harpy woman—Kitsara’s personal harpy.

Yamiga was enormous, standing nearly twelve feet tall when grounded. Now, her long, powerful wing-arms were stretched to their full span, catching the rushing currents of air with broad, dark feathers. Despite carrying three passengers, her flight remained remarkably steady, each powerful beat of her wings sending them gliding effortlessly through the sky.

Her body was muscular and clearly built for flight, with powerful shoulders, back, and legs. Thick feathers covered much of her thighs, while her otherwise exposed torso revealed a strongly defined abdomen beneath her well-endowed chest. A set of fierce red eyes remained focused on the horizon ahead, one marked by an old claw-shaped scar that cut across it.

Kaz had finally returned to his normal size as well.

Unfortunately, that transformation had happened shortly before they left the village.

The appearance of a full-sized human man in a settlement populated entirely by women had caused considerably more commotion than Kaz would have preferred. Curious kitsune, nekos, and even a few harpies had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at him, some whispering among themselves while others made absolutely no attempt to hide their curiosity.

Kaz had been very happy when it was time to leave.

“So…how was meeting the village?” Matama asked.

“Terrifying…” Kaz answered nervously, his cheeks already reddening at the memory. “Also…did I have to be in the middle…?”

Kaz sat wedged between the two kitsune.

Kitsara occupied the front, seated securely near Yamiga’s shoulders where she could guide her through the shifting air currents. Matama sat immediately behind Kaz, her nine enormous tails trailing gracefully through the wind.

Worse for his composure, the elder kitsune had wrapped her arms securely around him.

With every subtle movement of the harpy beneath them, Matama leaned against his back, her soft chest pressing into him and leaving Kaz painfully aware that he was effectively sandwiched between the mother and daughter for the entire journey.

“Of course, can’t allow you to fall, or to get cold.” Matama said, tightening her hug.

Kaz stiffened as his blush deepened.

“H-how long until we reach the army?” he asked, suddenly very interested in the horizon.

“At this rate, a few hours…” Kitsara said.

She leaned forward, gently running a hand along Yamiga’s back between the bases of her enormous wings.

“I don’t want to push Yamiga while she carries all of us together…”

The harpy continued forward without complaint, adjusting the angle of one wing as they caught another current and smoothly banked around a floating mountain.

“In the meantime, perhaps you can tell us how you plan on defeating the demons, Kaz?” Matama suggested.

“Um…it’s hard to explain, but you’ll see!” Kaz said.

“You sure are confident you can defeat them…” Kitsara commented.

Kaz’s expression became more focused.

“I can feel their presence from here, they’re strong but not on my level…most of them at least.”

His eyes drifted toward the distant horizon.

Even from this far away, he could sense them—countless signatures clustered together in the distance, an entire mass of living energy steadily advancing across the world.

But among them was one presence that stood distinctly above the rest.

Kaz narrowed his eyes slightly.

Something powerful was traveling with that army.

“Hm…what is that power of yours, little one?” Matama asked.

“I don’t know…” Kaz answered without hesitation.

Both kitsune looked at him.

“The energy makes me strong, manipulate things around me and can turn into other, destructive…forces, I guess? Like fire, lightning, just energy blasts…”

Even after everything he had learned to do with it, putting the strange dimensional force into words remained surprisingly difficult. It was less like possessing one specific ability and more like carrying something capable of bending itself into whatever form he learned to impose upon it.

“How long have you had these powers?” Matama asked.

“About a year…”

“A year?” Kitsara turned her head sharply enough that one black ear twitched in surprise. “How old are you?”

“Twenty one.” he said honestly.

“What? But you’re a baby still, are you sure he’s capable of this, mother?” Kitsara said, some genuine concern entering her voice.

“My clear sight doesn’t lie dear, he has the power to do it.” Matama said.

“I’m more worried about the mindset now…” Kitsara sighed.

“I’ve fought monsters before!” Kaz protested.

Then his expression subtly changed.

“And, well, I feel a little more inclined this time, given how these demons exterminated my kind in this world…”

His voice remained controlled, but something colder lingered underneath it.

Kaz stared ahead at the passing clouds, his earlier embarrassment momentarily forgotten. These humans weren’t his people—not truly. He had never met them, never lived among them, and until yesterday hadn’t even known they existed.

Still, hearing that an entire version of humanity had been deliberately erased left an anger in him that was difficult to completely ignore.

“Suppose that is a pretty good incentive…” Kitsara admitted.

For the next several minutes, silence accompanied their flight.

Wind rushed continuously around them. Yamiga’s enormous wings beat at measured intervals, each powerful motion followed by long periods of effortless gliding. Floating islands passed alongside them, waterfalls occasionally spilling from their edges only to dissolve into mist long before reaching the distant ground.

Eventually, however, the silence became a little too noticeable.

“Tell us about your world, Kaz, or perhaps other worlds.” Matama suggested eagerly. “I’ve been to a few different planes before but probably not nearly as many as you.”

Kaz glanced back toward her as much as her embrace allowed.

“Hm, sure, why not.”

And so the remainder of the journey became considerably lighter.

Kaz shared scattered stories from dimensions he had wandered through—carefully choosing which adventures were worth explaining—while Kitsara occasionally offered tales from particularly memorable hunts. Matama contributed stories stretching back centuries, casually describing events older than entire kingdoms as though reminiscing about something that happened last summer.

Their voices mingled with the rushing wind as Yamiga carried them onward through the floating mountains, steadily closing the distance between them and the army waiting beyond the horizon.

…

“I think we’re close enough…” Kitsara said, gently tapping Yamiga’s shoulder.

At the familiar signal, the harpy eased the strength behind her wings. Their rapid flight gradually slowed into a smooth, leisurely glide, her broad dark wings stretching outward to ride the currents rather than beating against them.

“I agree.” Kaz said.

Though nothing could yet be seen through the thick white blanket, his senses reached far beyond his eyes. The clustered presence of the approaching army was unmistakable now, only a few miles away beneath the clouds—a vast concentration of life and power moving together across the land.

“I don’t want you or miss Matama to risk being seen by the demons.”

“Will you finally tell us your plan?” Kitsara asked him again.

“It’s easier if I show you, actually…” Kaz said. “Can you…let go of me miss Matama?”

Matama reluctantly loosened her arms from around him.

Rather than falling, Kaz simply drifted away from Yamiga’s back.

He floated effortlessly alongside the harpy, cloak fluttering behind him in the high-altitude winds as though standing upon invisible ground.

Kitsara stared at him.

“You could fly all this time on your own?” Kitsara asked surprised. “Why are we here then?”

“Frankly, I would not want to miss seeing him in action dear so it’s a good thing we are here.” Matama said.

Kaz cleared his throat and stretched his shoulders, enjoying having some space around him again.

“Alright, here goes you two…” he said.

He raised both hands.

Two completely different energies answered his call.

Around one arm, black and violet flames erupted into existence, curling around his wrist without burning him. They twisted together above his palm, growing darker as they condensed until the fire collapsed inward, forming a small orb of almost absolute darkness.

Above his opposite hand, golden flames ignited.

Unlike the ominous fire surrounding the first, these flames radiated an intense divine warmth. They gathered into a brilliant golden sphere resembling a miniature sun, its surface churning with contained light.

Kaz thrust both hands forward.

The two orbs shot through the air before abruptly stopping several yards away.

Then they expanded.

Darkness and golden radiance bloomed simultaneously across the sky, two opposing powers briefly overwhelming the sunlight around them before the energies peeled away in waves.

Two figures remained floating where the orbs had been.

Berla and Kah’ri.

The demon queen emerged surrounded by the dying wisps of black and violey flame, wings recoiled behind her as her dark hair whipped in the wind. Beside her floated Kah’ri, surrounded by fading golden fire, four arms held with effortless poise and four gleaming eyes immediately surveying the unfamiliar world.

Together, their appearances were as alluring as they were deeply ominous.

“Ah! It’s too bright out here!” Berla complained, immediately shielding her eyes from the morning sun. “What the hell Kazy? No warning or anything?”

“I thought you could read my thoughts while in me…” Kaz said.

“I fall asleep every time I try to listen to your thoughts, ‘oh I gotta help others’, ‘Oh I wanna find new friends’, ‘Oh I hope I find my love today’…well that last one is kind of funny actually!” Berla admitted with a smile. “Didn’t think you’d summon both me and goldie though…”

Kah’ri barely acknowledged Berla.

For the first time in weeks, the sun embraced goddess stood beneath an open sky.

Her golden hair and robes shifted gently in the wind as she took in the distant mountains, endless clouds, and brilliant sunlight. Yet her attention quickly settled on Kaz.

All four golden eyes locked onto him.

She stared.

Something was wrong.

Or rather, something that should have been there was missing.

“Why do I not want to attack you?” Kah’ri asked, her brows furrowing.

“It’s part of it, our wills are linked to his will…” Berla explained, mild irritation entering her voice. “You’ll get used to want what he wants…”

Behind Kaz, Kitsara stared at the two newly manifested women.

“What in the…?” she muttered.

Even Matama seemed momentarily at a loss. Her tails had risen behind her, crimson eyes shifting rapidly between Berla, Kah’ri, and Kaz.

“I…don’t know actually…” Matama admitted.

“It’s a long story…” Kaz told the kitsunes. “Just know that these two are…friends? Sort of…”

“Friends?!”

Golden flames exploded around Kah’ri, briefly illuminating the clouds beneath them.

“Um…well I wouldn’t say I hate him anymore to be honest…” Berla admitted, only to blink at her own words. “Wait, that doesn’t sound right…”

“A mortal proclaiming himself my equal…” Kah’ri said, almost disgusted.

Matama, meanwhile, continued studying Kaz with newfound understanding.

“Huh…I did notice two different powers within you, besides your own…” she commented. “I did not think this is what they were!”

Her words immediately caught both women’s attention.

Berla turned toward the elder kitsune, her dark, purple eyes wandering over Matama before settling upon the enormous fan of white-and-red tails behind her.

“Heeeh? A nine tailed kitsune sure lives up to the tales, tales from my world at least…” Berla said, eyes narrowing mischievously. “And what beautiful fur~, perhaps you should add another to our group Kazy…”

“No.”

Kaz’s answer was immediate and completely flat to Berla’s suggestion to eat Matama.

Kah’ri regarded Matama differently. Her four eyes narrowed with genuine interest as she sensed the ancient power surrounding the kitsune.

“Hm…a being that has ascended into heavenly power…suppose that’s as close to perfect a kitsune can get…”

Matama visibly shuddered, several tails drawing closer around herself.

“Brrr! Okay, I much preferred when it was just the cute boy!” she said, thoroughly unsettled by the combined attention of the demon queen and goddess.

Kaz floated between the two groups before things could become any stranger.

“Okay, easy now you two.” Kaz said. “I’m letting you two out for a bit since it’s been a while for Berla and I never did it for Kah’ri and I promised to let you two out from time to time…and to let you two go loose as well…”

Kah’ri’s expression flattened as she immediately understood what he was suggesting.

“You’d reduce a goddess, to pest control?”

“I thought the goddess would love to kill demons.” Kaz said confused.

“It is beneath me…” Kah’ri replied. “And you expect her to kill her own kind.”

“I don’t really care…” Berla said with an indifferent shrug. “Food is food.”

“I’m not surprised.” Kah’ri said to her.

“Oh would you rather dull puppets instead goldie?” Berla shot back

Within moments the two had started bickering again, their voices carrying across the open sky as black and golden energies occasionally flickered around them with their irritation.

Kitsara watched them for several seconds before leaning slightly toward Kaz.

“So uh…they just…live within you?” she asked as the two entities continued arguing.

“Yeah…” Kaz sighed, shoulders drooping slightly, “They’re bound to me because I was weak willed…twice…” he admitted, a little embarrassed.

Matama covered a quiet giggle at his expense.

Berla and Kah’ri continued for several more seconds until Kaz finally rubbed his forehead.

“Okay okay, you two can go deal with the demon army however you want, just go.” he said.

Both women stopped simultaneously.

Two very different sets of eyes turned toward him.

Berla’s face slowly spread into a delighted grin.

“However I want?” she asked excitedly.

“I will not…o-obey…” Kah’ri began defiantly.

Her body immediately betrayed her.

The goddess stiffened as an irresistible compulsion surged through her mind, their bond, forcing her will toward the command Kaz had given.

“C-curses!”

“Yes, you can do whatever you want, just be rid of them…right?” Kaz asked, turning toward Kitsara.

“What do you mean ‘right?’?” Kitsara asked confused.

“Can demons in this world be redeemed?”

“No.” Kitsara deadpanned.

“No.” Matama deadpanned.

“They’re pure evil, though oddly enough they used to keep to themselves some time ago, but it seems they changed their ways now that they’re invading…” Kitsara said.

Matama’s expression became more troubled.

“They might have enslaved survivors from their conquests, now that I think about it.” she added with a touch of empathy. “Or they’re kept as livestock…poor things…”

Kaz’s expression immediately hardened.

“Okay.”

He turned back toward Berla and Kah’ri.

“Go and only kill the demons, you two.”

“Fine, time to have some fun!” Berla said.

Kah’ri merely released a long, irritated sigh.

Then they vanished, their dash leaving a pulse behind.

Black-purple and golden trails tore through the sky as both women accelerated toward the distant army, becoming little more than streaks of opposing light before disappearing into the clouds.

Kaz watched them go.

“You sure are full of surprises, little one.” Kitsara said.

“Yes, I’ve had many surprises in the past year too…” he added. “I should keep watch over those two, they’re quite unpredictable…”

“We’ll remain at a safe distance…” Kitsara said.

“Okay, see you later then.”

Kaz tipped himself forward.

Gravity seemed to seize him for only a moment before his dimensional energy took over, and he shot downward through the clouds after Berla and Kah’ri, his cloak snapping violently behind him before the white mist swallowed him completely.

Silence returned.

Yamiga continued gliding peacefully through the sky.

“…”

Kitsara stared at the place where Kaz had disappeared.

“…”

Matama did the same.

“What a weird day…” Kitsara finally commented.

“I’ve honestly seen weirder, dear.” Matama said. A small smile appeared beneath her veil. “And he’s still cute.”

Kitsara slowly turned toward her mother.

“Not the point I was making…”

…

Down on the ground, the demon army marched onward.

The landscape seemed to crawl beneath the sheer number of creatures moving across it. Demons of every shape and size crowded together in an enormous, unruly formation: horned humanoids carrying crude weapons, twisted beasts prowling between their legs, and hulking behemoths whose heavy steps made the earth tremble. Great humanoid demons wreathed in living flame towered above the lesser soldiers, leaving scorched footprints in their wake, while monstrous shapes occasionally passed overhead on leathery wings.

Among the countless creatures, two demons walked casually beside each other, seemingly unconcerned with the devastation surrounding their march.

“So…” the demon said as he chewed on meat, “Are we creatures of evil?”

“Hm, it’s a matter of perspective really…” the other demon said.

“From their perspective?”

He casually raised the remains of his meal between them—a half-eaten dwarven skull, its broken edges still marked by his teeth.

“Um…probably, who can say really what is evil and is good…far as I know, we’re just having fun and getting some food while we’re at it!” The demon chuckled.

“Hm, you’re probably right…”

They continued walking as though the question had been satisfactorily settled.

Then the sunlight vanished.

A vast shadow swept across them, engulfing not only the two demons but an enormous portion of the army around them.

“Hm? What’s happening to the su—what the?!”

Both demons looked up.

The clouds above them split apart.

Descending through the opening was an enormous grey-skinned foot, its clawed toes spread against the rushing air. It grew impossibly larger with every passing instant, until the sole seemed to blot out the sky itself.

CRACKTOOM!!!

Berla crashed down from the clouds.

Having expanded herself to well over a hundred and fifty feet tall, the demon queen struck the center of the army with enough force to make the entire battlefield convulse. Earth and stone erupted around her feet, an enormous crater collapsing beneath her as the impact sent a violent shockwave tearing through the surrounding ranks.

Scores of demons disappeared beneath her landing immediately. Others were thrown from their feet, tumbling across the broken ground as clouds of dust billowed outward.

And yet, when the dust began to settle, thousands still remained.

Berla slowly straightened.

Her wings shifted behind her as she surveyed the chaos around her, dark hair drifting through the smoky air. A delighted smile gradually spread across her face.

“Another happy landing~” she said.

Her claws flexed.

Violet-black flames immediately gathered around them, curling between her fingers before Berla casually swung one arm across the battlefield.

SHWING!

Several enormous slashes of dark fire tore outward.

The attack carved across the earth in long parallel scars, ripping through the ranks in its path and leaving the ground glowing faintly beneath trails of violet flame.

Berla admired the destruction.

“Heheheh…” she giggled maliciously.

“You’re wasting time, I know you can destroy them in one go, devil.”

Berla glanced toward the voice beside her.

Kah’ri floated alongside the demon queen’s face, appearing almost tiny beside Berla’s enlarged form. Her four arms remained composed around her body while her golden eyes regarded the spectacle below with obvious disdain.

“And where’s the fun in that?” Berla asked.

By now, the surviving army had recovered enough to retaliate.

Arrows and spears flew upward alongside bolts of magic and balls of infernal flame. They struck Berla from every direction, bursting harmlessly against her enormous body in tiny flashes.

Berla barely reacted.

At her current size, the attacks amounted to little more than irritating, almost ticklish pokes against her skin.

Her gaze lowered toward the soldiers clustered beneath her.

Slowly, Berla raised one foot.

Her toes wriggled eagerly above the scrambling demons as she deliberately allowed her shadow to pass over them.

Then she brought it down.

BOOM!

The impact shook the battlefield again.

Those unfortunate enough to remain beneath her were crushed instantly, while the shockwave sent the survivors nearest the impact flying through the air.

“And I’m not seeing you do anything, goldie.” Berla smiled. “You can’t disobey Kazy’s ordeeers~, believe me I trieeed~!”

Kah’ri’s expression tightened.

Berla was right.

The goddess had spent every moment since Kaz gave the order concentrating her formidable will on doing absolutely nothing. Her four hands trembled subtly at her sides as the bond between herself and Kaz pushed against her resistance.

“I…will not submit to a mortal…” Kah’ri said, her fingers twitching.

“Well I would hate having to compete with me too to be honest~.” Berla grinned smugly.

She slowly twisted her planted foot against the earth beneath her.

“I doubt you would’ve been able to kill more than me…”

“…”

Kah’ri became completely still.

Her four eyes narrowed.

For several seconds, the goddess simply floated there.

Then golden light erupted from her body.

The radiance rapidly intensified until her entire figure became a brilliant silhouette against the sky. Her body expanded within the light, growing larger with every passing second.

Dozens of feet.

A hundred.

Then larger still.

She finally stopped only when she stood slightly taller than Berla.

Kah’ri hovered just above the battlefield, her immense golden hair drifting around her like strands of sunlight. Her divine radiance seemed magnified along with her body, bathing the landscape beneath her in warm golden light and making her sun-kissed skin appear almost luminous.

Far below, those demons who hadn’t shielded their eyes from the brilliance could only stare upward at the goddess looming over them, her smooth bare soles hanging just above the battlefield.

“There you go! Learn to have some fun goldie!” Berla placed both hands on her hips, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

Kah’ri slowly descended.

Her feet approached the ground with deliberate calm, several demons trying to make way not to be crushed underfoot.

The instant her toes touched the earth—

VWOBOOM!

A brilliant golden wave exploded outward from beneath her foot.

Divine energy raced across the battlefield in an expanding circle, disintegrating every demon caught close to her and leaving an enormous cleared section around the goddess—noticeably larger than the devastation Berla had caused thus far.

Berla stared at the destruction for a moment.

Kah’ri offered no comment.

A chorus of screeches suddenly drew Berla’s attention. Behind her a few feet away, several flying beasts came in her direction and had begun circling her, drakes and other winged creatures carrying demonic riders through the air around her head.

Berla’s eyes followed them.

“Mmh~.” She licked her lips as an idea popped in her head.

Without warning, her black, forked tongue shot from her mouth.

It stretched impossibly far through the air, snapping around a passing drake and its rider before either could react. With one swift motion, Berla reeled both creatures toward herself and pulled them between her waiting teeth.

Chomp! Crunch crunch…chomp crunch…gulp~

Berla chewed slowly, savoring the mouthful before swallowing.

“Mmh~! Been a while since I had drake meat!” She said happily.

Movement around her feet caught her attention.

Several groups of demons had surrounded her, desperately striking at her ankles with blades, claws, and magic.

Berla’s smile widened.

“Hm~…”

She crouched toward the battlefield.

Her tongue emerged once again, stretching outward before sweeping broadly across the ground. In one quick lick, dozens of demons were scooped from the field, sticking onto the dark wet flesh, struggling and attempting to escape it, but it was too late, the large group of demons was carried into her mouth.

Berla’s cheeks bulged slightly as she considered their flavor.

She rolled the mouthful around thoughtfully, then sighed disappointed.

“Demons taste a little bland…”

GLUK

The large bulge went down fighting and struggling as it disappeared into Berla’s body.

“Oh~, but they struggle quite well!” She said with a pleased shiver.

Nearby, Kah’ri raised her four hands.

The air around the battlefield suddenly began to churn.

Dust and debris lifted first.

Then came the demons.

An enormous whirlwind erupted through one section of the army, ripping soldiers and beasts from the ground and carrying them helplessly upward. Flying creatures attempting to escape were caught in the spiraling current as well, until a great mass of demons hung suspended in the sky before the goddess.

Kah’ri looked upon them impassively.

Then she slowly opened her mouth.

The current abruptly changed direction.

The whirlwind funneled toward her.

Demons and flying beasts alike were dragged through the air, accelerating toward Kah’ri as though her throat itself had become an inescapable vortex. One after another, they vanished past her lips until the once-crowded sky had been completely emptied.

Kah’ri closed her mouth.

She felt a few remaining demons on her tongue, lucky vestiges of her meal that had not been sucked down her throat.

Gulp…

Until she swallowed them unceremoniously.

Berla turned toward her with an amused grin. “Heeeh…and here I thought you were too high and mighty to eat demons.”

“They’re blessed to become a part of me, no better fate for such undeserving fiends…” Kah’ri said.

She extended one hand toward the battlefield.

Golden light flashed from her palm, becoming a brilliant beam that swept downward through another formation of demons.

“There sure are a lot of them, even at this size this will take a bit…” Berla said.

She straightened and looked around.

Even after everything the two had already done, the surviving demonic army still stretched across the landscape. Soldiers and monsters scattered in every direction beneath the two colossal women, desperately reorganizing as enormous beasts pushed forward from the distant ranks.

Berla’s grin returned.

“How unfortunate…”

Her dark hair began to move.

At first it merely lifted behind her, drifting unnaturally against the wind.

Then the strands stiffened.

They flexed like living limbs before suddenly shooting downward in every direction around her, lengthening into enormous black tendrils. Each strand pierced through multiple creatures before whipping toward another cluster, transforming the area around Berla into a storm of living spears.

“For them, hehahahah!” Berla’s laughter rolled across the battlefield with unabashed, sadistic delight.

Kah’ri continued beside her with considerably greater composure.

A sweep of one hand erased another group beneath golden flame. A casual step crushed those foolish enough to remain beneath her. Another cluster of demons was eaten by her as she continued carrying out Kaz’s command with ruthless efficiency.

And gradually, almost without her noticing it herself, the indignation disappeared from Kah’ri’s expression.

Her four golden eyes narrowed as she gazed down upon the tiny creatures desperately fleeing beneath her.

The corner of her mouth twitched upward.

Then remained there.

For all her protests about being reduced to pest control, the goddess could no longer entirely hide the small, malicious, sadistic smile spreading across her lips.

…

Just a few miles away, Kaz sat on the edge of a high cliff, one leg hanging idly over the drop as he watched the distant battlefield unfold.

Even from here, Berla and Kah’ri were impossible to miss.

Their colossal forms towered over the landscape, one surrounded by flickering darkness and violet flame, the other shining like a golden beacon against the horizon. Flashes of their attacks illuminated the distance every few seconds, followed shortly afterward by faint tremors that traveled through the ground beneath Kaz.

Berla crouched amidst the army and swept one hand through its ranks, scooping up a handful of struggling demons as easily as gathering pebbles. She raised them over her face and, without a moment of hesitation, tipped the entire handful into her waiting mouth.

Kaz watched her cheeks shift as she casually gobbled them down.

“I’m starting to feel bad for the demons…” Kaz commented.

Then something unexpected happened.

Berla’s purple eyes shifted away from the battlefield.

They settled directly on him.

Despite the miles separating them, the demon queen had somehow spotted Kaz sitting on the cliff. Her cheeks were still puffed and bulging from her latest mouthful, making the otherwise terrifying giantess look almost ridiculous.

She swallowed, the struggling bulge traveled down her throat rather quickly this time.

Then she smiled innocently.

And waved.

Kaz blinked.

Of all the things he had expected Berla to do, casually greeting him in the middle of slaughtering an army wasn’t one of them.

“Um…”

He awkwardly raised one hand and waved back.

“Why are you waving at me?”

PAM!

Something struck him from the side.

“Oh!”

Kaz grunted as he was ripped from the cliff and carried through the air at tremendous speed. Wind screamed around him as the landscape blurred beneath his feet.

He twisted toward his attacker.

A skull stared back at him.

There was no flesh upon its face, only pale bone surrounded by fiercely burning blue flames. Cold light filled the empty sockets as they narrowed at Kaz, while one armored fist remained planted against Kaz’s arm, driving him farther through the air.

Kaz steadied himself.

Then raised his free hand.

PUM!

His fist slammed into the demon and knocked him away.

The two separated violently before crashing into an open stretch of grass. Kaz landed on his feet and skidded backward, carving two trails through the soil, while the demon struck farther away and dragged across the ground before smoothly recovering.

Kaz finally got a proper look at him.

The demon possessed an unusually slender build compared with the hulking monsters composing much of the army. Dark armor hugged tightly around his frame, shaped almost like a metallic second skeleton. Through narrow gaps between its plates, brilliant blue fire leaked continuously from within.

There appeared to be almost nothing underneath the armor at all.

Only bone and flame contained inside metal.

The fire surrounding his skull shifted constantly, occasionally flaring behind him like hair caught in a violent wind.

“Who are you? The leader of the demons?” Kaz asked.

The blue flames crackled.

“Perhaps…” His voice seemed to resonate from somewhere inside the empty skull, carrying an almost playful echo. “And who’re you? The one controlling those goddesses decimating us?”

“Well only one of them is a goddess…sort of…”

“I can sense their link to you…and the fact one of them waved at you was quite convenient as it gave away your location.”

Kaz paused.

“Oh…” His expression flattened as he glanced toward the distant Berla. “So that’s why Berla waved at me…that annoying idiot…”

“You are but a mystery, we have exterminated humans, and yet here you stand, with unimaginable power…perhaps fate is having a laugh at us demons…” he pondered.

Kaz returned his attention to him.

“Exterminating whole races and kingdoms, I think karma was bound to catch up eventually, sir…” Kaz said.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then the blue flames surrounding the skull demon erupted.

Fire blasted outward behind him, instantly scorching the grass and igniting nearby trees.

He vanished forward.

Kaz’s eyes widened.

His own body blurred an instant before impact as he accelerated to meet him.

PUM!!!

Their fists collided.

The air exploded outward from the point of contact, sending a circular shockwave ripping through the surrounding grass. Nearby branches snapped backward, dust burst from the ground, and the earth beneath their feet cracked from the opposing force.

“Rejecting fate is quite the funny pastime for me!” the skull demon said as his fist trembled against Kaz’s.

Kaz grinned widened. “At least I don’t have to just watch now!”

Blue fire suddenly surged down the demon’s arm.

His hand disappeared inside the flames before they compressed into a long, blazing blade.

He swung.

Kaz jerked his head aside.

The burning edge passed narrowly across his face, close enough for its intense heat to wash over his skin.

But the blade itself wasn’t the only threat.

A crescent of blue flame tore free from the swing and continued through the landscape behind him, carving a burning line across the grass.

The demon slashed again.

And again.

Each swing left another flaming arc racing outward, forcing Kaz to sidestep completely rather than merely avoid the blade. Blue fire rapidly spread across the field around them, turning every missed attack into another obstacle.

Kaz opened his hand.

A sleek black blade emerged from his palm, his power in a solidified state, just as the demon attacked again.

CLANG!

Black blade met blue flame.

The skull demon’s eye sockets widened slightly.

Kaz immediately took advantage of the hesitation.

He dropped low and swept one leg beneath the demon’s feet.

But his opponent reacted instantly.

Rather than simply falling, the skull demon twisted his entire body in midair, using the forced rotation to slash upward at Kaz.

Kaz raised his black blade.

At the last possible instant, the demon’s flaming weapon vanished.

The fire collapsed back into his arm midway through the swing. His now-empty hand slipped cleanly past Kaz’s attempted block.

Kaz’s eyes widened.

The demon wound the arm backward—

—and brought a bursting flaming fist straight down.

Kaz decided not to test what it would do.

He launched himself upward.

PABOOM!!!

The demon punched the earth.

The ground ruptured beneath him.

Cracks raced outward before erupting with molten rock and blue fire, transforming the impact point into a brief volcanic explosion. Magma splashed through shattered soil as waves of heat rolled across the clearing.

Kaz barely had time to look down.

The skull demon was already coming after him.

A burst of blue flame launched him from the crater like a projectile.

Kaz crossed both arms as his blade retracted into his hand.

PUM!

The demon’s fist struck his guard.

At the moment of impact, blue fire exploded from behind the demon’s arm like the exhaust of a jet, dramatically accelerating the punch.

Kaz felt the sudden increase in force.

Rather than resisting it directly, he shifted his body and caught the demon’s momentum, guiding the strike past himself. The flaming fist grazed upward instead of connecting cleanly.

The demon’s own speed carried him forward.

Kaz rotated with him.

His arm drew backward.

His fist clenched.

PAM!!!

Kaz drove his punch directly into the demon’s armored chest.

The metal buckled slightly beneath the impact.

A startled gasp echoed from inside the skull as the demon was launched downward, blue flames trailing behind him before he slammed into the field below.

Kaz immediately dove after him.

The skull demon rolled through the impact, flames already gathering around his limbs as Kaz descended.

Neither showed any intention of stopping.

Their fight had only just begun.

…

Meanwhile…

Kah’ri tilted her head back slightly as she swallowed another small group of demons, the last visible movement disappearing down her throat. Her four golden eyes then drifted sideways toward Berla.

“Why were you waving at the boy?” Kah’ri asked.

Berla was currently occupied with several unfortunate beasts and demons beneath her foot. She slowly ground her sole against the battlefield, twisting it with casual, almost absentminded enjoyment before turning her head toward Kah’ri with a grin.

“Oh, I just wanted to give away his location, I’m sure the leader of this army can see our link to him.” Berla said, “I mean I can see it too. Just wanted to make it easier for their leader!”

Indeed, both women could perceive something invisible to nearly everyone else.

A thin trail of energy extended from each of them, faint but unmistakable, stretching across the landscape toward Kaz’s general direction. Berla’s connection resembled a dark, flickering thread buried beneath her aura, while Kah’ri’s carried a subtle golden shimmer. No matter how far they moved from him, that bond remained—an ever-present reminder of where they now belonged.

“And I’m sure Kazy was bored too.” Berla said with a shrug.

“…” Kah’ri raised an eyebrow. “That nature of yours is unsightly…”

“At least I stay true to myself!” Berla shot back, “I see you trying to hide it, but you’re thoroughly enjoying crushing these scrumptious little demons~…”

Kah’ri’s expression remained composed, but only barely.

“…You’re delusional.” Kah’ri said a little hesitant. “I feel nothing when I squash a bug under me.”

“And yet…”

Berla stepped closer.

Each casual step shook the earth beneath them, forcing the remaining demons nearby to scatter away from her feet. She stopped beside Kah’ri and pointed one claw toward the goddess’s abdomen.

“Your gut seems rather happy…”

Berla pointed toward Kah’ri’s stomach.

Unlike the goddess’s otherwise immaculate figure, her abdomen now possessed a faint outward bulge from everything she had consumed. Every so often, tiny movements disturbed its smooth surface—brief struggles from some of the more resilient creatures she had swallowed.

“The ‘oh so perfect’ goddess can’t help but indulge in her own malice~…” Berla licked her lips at Kah’ri, delighte that such a high status being could fall for her own fantasies, “Frankly that’s very alluring to me, goldie…”

For once, Kah’ri did not immediately have a response.

Her golden eyes flickered downward for the briefest instant before she deliberately looked away. Her jaw tightened, annoyance rapidly replacing whatever hesitation Berla had managed to draw from her.

“Tch…”

One of Kah’ri’s hands snapped toward Berla.

A compact pulse of golden energy burst from her palm.

Berla’s eyes widened.

The blast struck her squarely and shoved the enormous demon queen backward before she could brace herself.

CRACKBOOM!!!

Berla crashed onto her behind.

The impact was catastrophic at her scale. The earth buckled beneath her butt as though struck by a small meteor, throwing dirt and broken stone high into the air while a deep tremor rolled outward across the battlefield.

Any demons unfortunate—or perhaps fortunate—enough to have occupied the area behind her simply vanished beneath the sudden impact, completely crushed under her plump, round peachy behind.

“Ouchie!” Berla yelped.

She paused.

Then her surprise dissolved into another mischievous chuckle. “Heheh, was I correct?”

Berla happened to glance downward.

Between her legs, a considerable number of surviving demons had found themselves trapped within the space bordered by her thick thighs and enormous bare feet. Some scrambled desperately across the broken terrain while others simply stared upward at the demon queen surrounding them.

“Hm? Heh…” Berla tilted her head, Then smiled.

Her thighs began to move inward.

Slowly.

The enormous limbs dragged across the battlefield from either side, pushing earth, debris, and the trapped demons together. The remaining space steadily narrowed until her thighs finally pressed against one another.

Berla gave them a slow, deliberate rub against each other.

Her grin widened as the movements and struggles between them gradually disappeared.

Kah’ri watched for several moments.

Then she turned away.

Her attention returned to the battlefield.

What had once resembled an endless sea of demonic soldiers was rapidly becoming scattered pockets of survivors. Entire sections of the landscape had been emptied by the two giant women, leaving behind craters, scorched earth, enormous footprints, and glowing scars of golden and violet energy.

The demons had finally understood what was happening.

They weren’t fighting anymore.

They were fleeing.

Small groups broke away from the shattered army in every direction, abandoning weapons and formations as they desperately attempted to escape.

Kah’ri’s four eyes narrowed.

“We’re not to let a single one escape.” Kah’ri said.

“Yeah, that’s what Kaz told us to do…” Berla reminded.

Kah’ri froze.

She blinked.

For a brief moment, the goddess stared at the retreating demons as the realization settled over her.

She had spoken as though it were her own decision.

As though eliminating every last member of the army were simply the obvious course of action.

But the command had come from Kaz.

That familiar bond remained somewhere in the back of her mind, quietly compelling her toward his will.

Earlier, the realization would have sent her into another furious struggle against it.

This time…

Kah’ri merely sighed.

Then she leapt.

Her immense form hopped across the battlefield before descending upon another fleeing formation.

BOOM!

Her foot struck the earth among them, shaking the surrounding terrain as she immediately turned toward several other groups escaping in the opposite direction and opened her mouth.

A violent vortex erupted toward her, tearing fleeing demons from their feet and dragging them backward through the air. Entire groups disappeared toward her waiting mouth before being sucked in, the current carrying the last of them beyond her lips and swiftly down her gullet.

Gluk!

“H-hey, leave some for me! I’m still hungry too!” Berla complained.

The demon queen scrambled back onto her feet with sudden urgency.

She bounded across the ruined battlefield after Kah’ri, each enormous step shaking the earth beneath her as she hurried to claim what remained of the rapidly dwindling army.

…

PUM PAM—PUMPRACK!!!

Kaz and the skull demon tore through the forest at tremendous speed, appearing only as brief blurs between the trees before colliding again. Every exchange sent dull shockwaves through the woods, shaking leaves from branches and cracking trunks whenever one of them was thrown off course.

“I am shooketh! No human demonstrated even half of your capabilities!” the skull demon said, his bare jaw somehow managing to resemble an amused grin.

Blue flames suddenly erupted behind him.

He dashed forward and thrust one hand toward Kaz.

An inferno exploded from his palm.

A roaring wall of blue fire swallowed everything ahead of him, ripping through trees and vegetation before leaving a long, burning path through the forest.

“I’m afraid I’m one of a kind…” Kaz said.

The demon froze.

Kaz was now standing directly behind him, completely untouched.

“Far as I know…”

The skull demon glanced over his shoulder in surprise.

Kaz spun.

His foot slammed directly into the demon’s side, folding his slender frame around the impact before launching him through the forest.

PAM! CRACK!

The demon smashed through one tree, then another, splintered wood exploding around him before he finally twisted himself around and planted one hand against the ground.

His clawed fingers sank into the grass.

Blue flames spilled from his palm as he dragged to a stop, leaving behind a long, smoldering trail of blackened earth.

“And what a fun kind you are!” he said.

Kaz sighed, relaxing his shoulders for the briefest moment.

“I can’t lie, you’re pretty cool too, but I can’t help but wonder what your goal is…world domination? World extermination? Perhaps something more?”

“My goal?”

The demon raised an eyebrow—or, in his case, one empty eye socket tilted upward.

“To be the strongest! Armies and clans alike, they’re ultimately destined to fall…” His fists clenched, “For there’s only one who can be crowned the strongest…”

The blue fire leaking through his armor suddenly intensified.

Flames exploded around him in a towering aura, rising above the surrounding trees. The heat swept outward in an expanding wave, grass curling into ash beneath his feet as nearby trees blackened, cracked, and crumbled until the demon stood in the center of a rapidly widening circle of scorched earth.

He spread his arms proudly within the inferno.

“And that title shall be mine!”

Kaz raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused.

“Pretty cool speech but…that doesn’t make any sense, you’re invading regions and killing thousands just to see if you’re the strongest?”

“Oh no no no no, I’m just here for the ride!”

The demon immediately shook his skull, the sudden casualness almost completely ruining the grandeur of his previous declaration.

Then he pointed toward Kaz.

“She’s the one doing the conquering…”

Kaz blinked.

The demon wasn’t pointing at him.

He was pointing behind him.

Kaz turned—

PUM!

His arm shot up on instinct.

Something struck his guard with enough force to launch him backward. His shoes dug into the soil as he slid several feet, tearing two trenches through the grass before finally stopping.

Smoke curled from the sleeve of the arm he had used to block.

Kaz lowered it slightly.

His muscles trembled from the impact.

That one had actually hurt.

He looked up.

A woman stood where he had been only moments before.

An elf.

She was tall and slender, with a graceful, voluptuous figure that contrasted strangely with the violence of her arrival. Long blond hair flowed down her back, framing pointed ears and an elegant face. Dark armor enclosed much of her body, its intricate construction carrying the unmistakable air of royalty, yet there was something distinctly demonic about its sharp contours and unnatural material.

Her red eyes calmly stared at Kaz.

But her appearance wasn’t what unsettled him.

Kaz could feel nothing from her.

Absolutely nothing.

No aura.

No gathering power.

No hostility.

Not even the faint instinctive sensation that another living being was standing in front of him.

It was as though an empty space shaped like a woman had attacked him.

If the skull demon hadn’t pointed her out, Kaz wasn’t certain he would have noticed the strike until it connected.

“Bal…why did you give me away?” she asked calmly to the skull demon.

“My apologies milady, but this fight is too fun to let it end on a sneak attack!” Bal, the skull demon said.

“…an elf lady?” Kaz said a little surprised.

The woman’s lips curved into an elegant smile.

“Well, seems you mistook Bal here for the leader, allow me to formally introduce myself.”

She stepped forward.

Then, with almost regal grace, she bowed.

“I am the end, I am the cold, I am the nothing…” she said.

Slowly, her head lifted again.

Strands of golden hair slipped across her face, partially obscuring the smile beneath them.

“I am…Abyzou.”

Her red eyes flashed.

For that single word, her voice distorted unnaturally, as though several faint voices had spoken her name alongside her own.

Kaz stared at her.

His instincts weren’t exactly sure what to tell him.

His eyes insisted that Abyzou stood directly in front of him.

Every other sense told him there was nothing there.

“You’re very ominous…” Kaz said.

“Oh, how rude…I expect my image to make most men enchanted at first glance…” Abyzou said. “But then again…you’re not like most men, are you, boy?”

FWIP!

She vanished.

She was suddenly beside him.

FWIFWIFWIFWSHHHH…

A fist blurred past his face, Kaz narrowly leaned away.

Another came immediately behind it.

Then another.

Abyzou’s arms became little more than streaks as she unleashed a relentless flurry of punches, each strike fast enough to snap the air around it. She was noticeably faster than Bal, giving Kaz barely enough time to weave and deflect between attacks.

Finally, Kaz caught the angle of one punch.

He slapped her wrist aside, creating an opening.

But—

“DAH!”

Bal came hurtling into the exchange from above.

Kaz jumped away.

PABOOM!

Bal’s fist hammered into the exact spot where Kaz had been standing, cracking the earth and sending blue flames surging across the ground.

Kaz landed sideways against the trunk of a nearby tree, his feet planting against the bark.

Abyzou was already pursuing him.

She leapt into the air.

Exactly where Kaz wanted her.

He extended one hand.

Blue lightning erupted from his fingertips.

KRAKZZZ!

The current enveloped Abyzou before she could change direction, illuminating her silhouette as it hurled her backward through the air.

Kaz barely had time to lower his hand.

Bal dashed toward him again.

A prismatic shimmer peeled away from Kaz’s body.

For a split second it resembled an afterimage left behind by his movement.

Then it solidified.

Another Kaz shot forward.

Its face was completely blank, its eyes empty of expression as it intercepted Bal.

PUM!

Their fists collided, before the clone spun midair and kicked Bal downwards

While the clone occupied Bal, Abyzou recovered.

She landed in a crouch and pressed one hand against the earth.

The grass beneath her palm turned grey.

Then the soil followed.

Color drained outward in a rapidly spreading circle as blades of grass withered into brittle dust. Cracks crawled through the earth, everything touched by the strange effect crumbling apart as though centuries of decay were passing in seconds.

The grey corruption reached the roots of Kaz’s tree.

Its bark lost its color.

Cracks raced upward.

Kaz immediately jumped away.

Whatever Abyzou was doing, he had no intention of discovering whether it worked on him.

She followed.

Abyzou shot upward and caught his ankle.

Kaz barely had time to react before she violently pulled him downward.

CRASH!

His back slammed into the dead grey earth.

The impact knocked the air from him.

At the same moment, his concentration faltered.

His clone froze.

Bal wasted no time, his flaming fist swung upward.

PUMCRACK!

The uppercut shattered the duplicate into countless prismatic fragments, the pieces briefly glittering in the air before fading away.

Kaz looked up.

Abyzou’s armored heel descended toward him.

CRACK!

Kaz caught the stomp against his crossed arms.

The ground fractured beneath his body from the force, her high-heeled armored boot pressing relentlessly against his guard.

Then Abyzou leaned over him.

Her fists began to fall.

PUM! PUM! PAM! POOM! PA!

Kaz raised his arms around his head as the blows hammered into him one after another.

Most struck his guard.

Some slipped through.

A fist snapped his head sideways.

Another caught his cheek.

“I outdate nearly this entire world! And yet your power, your presence, your very existence is alien to me!” Abyzou said as she kept punching him. “I want to know where you got it, how you got it!”

Another fist came down.

GRAB!

Kaz caught it.

Abyzou’s arm stopped abruptly.

Kaz’s eyes sharpened.

Off to the side, Bal was already rushing toward them, blue flames gathering around his fist as he prepared to join the assault.

Kaz raised his free hand.

Lightning exploded from his palm again.

KRAK!

The blast struck Bal and forced him back through a tree, his armored feet tearing through the dead soil as he fought against the current.

Kaz tightened his grip around Abyzou’s fist.

He pulled.

The sudden movement dragged her upper body closer.

His free hand immediately planted against her face.

Abyzou’s red eyes widened.

VWOBOOM!

Blue energy erupted from Kaz’s palm.

The blast completely engulfed Abyzou’s upper body, roaring upward for several seconds as the force finally drove her armored heel from Kaz’s guard.

The instant the pressure disappeared, another prismatic silhouette emerged from Kaz.

His clone sprang from the ground behind Abyzou.

Both hands caught her by the collar of her armor.

Before she could recover, the duplicate twisted and hurled her aside into the ground.

TACK!

She bounced.

RACK!

The clone kicked her right on her stomach launching her like a soccer ball.

POOM!

Abyzou was launched directly toward Bal.

BAM!

The two collided and tumbled together across the ruined field, blue flames and grey dust scattering around them.

Yet neither remained down for long.

Bal dug one hand into the earth and rolled onto his feet, while Abyzou twisted smoothly out of the tumble and recovered beside him.

Kaz floated up from the crater Abyzou had hammered him into and landed back down.

His clone dissolved into drifting prismatic fragments behind him.

He exhaled slowly.

A thin stream of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and the repeated blows had finally left him visibly battered. He wiped the blood away with the back of one hand before looking toward the pair again.

“It is impossible for you to get my power…whatever you are…” Kaz said, “And I’d say that right about now your army of demons is at its final numbers…you have already lost your conquest.”

Abyzou stared at him.

Then she smiled.

“Is that what you think?” Abyzou asked.

She calmly raised one hand.

Snap!

Abyzou snapped her fingers.

…

The army had been utterly decimated.

What had once been an endless mass of demonic soldiers and monstrous beasts was now an empty, devastated battlefield stretching beneath Berla and Kah’ri. Thousands had disappeared into their stomachs, while thousands more had been crushed beneath enormous feet, obliterated by divine power, or vaporized by violet and golden flames.

Crater-sized footprints covered the landscape. Great trenches had been carved through the earth, patches of ground still burned with lingering violet fire, and other areas glowed faintly gold from Kah’ri’s attacks.

Not a single demon remained standing.

Well…

Almost.

Berla held the final survivor delicately between two claws by one leg.

The demon dangled helplessly upside down above Berla’s face, swinging slightly as the giant demon queen playfully moved her hand back and forth.

Berla opened her mouth beneath her.

From the demon’s perspective, there was nothing beneath her anymore but a cavernous abyss. Rows of sharp teeth framed the entrance, beyond which Berla’s dark flesh glistened beneath strands of thick purple saliva. Her black tongue rested far below, while deeper still her throat waited, flexing subtly in anticipation.

Berla lowered her a little.

“Ah~? Ah~?”

Then lifted her away again.

“Heheheheh~…”

She repeated the motion, teasingly threatening to release her grip each time.

Finally, Berla opened her claws.

The demon dropped.

“Nom!”

Berla snapped her mouth shut around her and wasted no time.

Gulp!

Her throat shifted once as the final demon disappeared inside.

Berla released a satisfied sigh before bringing one hand down against her belly with a proud slap.

“That’s the last of em!”

“At last, we can finally—”

Kah’ri stopped.

The earth beneath them ignited.

Flames suddenly erupted across the entire battlefield.

Not in isolated patches.

Everywhere.

Berla’s smile disappeared as a vast sea of infernal fire spread beneath both giantesses, surrounding their feet and stretching across the devastated landscape.

The flames climbed higher.

They did not burn either woman, but they completely obscured the ruined field beneath them.

Then, almost as quickly as they had appeared, the flames began to recede.

Shapes stood within them.

Hundreds.

Then thousands.

Berla blinked.

“Ah…”

Kah’ri’s four eyes widened slightly.

Where moments before there had been nothing but a devastated, empty battlefield…

The demon army stood once again.

Warriors emerged from the dying flames with weapons already in hand. Beasts dug their claws into the scorched earth. Winged creatures spread their wings overhead while the larger demonic monstrosities rose among the ranks.

In the blink of an eye, their defeated army had been reconstructed.

And almost immediately, they attacked again.

Arrows, spells, spears, and infernal projectiles filled the air around the two giantesses.

Berla simply stood there.

Tiny explosions peppered her legs and torso, feeling little more irritating than mosquito bites as she stared around at the creatures she distinctly remembered killing.

“Uh…”

Another fireball burst harmlessly against her thigh.

“They just…came back like that?”

Kah’ri remained silent.

Unlike Berla, her attention immediately moved across the battlefield.

Her four eyes swept over the resurrected army, carefully studying their numbers.

Something was different.

There were fewer.

Significantly fewer.

Then Kah’ri felt something else.

A strange sensation came from within her.

A pull.

Something deep inside her seemed to tug outward for the briefest moment, as though numerous tiny presences had simultaneously attempted to tear themselves free.

And failed.

Kah’ri slowly placed one hand against her midriff.

The movement stopped.

Her eyes narrowed.

Then understanding crossed her face.

“The demons were brought back from whatever hell they went to…” Kah’ri said, “But the demons I ate didn’t…”

Berla stopped looking around.

She glanced down at herself.

Then her purple eyes widened in realization.

“Oh, you’re right, I could feel their souls try to leave me too!”

A slow grin spread across Berla’s face.

It grew wider.

And wider.

“Which means…”

Her black, forked tongue slipped between her lips.

Then shot outward.

The tongue stretched across the battlefield like a living tendril, curling around an entire group of newly resurrected demons before snapping back toward Berla.

Dozens disappeared into her mouth at once.

Her cheeks puffed outward.

“We’ll jusht have tcho eat all of them!” Berla said excitedly with her mouth full. “And gluttony happensh to be my favorite shin!”

Her tongue shifted happily behind her bulging cheeks as she savored her new mouthful.

Kah’ri slowly turned toward her.

The goddess rolled all four of her eyes.

Then she looked back down.

Thousands of demons stared up at them once again.

Some were already charging.

Others were firing everything they had.

Kah’ri stared at the renewed army for several seconds.

She had just spent all that time destroying them.

Now they had returned.

And apparently, there was only one way to ensure they stayed gone.

Her gaze drifted over them.

Then, despite herself, the corner of her mouth began to rise.

That same small smile returned.

Kah’ri slowly ran her tongue across her lips as her four golden eyes narrowed upon the countless creatures beneath her.

Perhaps doing it all over again wasn’t such a dull idea.

…

Kaz felt it before he fully understood what had happened.

A distant tremor rolled through the ground beneath his feet, followed by the renewed roar of thousands of demonic voices several miles away. The enormous presences that had only moments ago been disappearing one after another suddenly returned, spreading across Kaz’s senses like countless sparks reigniting at once.

His eyes widened.

“I had brought this army straight from hell, doing it over and over again is like taking candy from a baby…” Abyzou said with a shrug, seemingly unconcerned by the effort involved. “Which is fine by me!”

Kaz’s expression tightened as he rapidly analyzed the situation. His eyes flicked briefly toward the distant horizon, where flashes of violet and gold had already begun erupting across the battlefield again.

“So it’s a battle for attrition, you defeat me and my giant friends disappear, or I defeat you, and your army stays dead.” Kaz said. “No wonder you destroyed whole kingdoms.”

“Those kingdoms barely did a number on us in all honesty,” she said shaking her head smugly, “Bal even did most of the heavy lifting.”

“Well I am the general, had to show the troops how it’s done.”

Bal crossed his arms proudly, blue flames flickering higher around his skull as though the compliment had physically inflated his ego.

“But enough talking.” Abyzou said.

Her hand rose toward her chest.

A faint crimson glow suddenly appeared beneath her armor, shining from within the deep opening over her cleavage. The light intensified, illuminating her skin from below before something dark began to emerge from between her breasts.

Kaz blinked.

First came a hilt.

Then the base of a blade.

Slowly, Abyzou drew an entire slender sword from the unnatural light concealed against her chest as though pulling the weapon from some hidden void within herself.

Kaz’s cheeks immediately reddened despite the situation.

Abyzou wrapped her fingers around the hilt and smoothly pulled the weapon free.

The sword was nearly as unsettling as its wielder. Its handle appeared to have been sculpted from some dark, almost stone-like material, multiple distorted faces carved along its length as though trapped within it. There was no guard separating hilt from blade. Instead, the weapon flowed seamlessly into a narrow edge that began a deep blood-red near its base before gradually darkening toward the tip until it was nearly black.

Abyzou gracefully shifted her footing.

The sword leveled toward Kaz.

Kaz’s embarrassment disappeared beneath renewed focus as he lowered his center of gravity and assumed a fighting stance of his own.

“I’ll be taking your soul, boy.” She said.

For one tense instant, neither moved.

Then—

PUMPACK!

Something came hurtling into Abyzou’s blind spot.

A bare foot slammed into the side of the elf with a flying dropkick.

Abyzou vanished from Kaz’s sight, launched across the clearing like a bullet and smashing through the vegetation beyond.

Kitsara completed the kick in midair, twisting gracefully before landing on both feet. Her dark hair and fluffy tail whipped around from the momentum before settling behind her.

“What?”

Bal barely had time to turn.

A brilliant blue beam tore through the clearing.

It struck him directly.

Frost exploded across his armor as the air surrounding the beam crystallized from the sudden cold. Ice rapidly crawled across Bal’s limbs, extinguishing patches of blue flame before sealing his entire body inside a thick mass of frozen crystal.

Kaz stared.

“Kitsara?” He said.

“Mother was watching from above, and said you needed help…” Kitsara said as she stood up.

Kaz looked skyward.

Yamiga descended through the opening in the forest canopy, her enormous wings beating heavily enough to send leaves spiraling through the clearing. Matama rode comfortably upon her back, one hand extended toward the frozen Bal.

A sphere of pale blue energy hovered above her palm, mist curling around it.

“It seemed like we needed to even things out!” Matama said.

Her fingers closed.

The orb vanished.

She placed both hands upon her hips, her long sleeves settling around her arms while her nine enormous tails swayed behind her. The sudden movement made her voluptuous chest bounce slightly before settling.

“And honestly who would let the hero do all the work by himself!?”

Yamiga swooped lower.

Matama hopped effortlessly from her back.

Her bare feet touched the ground with barely a sound, the ancient kitsune landing beside Kaz with an elegance completely at odds with the enormous harpy descending behind her.

“Oh, well thank you.” Kaz smiled at her.

A disturbance in the air caught his attention.

FWWSHT—KATCHING!

Abyzou returned.

She crossed the clearing at extreme speed, sword already swinging toward Kaz before anyone could give warning.

Kaz reacted at the last second.

He focused his power in his palm and stretched outward, hardening into the same black blade he had created earlier.

The weapons collided.

Sparks burst between them.

Abyzou’s momentum drove Kaz backward, his shoes carving through the soil as the two locked blades, their faces briefly separated by nothing more than the crossed weapons between them.

Kitsara stared. “Wait, that was an elf.”

Now that Abyzou was no longer little more than a blur being kicked through the forest, Kitsara could clearly make out the pointed ears beneath her flowing blond hair.

“That’s…strange, elves would rather die than to ally with demons and—”

CRICK! CRACK!

The ice surrounding Bal fractured.

Blue light blazed through the cracks.

BOOM!

The frozen prison exploded.

Chunks of ice blasted outward and immediately evaporated within the sudden inferno surrounding him. Bal stepped from the cloud of steam, his blue flames burning wildly now, surging from every opening in his armor with considerably less control than before.

“HAAA-AAAAH!”

Kitsara immediately jumped backward.

Matama calmly stepped in front of her daughter.

Her nine tails rose behind her.

The previously relaxed appendages spread into a wide fan, each one flexing independently as a subtle magical pressure began building around the elder kitsune.

Kitsara lowered herself beside her, muscles tightening as she prepared to spring.

“Suppose Kaz will have to deal with the elf while we deal with this Ifrit demon…” Matama said.

Bal looked between the two women.

First Kitsara.

Then Matama.

His empty sockets lingered on the nine enormous white-and-red tails spread behind her, then they

“Oh balls, a nine tailed Kitsune…”

For the first time since Kaz had met him, Bal sounded somewhat alarmed.

…

“So you had more lady friends all this time? I can admire having a harem, I too have my own concubines!” Abyzou said as her and Kaz remained clashed and finally stopped.

Kaz blushed at her words, “That’s not what they are!”

They broke apart for barely an instant before surging toward one another again.

CLINK! CLANCK! CLACK! CRRRRR…

Their blades collided in a rapid succession of metallic flashes.

Each clash came faster than the last. Kaz’s black dimensional blade and Abyzou’s sinister sword became streaks through the air, sparks bursting between them with every collision. Their feet constantly shifted across the torn ground as they attacked, parried, twisted, and immediately countered, their movements accelerating until an ordinary eye would have struggled to distinguish either fighter from the blurred trails left behind them.

Abyzou suddenly disengaged.

She slid backward across the ground, bringing her sword horizontally across herself with both hands.

The grotesque faces carved into its hilt moved.

Their previously frozen expressions twisted as their mouths slowly opened impossibly wide.

AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

A deafening, impossibly high-pitched scream erupted from the weapon.

The sound tore through the battlefield like a physical force.

Trees, stones, and earth surrounding Abyzou were suddenly covered in cuts. Countless invisible slashes appeared simultaneously, carving through everything within reach before rapidly expanding outward from her position. Grass shredded apart. Tree trunks split into pieces. Long, razor-thin scars ripped across the ground as the invisible wave raced toward Kaz far too quickly to outrun.

“…!”

Kaz’s eyes widened.

The instant the scream reached him, pain erupted across his body.

Cuts opened simultaneously over his arms, torso, legs, and face as though dozens of unseen blades had passed through him at once. Blood sprayed from the fresh wounds, spotting his already battered clothes and the ground beneath him.

Kaz staggered.

His entire body burned.

There had been no blade to block, no projectile to avoid. The scream itself had cut him.

His expression immediately hardened.

Whatever curiosity or enjoyment he had found in the fight disappeared. One attack had been enough to tell him that allowing Abyzou to use that weapon freely would be a serious mistake.

Across the ruined field, the carved faces began opening their mouths again.

Kaz moved first.

He raised one hand and pointed a single finger directly at Abyzou.

Prismatic energy condensed at its tip, its shifting colors rapidly compressing into one tiny point of brilliant light.

Then—

PCHOOM!

A highly condensed beam erupted from his fingertip.

Abyzou’s eyes widened.

She barely managed to bring her sword around in time.

The beam struck the blade.

The sheer force immediately tore the weapon from her grip, sending it spinning violently through the air.

Before Abyzou could even follow its movement—

FWIP!

Kaz vanished.

He reappeared directly in front of her, the air bursting around him from the sudden acceleration.

Abyzou barely had time to look down.

Kaz drove his elbow deep into her gut.

POOM!

Her body folded around the impact.

The force lifted Abyzou completely from the ground before launching her backward, sending her hurtling into the distance.

…

Abyzou went hurtling across the battlefield, shooting straight past the fight between Bal and Kitsara.

Bal was relentlessly pursuing the huntress, blue flames bursting from his limbs with every strike as he tried to catch her. Kitsara moved with remarkable agility for someone of her muscular build, slipping around punches and weaving beneath sweeping attacks with sharp, practiced movements. Matama remained farther outside the exchange, casually circling the two while her nine tails drifted behind her.

Both Matama and Bal briefly glanced toward the blur crossing their battlefield.

Abyzou.

And only a moment later, Kaz streaked past in pursuit.

Bal’s empty sockets narrowed.

He swept one arm toward Matama, releasing a towering wall of blue fire that rolled across the forest floor toward her. Without waiting to see the result, he pivoted and immediately returned his attention to Kitsara.

Matama remained where she stood.

Her nine tails curled forward around her body, layering over one another until they formed a thick barrier of white fur. The inferno crashed against them and split around her, continuing onward through the forest while her tails remained completely unharmed.

“Stand still you muscle bound pretty thing!” Bal said as Kitsara kept dodging him, “I’m trying to annihilate you!”

Another flaming fist swept past Kitsara’s face.

She leaned away.

Bal immediately followed with another.

Kitsara ducked.

His fist missed her and instead buried itself deep into the trunk of a massive tree.

CRACK!

The base exploded into splinters.

The enormous trunk groaned before beginning its inevitable fall, branches crashing through the surrounding canopy.

“As much as I was told to avoid you Kitsunes in my childhood, I am rather happy I get to kill at least one of you in my lifetime!” He said contemplating. “While you probably see demonic spirits such as I as food, I will not be so easily prayed upo—”

Kitsara lunged forward, wrapped both arms around the enormous trunk, and planted her feet firmly into the earth.

Her muscles visibly tightened.

With a strained grunt and a sharp rotation of her entire body, she swung the whole tree like an oversized wooden bat.

PRACAM!

The trunk slammed broadside into Bal, the impact caused the tree to splinter into pieces.

His body disappeared with it.

Tree and demon went tumbling together across the forest, tearing through vegetation and throwing dirt into the air before Bal finally rolled free.

He dug his fingers into the ground and forced himself upright, blue flames flickering angrily around his skull.

“I wasn’t done monologuing!” He said annoyed.

Kitsara was already charging him.

Bal swung.

His fist passed straight through her face.

The huntress’s body dissolved into pale mist around his arm.

Bal’s eye sockets widened.

“Oh that’s just adorable…” Matama’s voice echoed around him.

The mist spread through the clearing.

Shapes began emerging from it.

One Kitsara stepped forward.

Then another.

Then three more.

Within seconds, Bal found himself surrounded by identical huntresses, each one wearing the same focused expression and holding the same poised stance.

“I do love when prey puts up a fight~!”

Bal quickly understood, a Kitsune classic, illusions.

Ordinarily, such tricks were little more than an inconvenience to a demon like him. A kitsune could deceive his eyes, but not the supernatural senses that allowed him to detect the magical presence behind the illusion.

All he needed to do was find Kitsara’s magic signature.

There was only one problem.

Kitsara was the one Kitsune that had no magic signature.

FWSHING!

A blur crossed behind him.

Kitsara’s claws slipped precisely through one of the narrow openings in his armor.

Bal spun.

Nothing.

FWSHING!

Another slash came from his opposite side.

Then another.

And another.

Each time he retaliated, his flaming fists tore harmlessly through another Kitsara, only for her body to dissolve into mist.

Every instinct Bal normally relied upon was useless. Matama provided the illusions, but Kitsara was the one hidden among them—and with no magical presence of her own, there was nothing supernatural distinguishing the real huntress from the false ones.

Another set of claws scraped through an opening in his armor.

“RNGH!”

Bal’s frustration finally boiled over.

His blue flames surged violently upward.

He raised both arms.

“RAAAAAAAAH!”

The inferno exploded.

Blue fire expanded from Bal in every direction, rapidly growing into a gigantic burning sphere. Trees disappeared inside the expanding blaze. The forest canopy ignited almost instantly, trunks blackening before collapsing into ash as the ground itself began to glow beneath the overwhelming heat.

For several moments, Bal resembled the heart of a miniature supernova.

Then the enormous sphere contracted.

The flames collapsed back toward him.

Bal stood alone.

The forest surrounding him was gone.

In its place stretched a scorched, molten clearing, glowing cracks running through blackened earth while burning remnants of trees collapsed into ash around its edges.

No Kitsune in sight.

Bal straightened proudly.

“Yes!”

PUCRACKSH!

Something punched straight through his chest.

Bal froze.

The unbearable heat surrounding him was suddenly replaced by an equally unnatural cold spreading through his body.

He slowly looked down.

A clawed hand protruded from the front of his chest armor.

Completely frozen.

Frost rapidly crawled across the metal surrounding the wound while what remained of his blue flames sputtered weakly around it.

“W-what?!” Bal coughed.

“Seems the rumors were true…” Matama said, “Ifrit demons are hot headed, in every sense.”

Something shifted behind him.

White fur gradually became visible through the steam.

Matama’s nine tails had been wrapped tightly around both herself and Kitsara, interlocked into a protective sphere that had endured the inferno from within.

One by one, the enormous tails unfurled.

Matama stood perfectly unharmed inside them, one hand resting against Kitsara’s back. Pale blue magic flowed from the elder kitsune into her daughter, coating Kitsara’s arm in a layer of supernatural cold.

Kitsara stood directly behind Bal.

Her clawed hand had pierced completely through him.

She ripped it free.

Fragments of ice broke from her fingers and scattered across the molten ground.

Bal stumbled forward several steps, clutching his chest before slowly turning back toward them. His posture had lost its earlier confidence, each breath coming heavier as his flames struggled to maintain themselves.

“He’s all yours, mother.” Kitsara said stepping aside.

Matama remained still.

For the first time, the playful warmth surrounding the elder kitsune seemed to disappear.

Then she stepped forward.

One hand rose to her veil.

She slowly removed it.

The thin white fabric slipped away, fully revealing the face she normally kept concealed. Her features were strikingly beautiful and strangely ageless, framed by white hair and accompanied by three thin crimson markings across each cheek, similar to the other markings in her body.

Her red eyes narrowed with quiet anticipation.

Matama continued toward Bal with slow, deliberate steps while her nine tails relaxed behind her.

A spirit could not truly die through ordinary means.

Destroying its physical manifestation would only disperse it temporarily, eventually allowing its essence to reform. Against a powerful spirit such as Bal, there were normally only a few reliable solutions. It could be weakened enough to seal away, imprisoned somewhere that might contain it for centuries—or longer.

But there was another method.

A much more permanent one, and the method favored by Kitsunes.

Consumption.

“Don’t worry, I promise to put your essence to very good use.” Matama reassured lovingly with a smile as she tilted her head slightly taking one more step closer to Bal.

Bal attempted to summon his flames.

A few weak tongues of blue fire flickered around his armor before immediately sputtering away.

The frozen wound Kitsara had driven through his chest had done its job.

“Ah! You wenches, one could not hope to keep me sealed, even if it’s within that…luscious body you have…”

“Oh-heheh~.”

Matama chuckled, her previous ominous demeanor cracking beneath her amusement.

“It’s too late for flattery honey, though I do appreciate it…now then~…aaah~.”

She parted her lips.

Bal’s flames immediately reacted.

Thin streams of blue fire peeled away from his body and drifted toward Matama, stretching into wisps before disappearing between her lips.

Bal looked down.

His legs were dissolving.

The blue flames composing them stretched away from him in long streams and flowed into Matama’s waiting mouth.

He collapsed.

His hands slammed against the earth.

Bal dug his fingers into the molten ground, desperately trying to anchor himself as the invisible pull dragged him closer.

“No! I am too powerful, too glorious for this!”

His torso began to unravel.

Armor and flame lost their shape as his spiritual essence was steadily pulled free, his body dissolving upward while the stream continued pouring into Matama.

Then his arms disappeared.

Finally, nothing remained except his flaming skull.

It lifted from the ground.

Bal’s empty sockets widened as he flew helplessly toward Matama’s face.

“NOOO-!”

“Nom~!”

Matama closed her lips around the last wisp with a satisfied smile.

GLURK!

The swallow was surprisingly audible in the sudden silence.

Her throat visibly flexed.

A faint blue glow traveled downward beneath her skin before disappearing below her collarbone.

Matama released a contented sigh.

The immense demonic presence that had filled the area only moments earlier was now completely absorbed by Matama.

“It has been long since I’ve seen you feed on a spirit.” Kitsara said, arms crossed.

“Well they are—BUAARP!”

A surprisingly loud belch interrupted Matama, with a small burst of blue flame escaping her mouth.

Her eyes widened.

She immediately covered her lips with one hand, cheeks turning faintly red as Kitsara stared at her.

“E-excuse me…as I was saying, I have been developing a more friendly relationship with the spirits lately, so this was a nice little exception!” She said as she let her veil fall back on her face. “They’re still my favorite meals…”

The thin fabric once again concealed her features, restoring some of the elder’s usual mystical appearance—though the embarrassment beneath it was now considerably harder to take seriously.

“Hm…let’s help the little one…” Kitsara said as she turned.

Matama glanced toward the distant destruction left by Kaz and Abyzou’s battle.

“Not sure he needs it, but it’d be rude not to.” Matama nodded.

…

Meanwhile…

TUM-PUM-PRACK…

Abyzou tore through the forest like a projectile.

Trees shattered against her body as she flew backward, splintered trunks and chunks of earth tumbling alongside her until she finally burst through the last stretch of vegetation and emerged into a clearing higher along the mountain.

She struck the ground and skidded across it before finally coming to a stop.

For a moment, Abyzou remained there.

Then she exhaled.

That attack had felt different.

Heavier.

Far heavier than Kaz’s earlier blows.

“Suppose he’s getting serious now…hm?”

Something in the distance caught her attention.

Abyzou turned her gaze toward the battlefield below.

Berla and Kah’ri still towered over what remained of her forces, apparently having just as much fun at the army’s expense as before.

But something was different.

“Wait…they’re…”

Abyzou’s eyes narrowed.

The two giantesses weren’t merely destroying her soldiers anymore.

They were devouring them.

Berla was shoveling demons into her mouth in enormous groups, swallowing them down almost as quickly as she could grab them. Nearby, Kah’ri was doing much the same, sucking entire formations from the battlefield and gulping them into her divine body.

Their stomachs showed the consequences of their feast. Both bellies had begun to swell outward, their normally smooth figures visibly rounded and stretched from the sheer number of demons packed within them.

And beneath them…

Almost nothing remained.

Once again, Abyzou’s vast army had been reduced to its final scattered soldiers.

“Well in that case…” Abyzou smiled.

She casually raised her hand.

Snap.

The sound echoed faintly across the clearing.

Abyzou waited for the familiar response.

Nothing.

Her smile faltered.

Usually she could feel it immediately—the connection reaching beyond the mortal world, calling her fallen soldiers back from whatever hell had reclaimed them.

This time there was no answer.

Snap…snap snap!

Her fingers clicked repeatedly.

Still nothing.

No infernal flames erupted across the distant battlefield.

No soldiers returned.

It was as though something had completely blocked her army from answering her call.

Abyzou’s smile vanished.

“What? No! That’s impossible!” She said.

Then realization struck her.

Her eyes slowly returned to the distant giantesses.

Berla.

Kah’ri.

Two beings sitting at opposite extremes of supernatural existence. One steeped in overwhelming malice and demonic corruption, the other overflowing with divine holiness.

And both had been consuming her army.

The soldiers weren’t simply dead anymore.

Their souls had been swallowed along with their bodies, trapped within beings whose very natures overwhelmed whatever connection Abyzou once held over them.

Her army wasn’t waiting in hell to be summoned again.

It was part of them now.

Forever sealed within their guts.

“Where are you looking at?”

Abyzou froze.

Kaz’s voice came from directly behind her.

Cold.

“…!”

She turned.

Too late.

PAM!

Kaz’s kick slammed upward into her body.

Abyzou shot into the air.

Before she could orient herself—

POOM!

Kaz appeared directly in front of her and drove his fist into her, sending her flying in the opposite direction.

POOM!

He was already above her.

His heel crashed downward, reversing her trajectory and launching her toward the earth.

Abyzou plummeted.

Kaz vanished again.

He appeared directly where she was falling.

POOM! BAM!

His knee drove into her gut.

Abyzou’s body folded violently around it, her descent stopping instantaneously as the impact buried itself deep into her abdomen.

Before she could even fall away, Kaz clasped both hands together.

He brought them down.

The sledgehammer blow sent Abyzou crashing into the ground.

The earth burst beneath her.

Each impact had rattled her skull hard enough to leave her thoughts swimming, the repeated changes in direction making her brain feel as though it had been thrown around inside her head. Kaz’s knee had sunk particularly deep into her gut, leaving her curled around herself as she coughed blood onto the broken ground.

A low grumble escaped her.

He stared down at her.

There was none of his earlier curiosity in his expression now. None of the faint amusement he had shown while trading blows with Bal.

His light emerald eyes were narrowed.

Calm.

Cold.

He raised one hand.

Lightning erupted around his fingers and palm, but unlike the scattered bolts he had used earlier, the energy remained tightly concentrated around him. The air crackled violently beneath the pressure as more and more power gathered into his hand.

Kaz stepped toward Abyzou.

He prepared to thrust it down.

Then Abyzou’s eyes changed.

The crimson vanished.

Blue filled them instead.

“…!”

Her eyes widened in terror.

“It’s not me!”

Kaz stopped.

His hand remained raised, lightning snapping violently around it, but his expression changed immediately.

That wasn’t Abyzou’s voice.

The confidence was gone.

The smugness was gone.

The voice coming from the elf was softer, delicate and desperate, trembling with genuine fear.

And for the first time since meeting her…

Kaz could feel her.

There was a presence inside that body.

A living one.

Kaz’s eyes widened as his mind struggled to process what had just happened.

Then the blue disappeared.

Red returned.

Abyzou grinned.

SQUELCH!!!

Kaz jolted.

Abyzou’s discarded sword had answered her call.

It came hurtling from behind him at tremendous speed. She hadn’t bothered with precision—she had simply called the weapon back with enough force to ensure it struck something.

The blade punched straight through Kaz’s shoulder.

The same shoulder connected to his lightning-charged arm.

Kaz stumbled backward.

Agony exploded through him.

He looked sideways at his shoulder, seeing the blade stabbed through it, blood spluttering and dripping down the blade.

“HNGH!”

His breathing immediately became ragged as he fought against the sharp, overwhelming pain radiating from the wound.

“Heh…” Abyzou pushed herself back onto her feet, wiping the blood from her mouth.“Ah, a heroic heart, so easy to play with…”

Kaz stared at her through clenched teeth.

“W-what…are you…?!”

“This…is not my body.” Abyzou said, “Centuries ago I was defeated by the wretched hero of prophecy, or so he thought…”

Her smile widened with every word.

“Defeat the evil devil empress, and go home to live a happily ever after with his beloved, he really thought it was that easy, but my spirit endured, and one day…I came for him.” She said proudly, “I needed a new body, and what better candidate than the hero’s daughter? So I just jumped from body to body, feeding on every soul I could, but this one…”

Abyzou tapped a finger against her chest.

“This one is for keeps…” she said. “Revenge was quite intoxicating…”

Kaz stared at her.

The revelation left him visibly taken aback.

The beautiful elf he had been fighting wasn’t Abyzou at all.

She was a vessel. He had been hurting an innocent person all this time.

“And her soul is, oh so nutritious and delicious, I could feed on it for millennia!” Abyzou said, “And you, cannot kill me, for you’re a hero, and if you do, she dies as well.”

Abyzou lifted her hand.

Her fingers flexed.

The sword embedded through Kaz’s shoulder reacted.

The grotesque faces carved into its hilt began to move.

Their mouths opened.

Kaz’s eyes widened.

He had no time to remove the weapon.

No time to escape.

He either reacted now—

Or died.

Kaz flooded his entire body with dimensional energy.

Prismatic light erupted around him, pouring through every limb as he forced his power toward every wound Abyzou had inflicted. Cuts began sealing themselves. Torn flesh rapidly knitted together. Blood slowed as his body desperately repaired itself ahead of what was coming.

Then the sword screamed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Invisible blades erupted everywhere.

Kaz’s clothes tore.

Cuts opened across his face, arms, chest, and legs by the dozens—but almost as quickly as each wound appeared, prismatic energy forced it shut again.

Slash.

Heal.

Slash.

Heal.

His entire body became trapped in a brutal cycle of destruction and regeneration, his aura blazing brighter as he poured nearly everything he had into keeping himself intact.

Without focusing entirely on healing, the scream would have shredded him apart.

But healing didn’t stop him from feeling it.

“GRRRRRNH!!!”

Kaz clenched his teeth as pain tore through every part of him at once.

Abyzou giggled.

“How long can you keep that up, I wonder.”

SHINK!

“Ah!”

Abyzou suddenly gasped.

Her entire body stiffened.

Something had pierced into her back.

Five points.

Like claws.

But the pain wasn’t physical.

It went deeper than flesh.

Something had reached directly into the spirit possessing the elf.

“Got you!” Matama said behind her.

Abyzou’s red eyes widened.

She had been so completely focused on torturing Kaz that she hadn’t noticed the nine-tailed kitsune approaching from behind.

Abyzou dropped to her knees.

Matama stood over her, one clawed hand sunk against her back—not merely penetrating the elf’s physical body, but reaching through it toward the unnatural presence hidden within.

Her red eyes focused intensely.

The sword stopped screaming.

Kaz collapsed onto his knees.

His prismatic aura sputtered around him before dimming. He panted heavily, nearly exhausted from forcing his body to regenerate faster than Abyzou’s weapon could tear it apart.

Not every wound had managed to close.

Numerous cuts still covered him.

And the sword remained buried through his shoulder.

SHLICK!

Kitsara stepped behind him and seized the weapon.

With one swift pull, she ripped it free.

“Argh!”

Kaz’s body jerked as another spike of pain shot through his shoulder.

Kitsara immediately tossed the sword aside and dropped beside him.

“Hey hey, it’s ok, stay with me…” Kitsara said.

Kaz remained on his knees, breathing heavily. His fingers dug into the dirt while he waited for the worst of the pain to subside.

Then his attention snapped back toward Abyzou.

“D-don’t kill her!” Kaz said, “She’s possessed!”

“Don’t worry, I can see it!” Matama said.

Her gaze never left Abyzou.

Her claws pushed deeper—not through flesh, but through the layers of spiritual energy occupying the elf’s body.

“Still…Abyzou, you were supposed to be long gone, from the rumors…” Matama said before she smiled.

She had found something.

Her fingers curled.

Abyzou suddenly tensed.

Matama began pulling her hand backward.

Something resisted.

Thin red spiritual tendons stretched from within the elf’s body, clinging desperately to whatever Matama had grabbed. They pulled taut, trembling beneath the strain as Abyzou fought to remain anchored inside her host.

Matama kept pulling.

The tendons stretched farther.

Then—

SHRRIP!

They snapped.

Matama ripped her hand completely free.

Something came with it.

A tiny red-horned figure struggled within her grasp.

Her skin was black, contrasted by long red hair spilling around her diminutive body. Completely bare, her small yet curvaceous form twisted and squirmed between Matama’s fingers as she desperately fought against the elder kitsune’s grip.

The elf’s eyes returned to their blue color, before they fluttered shut.

Her body slowly tipped sideways and collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Matama looked down at the tiny demon trapped securely in her hand. Her red eyes narrowed. 

“There you are…Abyzou.” Matama said.

Abyzou’s dark face tilted upward within Matama’s grip, her crimson eyes burning with equal parts fury and disbelief.

For the first time since confronting Kaz, the ancient demon looked genuinely caught off guard.

“That’s impossible! How dare you remove me from my host! No exorcist could do that!” Abyzou said

Matama merely stared down at the tiny figure in her hand.

Her red eyes slowly traveled over Abyzou from the tips of her horns to her struggling feet, examining the infamous demon as though comparing what she saw to centuries-old stories.

Her lips twitched.

“When I heard of you a few centuries ago and your defeat, you sounded rather ominous, but you’re…a lot shorter than I expected…” Matama said, holding in a giggle.

It seemed the feared demon had lost considerably more than merely her empire after being defeated by the hero centuries ago. Whatever Abyzou had once been at the height of her power, only a diminished spiritual form remained now.

Even Matama hadn’t expected the infamous demon empress to fit so comfortably within one hand.

“You wretch! Let go of me! Ah, where’s Bal?!”

Abyzou abruptly stopped struggling long enough to look around.

Her eyes darted across the devastated clearing, searching for the familiar blue flames of her general.

“Oh, he’s right here~…”

Matama slowly lowered her hand.

Abyzou descended with it until she was level with the elder kitsune’s stomach, leaving the tiny demon staring directly toward Matama’s smooth midriff.

Matama placed her free hand against it and gently stroked across her abdomen.

“Would you like to join him~?”

Abyzou stared.

For a moment, she hesitated.

Then confidence returned to her expression.

Her lips curled upward.

“Y-you’re a fool! Heh, no kitsune would be capable of absorbing me! However, how about I make it easy for the both of us?” Abyzou said as her grin widened.

Her crimson eyes flashed.

Abyzou’s physical outline suddenly lost its solidity.

Her tiny body dissolved into streaming red-black spiritual energy that surged upward from Matama’s palm, racing directly toward the kitsune’s head.

The demonic trail struck something invisible.

THUM!

It stopped.

The energy rippled against an unseen barrier surrounding Matama’s spirit, unable to penetrate any farther.

Abyzou’s form immediately recoalesced.

“What?!” Abyzou said shocked.

Matama hadn’t so much as flinched.

“Trying to possess me?” Matama smiled, “How cute…”

“How? No one can refuse me! Only a being of pure mastery of the spirits would be able to…” Abyzou said indignant.

“Really? Heheh~…tell me dear, how many tails do you see?” Matama said giggling with a head tilt.

Behind her, Matama’s tails began to rise.

One after another, the enormous white tails spread outward in a magnificent fan, their crimson tips gently curling through the air until they framed her body like a peacock displaying its feathers.

Abyzou stared at them.

Her eyes moved from one to the next.

One.

Two.

Three.

Her indignation slowly faded.

Four.

Five.

Her mouth parted.

Six.

Seven.

The confidence disappeared from her face entirely.

Eight.

And then—

Nine.

“N-nine…” Abyzou said, now for the first time, alarmed.

Matama’s smile widened.

She lifted Abyzou toward her face.

With her free hand, she slowly pulled away her veil.

The white fabric slipped aside.

Matama’s previously concealed smile was revealed first, followed by the three thin crimson markings decorating each cheek. Her red eyes had narrowed considerably, no longer carrying only their usual maternal amusement.

There was unmistakable predatory anticipation behind them now.

Even a small bead of saliva had gathered at the corner of her lips.

Abyzou went still.

“And can you guess, what a nine tailed kitsune’s favorite food is…?” Matama whispered.

Her warm breath washed over the tiny demon, blowing Abyzou’s long red hair backward.

Matama brought her slightly closer.

“Or rather, why don’t you ask your general…?”

Suddenly, Matama’s expression twitched.

Her throat tightened.

She gagged softly.

A faint blue glow appeared beneath the skin near her chest before slowly traveling upward along her throat.

Matama opened her mouth.

Deep beyond her tongue, at the back of her throat, blue flames flickered into existence.

They danced harmlessly against the surrounding flesh without burning her in the slightest.

Then a familiar voice echoed from within them.

“M-Milady!” Bal’s voice came from the flames “There’s nothing in here! I don’t know where I start and end anymore! I am being consumed! You have to—!”

GLUK

Matama swallowed with her mouth still open.

Her tongue shifted as the muscles of her throat visibly flexed.

The blue flames were immediately pulled downward.

Bal’s voice vanished with them.

The glow slid back down Matama’s throat before disappearing completely.

Silence followed.

Abyzou stared into Matama’s mouth.

Her earlier arrogance was gone.

She understood exactly what she had just witnessed.

Bal wasn’t imprisoned.

He wasn’t merely trapped somewhere within the kitsune waiting for an opportunity to escape.

He was being digested as a spirit.

Slowly and irreversibly, his essence was becoming part of Matama.

And if Abyzou followed him, her own weakened spirit would fare no better.

For the first time, genuine fear entered her crimson eyes.

Almost terror.

“W-wait, perhaps we can come to an agreement?” Abyzou said.

“Really?”

Matama raised an eyebrow.

“Y-yes, I am a very powerful demon, I can grant you, even show you the secrets of demon magic and…”

Abyzou continued rambling, desperately piling one offer atop another.

But Matama’s attention drifted elsewhere.

Her eyes moved past the demon in her hand.

Toward Kaz.

He remained beside Kitsara, battered and exhausted.

Blood stained his torn clothing and skin. Slashes covered his body, some still slowly closing while others remained painfully open. His face bloody. His injured shoulder was soaked crimson from where Abyzou’s sword had pierced completely through it, and whatever energy he had left was being spent simply keeping himself conscious through the pain.

Matama stared at him. The one who had so kindly offered to help her and her small, simple village for no reason other than that he simply wanted to help.

The playful amusement gradually disappeared from her face.

Her smile faded.

Her eyes returned to Abyzou.

The tiny demon was still talking.

Still bargaining.

Still desperately explaining all the things she could offer.

But Matama wasn’t listening anymore.

Whatever curiosity she might have had toward the infamous Abyzou had vanished with one glance at what she had done to Kaz.

Now, when Matama looked at the demon struggling within her hand, she saw nothing mysterious.

Nothing impressive.

Nothing worth negotiating with.

Only food.

“…perhaps I could even…wait!” Abyzou said as she noticed Matama open her mouth again.

Whatever desperate bargain Abyzou had been preparing immediately died on her tongue.

Matama brought the tiny demon closer.

Her lips parted, revealing her fangs, before her tongue slowly extended toward Abyzou.

The first lick traveled deliberately along the demon’s small body.

Matama took her time.

Rather than immediately swallowing her, she dragged her tongue across Abyzou again, slowly tasting her as though she were enjoying a popsicle.

At first, the taste was slightly bitter.

Matama’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

Then the flavor changed.

The bitterness gradually gave way to an unexpected sweetness, lingering pleasantly across her tongue.

Matama’s expression softened with satisfaction.

“S-stop! You can’t do this to me! I am Abyzou, I am the end! I am…I am—mmff!!!”

Matama suddenly closed her lips around Abyzou’s upper half.

The demon’s proclamation became an incomprehensible muffled noise.

Matama released her grip.

Abyzou’s lower half remained dangling outside her mouth, her legs immediately kicking and flailing wildly as she tried to pull herself free.

Matama merely began to slurp her inward.

Slowly.

Abyzou’s thighs slipped between her lips first.

Her frantic legs continued thrashing as they were steadily drawn farther inside.

Then her calves disappeared.

Only her feet remained outside, kicking desperately as much as she could.

One final slurp—

SLRP!

—and Abyzou vanished completely past Matama’s lips.

Matama closed her mouth.

Abyzou’s muffled voice continued from within.

She screamed and struggled as Matama casually shifted her around with her tongue, rolling the tiny spirit from one side of her mouth to the other.

Abyzou suddenly pressed against the inside of Matama’s cheek.

A small, struggling bulge appeared against the smooth skin.

Matama’s eyes glanced toward it.

The bulge shifted.

Then pushed again.

Matama simply smiled.

After savoring the moment for a little longer, she tilted her head backward.

Her throat prepared beneath her exposed neck.

Then she swallowed hard.

GLRK!

A small bulge appeared on her throat.

It traveled downward slowly, visibly shifting beneath her skin as Abyzou continued struggling throughout the descent.

For a few moments, the tiny lump resisted.

Then another flex of Matama’s throat forced it farther down.

The bulge passed beneath her collarbone.

And disappeared completely into her.

Matama lowered her head again.

Silence returned to the clearing.

She released a long, satisfied sigh before running her tongue across one of her fangs, savoring the lingering sweetness left behind.

Kitsara still kneeled beside Kaz, gently patting his back to comfort him through the pain as he healed, watched the whole scene.

“Mother sure can be scary when she wants to…” Kitsara said, almost reminiscing times that Matama scolded her.

…

BWAAAAARP!

The tremendous burp rolled across the ruined battlefield like a clap of thunder, echoing between the distant mountains before slowly fading away.

Berla sat comfortably in the middle of the devastation with her legs stretched out and spread before her. Her bare feet lazily swayed from side to side, toes flexing contentedly as she leaned back and rested one hand against her heavily rounded stomach.

Her gut bulged prominently from her otherwise slender figure, packed full after devouring so much of the demonic army.

Berla wore an utterly satisfied expression.

Slap slap!

She gave the swollen curve a couple of firm, affectionate pats, making its surface wobble slightly beneath her palm.

“Thank you for the meal, little demons…” she said with a smile.

Nothing answered her.

The battlefield had become almost eerily empty.

What had once been an enormous demonic army stretching across the landscape had completely disappeared, again, more permanently this time. Scorched earth, enormous footprints, shattered terrain, and the remnants of battle were all that remained beneath the towering figures of Berla and Kah’ri.

Not a single demon had escaped.

Every last soldier had eventually disappeared between the Demon Queen’s jaws or down the Goddess of Order’s throat.

Nearby, Kah’ri released a quieter sigh.

All four of her eyes lowered toward her own abdomen.

Her stomach had become similarly round from the feast, bulging outward beneath her hands. Unlike Berla, however, Kah’ri regarded the swollen curve with little more than detached curiosity.

Small movements occasionally disturbed its surface.

Tiny struggles pressed outward from within before disappearing again, the thousands of demons trapped inside reduced to little more than faint shifts against the goddess’s enormous stomach.

“Hm…” Kah’ri stared at it for another moment.

Then suddenly—

SQUELPH-Poof…

Her stomach flexed.

The entire rounded mass compressed almost instantaneously, shrinking inward so rapidly that within less than a second her abdomen had returned completely to its original shape.

Every movement from within vanished with it.

Thousands of demons had been completely digested in an instant.

“I expected them to be more nutritious…” Kah’ri commented, placing a hand on her now-flat midriff.

“Eh? You just digested them like that?”

Berla looked genuinely surprised as she pushed herself back onto her feet, her own swollen stomach still protruding heavily before her.

“No ‘enjoying their struggles’ or feeling their panic and despair as they melt?”

“I already felt plenty from their struggles, I simply didn’t want them to be alive in me anymore.” Kah’ri said.

Berla stared at her.

Then sighed dramatically.

“You see this is what I mean, no fun allowed with you…” she said shaking her head. “When you have a few thousand little sentient creatures in your stomach, you gotta enjoy it~…”

Berla rested both hands against the sides of her rounded gut.

Then she began to move.

Her hips slowly rolled forward.

Then back.

Her stomach followed the gentle motion as she settled into an almost lazy little dance, swaying her enormous body while the contents of her belly shifted with her.

The noises from within became more noticeable.

“Slowly~…and slowly~…” Berla repeated.

She continued the deliberate rhythm.

Forward.

Back.

Forward again.

Her stomach gradually began shrinking.

Unlike Kah’ri’s instantaneous digestion, Berla intentionally drew hers out for a little bit. The rounded curve diminished little by little beneath her hands, and the less space remained within, the more noticeable the final movements became against its surface.

Faint muffled cries occasionally escaped from deep inside.

Berla’s smile only grew.

“Slowly~…” she said again softly.

Her hips continued their gentle rhythm as her stomach steadily flattened.

Smaller.

Smaller.

Until finally, the last trace of its earlier fullness disappeared.

Berla stopped.

Her abdomen had returned completely to its original slimness.

“Phew…” She released a deeply satisfied sigh, a faint purple blush coloring her grey cheeks as her hands lingered against her stomach.

Then her purple eyes slowly shifted toward Kah’ri.

Her expression changed into something considerably more suggestive. She looked at the goddess with desire in her eyes, with lust.

Kah’ri immediately noticed, each of her four golden eyes narrowed.

“I would rather get eaten by the boy again…” Kah’ri said with disdain for Berla’s suggestive expression.

Berla blinked.

For a moment, even she seemed caught off guard by the straight forward response.

Then she burst out laughing.

“Pff hahahah! I was kidding goldie, jeez…well, kind of kidding, to be honest…” Berla said side eyeing Kah’ri. “And here I thought getting gobbled by Kaz was the worst thing to ever happen to you.”

“It was, but laying with a demon could easily surpass that…” Kah’ri said

“Hmhmhahah! oh well, we did our task, where’s Kazy?” Berla said turning around.

Berla’s enormous body began to shrink.

The towering Demon Queen rapidly diminished against the devastated landscape, dropping from her gigantic proportions until she had returned to her ordinary human-sized form.

Beside her, Kah’ri followed.

The goddess’s immense figure similarly contracted, her divine form returning normal scale until both women hovered side by side in the open air.

Far below them remained the empty battlefield where an entire army had once stood.

Neither left so much as a single soldier behind.

Berla glanced toward the distant point where she could still sense her connection to Kaz.

Then the two turned in the same direction.

Without another word, Berla and Kah’ri flew away from the silent battlefield and headed toward Kaz’s location.

…

“Cough cough!”

Kaz’s body jolted with each cough as he remained on his knees, one hand weakly braced against the bloodstained ground to keep himself upright.

He had survived the relentless shrieking cuts from Abyzou’s sword, but only by forcing dimensional energy through his body at an extreme rate, closing wounds almost as quickly as the invisible blades could open them.

That had come at a tremendous cost.

His reserves were nearly empty.

The faint prismatic glow that normally accompanied his healing had become weak and intermittent, barely flickering around the deepest wounds before fading again. The countless cuts covering him were closing far more slowly now, and the bloody hole through his shoulder remained especially severe.

His eyelids felt impossibly heavy.

Every time Kaz blinked, darkness seemed to linger just a little longer.

“You did well, little one, I honestly didn’t expect you’d be so strong…”

Kitsara remained beside him, gently rubbing and petting his back. Her amber eyes moved across his injuries, lingering uneasily on the blood soaking his clothes and the open wound through his shoulder.

A few feet away, Matama released a quiet sigh.

One hand settled against her smooth, marked midriff.

Deep within, she could still feel Abyzou’s weakened spirit struggling against her, but Matama paid it little attention now.

Her gaze instead returned to Kaz.

She stepped closer and crouched in front of him.

Matama carefully reached toward his injured shoulder. A soft green aura gathered around her palm and fingers, bathing Kaz’s bloodied skin in a gentle light.

But the instant her hand touched him—

PLINK!

A bright spark snapped between them.

Matama’s hand was abruptly pushed away as though Kaz’s body itself had rejected the foreign magic.

Her ears perked in surprise.

“It doesn’t work…” Kaz said lowly, “I appreciate it, miss Matama…but I can’t be healed by others…only my own energy…”

Matama stared at her hand for a moment before looking back at him.

Her white ears slowly lowered.

“I see…”

“I’ll…I’ll be fine…I just need to rest…” Kaz said weakly.

His voice remained remarkably calm.

His body told a different story.

His breathing was shallow and uneven. Blood still trickled from several cuts, his posture sagged with exhaustion, and every small movement brought another flicker of pain across his face.

Matama’s expression softened.

“Kaaaaaazyyyy~…”

A familiar singsong voice carried through the distance.

Everyone looked toward it.

Two figures flew rapidly toward the clearing.

Berla and Kah’ri descended together, their now human-sized forms dropping toward the ruined battlefield before lightly touching down near Kaz and the two kitsune.

“We’re baaaack! How was your…”

Berla stopped.

Her smile faded.

“…fight…”

Her purple eyes fixed on Kaz.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

He was battered.

Slashed.

Covered in blood.

Exhausted to the point that he could barely remain conscious, still kneeling because standing seemed beyond him.

Normally, such a sight would have delighted the Demon Queen.

A hero brought to the brink of death was the sort of image that would make her salivate and laugh even.

But this was Kaz. The one who had shown empathy to her despite everything she ultimately is.

Looking at him now, Berla felt something unpleasant ignite somewhere inside her. Something hot. Something vicious. She didn’t understand what it was.

She only knew she did not like seeing him like this.

Beside her, Kah’ri noticed the abrupt silence.

One of her four eyes briefly shifted toward Berla before the others returned to Kaz. Unlike the Demon Queen, Kah’ri’s expression held more confusion than anger as she quietly studied his condition.

“Oh, you two are back.” Matama said.

“The demons are gone, we exterminated all of the pests…” Kah’ri said. “Like you told us to, we didn’t let a single one escape.”

“Oh…good…”

Kaz slowly lifted his head.

Despite his exhaustion, he managed a small smile.

“That’s good, that means we won…your problem is solved now…Matama, Kitsara…”

The Kitsunes were surprised, even now he was only worried about the problem they were facing.

“Don’t talk right now, little one, save your strength…” Kitsara said to him.

Berla stepped forward.

Her movements were unusually slow.

“Who did this to him…?”

Her dark hair fell forward, concealing her eyes.

Then one finger rose.

She pointed toward the unconscious elf lying nearby.

“Her…?”

“No uh…it’s a bit complicated…Kaz was battling their leaders,” Matama explained. “One of them was an ancient demon empress thought to have been defeated long ago, but was actually possessing that elf, Kaz weakened her enough for me to extract her and eat her.”

“…”

Berla said nothing.

She walked toward Matama.

Then suddenly grabbed the elder kitsune by both shoulders.

Matama stiffened.

Berla raised her head.

The eyes beneath her dark hair looked nothing like the playful purple gaze from moments earlier.

They had become almost entirely black.

Deep, lightless pools stared into Matama’s own eyes, with only tiny pinpoints of purple glowing somewhere within their depths.

“I would ask you to spit her out to torture her myself…but since Kazy likes you, I’ll let you have her…But…”

Berla’s clawed fingers tightened around Matama’s shoulders.

“Be sure to digest her as slowly as possible…make her beg for death before you eventually give it to her…” Berla’s voice echoed ominously in the last bit.

For perhaps the first time since meeting the Demon Queen, Matama looked genuinely startled by her, realizing why she had been, in a different world, a demon queen.

Yet beneath Berla’s ominous appearance, Matama sensed something unexpected.

That hostility wasn’t directed toward her.

There was no genuine desire to hurt Matama behind that grip.

All of that malice was aimed somewhere else.

At the spirit currently trapped inside her stomach.

“Uh…of course, I was going to anyway…” Matama nodded nervously.

Berla immediately released her.

“Good!”

Her expression snapped back into an innocent smile so quickly that the contrast was almost unsettling.

A brief silence followed.

Matama blinked.

Then cleared her throat.

“Ahem, kk, let’s go home…we won and I believe it calls for celebration!” Matama said, trying to brush off the scare Berla gave her.

“I’m glad…you two can go ahead, I’ll…hm?”

Kaz stopped as Kitsara suddenly shifted beside him.

She carefully moved in front of him, took hold of his arms, and guided them over her shoulders. With deliberate care not to jostle his injuries, she lifted him from the ground and settled him securely against her back.

“We’re not leaving you like this, Kaz.” Kitsara said, “You’re coming with us, whether you want to or not.”

“Eh? But I’m…”

“No buts, and I told you to save your strength so hush.” Kitsara said.

Kaz opened his mouth.

Then apparently thought better of it.

Kitsara gave a sharp whistle.

A moment later, the beating of enormous wings swept through the clearing.

Yamiga descended from above, her powerful wings catching the air as she glided toward them. Dust and loose pebbles scattered beneath her before the big harpy touched down nearby.

Kaz didn’t protest again.

He simply allowed himself to rest against Kitsara.

His head lowered near her shoulder as his exhausted body relaxed against the strength supporting him. He could feel her warmth through his clothes, accompanied by her sweet scent and the reassuring firmness of her hold around his legs.

After the cold ground, the fighting, the wounds, and all the blood he had lost, the simple warmth felt surprisingly comforting.

Kitsara began carrying him toward Yamiga.

As she walked, Kah’ri floated silently alongside them.

“…”

All four of the goddess’s eyes studied Kaz.

Her expression tightened with genuine confusion.

“Why?”

“Hm…?”

Kaz weakly glanced toward her.

“You nearly died, for these beings you’ve barely known for more than a day…it doesn’t make any sense.” Kah’ri said. “To risk your mortal life for other mortal lives…why?”

“Heh…”

Despite everything, Kaz gave a quiet chuckle.

“I don’t know…I don’t really…need a reason…”

Kitsara continued walking.

The goddess slowly came to a stop in midair.

Kaz’s answer lingered with her.

It was so simple that Kah’ri initially searched for something deeper behind it.

Some hidden motivation.

An expected reward.

An obligation.

Anything that would make his actions rational.

She found nothing.

He had simply decided that these people needed help.

And to Kaz, apparently, that had been enough.

Kah’ri looked again at the injuries covering him.

Then at Kitsara.

The kitsune carried him with extraordinary care despite her usual strength, deliberately adjusting every movement to avoid causing him unnecessary pain. Matama remained close as well, frequently glancing toward Kaz with open concern.

They were grateful to him.

Not because he had demanded their gratitude.

Not because he had commanded them to respect him.

To these people, this strange traveler who had appeared in their world less than a day ago had become a blessing during one of their potentially darkest moments.

And when Kaz had faced Abyzou and Bal, Kitsara and Matama had chosen to enter the battle themselves to help him.

Their choice.

No command compelled them.

No greater power forced their obedience.

They simply wanted to.

“…”

Kah’ri remained suspended there as Yamiga lowered herself enough for the others to climb aboard.

Matama joined them, carrying along the unconscious elf woman with her tails, while Kitsara carefully kept Kaz supported against her back.

Yamiga spread her immense wings.

With several powerful beats, the harpy lifted from the ruined clearing and climbed toward the open sky.

Kah’ri remained behind for another moment.

“You coming, goldie?”

Berla hovered nearby, her dark wings already spread behind her.

Kah’ri blinked.

Her thoughts broke apart.

“Oh…of course…”

She turned toward the departing group.

Then Kah’ri and Berla rose together, following Yamiga into the sky.

…

A few hours later, long after the sun had disappeared beyond the floating mountains, the village was alive with celebration.

Campfires burned throughout the settlement, their warm orange light flickering across enormous tree trunks, wooden platforms, and the faces of the villagers gathered around them. Kitsunes and nekos danced together around the flames while others sang, clapped, and played simple handmade instruments, filling the forest with an energetic mixture of voices, drums, strings, and laughter.

After facing the possibility of losing their home only hours earlier, everyone seemed determined to celebrate simply being alive.

Matama had found herself surrounded by children, using little displays of magic to entertain them while they watched in fascination. Elsewhere, Kitsara had been helping prepare the night’s largest meal: an enormous lizard skewered onto a heavy wooden spit above one of the largest campfires.

Kaz had finally managed to heal the last of his wounds.

His dimensional energy had slowly replenished over the past several hours, allowing the cuts across his body and the bloody hole through his shoulder to completely close. The damage was gone, but the exhaustion remained. His body felt heavy, and his energy reserves were still far below normal.

The celebration had brought another problem he hadn’t anticipated.

Apparently, helping save the entire village had made him considerably more popular.

Kaz had spent an embarrassing amount of time attempting to dodge flirtatious kitsunes and nekos, with even a few of the harpies joining in. Eventually Berla—who had absolutely no trouble enjoying that kind of attention—had managed to distract and charm enough of them for Kaz to quietly slip away unnoticed.

Now he sat alone atop a small rock overlooking the celebration.

Firelight danced across his face as he watched the villagers.

Kaz smiled.

Children ran between the adults. Friends danced together. Food was passed around. People who only hours earlier had prepared themselves for an invading army were now laughing beneath the night sky.

The pain he’d endured earlier suddenly felt insignificant.

Seeing all of them alive made every wound worth it.

Kaz released a quiet, contented sigh.

Then he noticed someone floating beside him.

He blinked.

“Oh hey, didn’t notice you…” he said a little surprised.

Kah’ri hovered silently nearby.

She wasn’t looking at him.

All four of her golden eyes were directed toward the village below, watching the celebration with an unreadable expression.

Unlike Kaz, however, she didn’t seem to be simply enjoying it.

She was pondering it.

“All things end, Kaz…” Kah’ri told him, “And yet, you choose to help them live just a little longer…”

Kaz glanced toward her.

“Does that bother you?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“It confuses me…” she said.

Kaz studied her for a moment.

Then shifted slightly on the rock.

“Hm…why don’t you sit down…?” He said, patting the spot beside him.

Kah’ri turned toward him in surprise.

For a moment she simply stared, as though the casual invitation itself were strange.

Then she lowered herself.

The Goddess of Order sat beside Kaz on the rock, her four arms settling around herself as her long golden hair spilled behind her.

“Look at them, Kah’ri…” Kaz said, “They’re happy…they’re alive, in the moment, while true, everything eventually reaches an end…it doesn’t mean that we can’t make the journey a fun one…someone’s will, if strong enough, can move worlds even…”

Kah’ri looked back toward the village.

“…”

Her four eyes narrowed slightly.

The flames reflected within their golden irises as she considered his words.

People danced without knowing what tomorrow would bring.

Children laughed without considering how temporary the moment was.

Nobody below could live forever.

And yet none of them behaved as though that made tonight meaningless.

“Oh, and it seems you have someone here for you.” Kaz said.

Kah’ri’s attention shifted.

Standing beside the rock was a child.

A small neko girl stared up at her.

Orange hair framed her young face beneath two matching cat ears, while bright blue eyes nervously avoided Kah’ri’s four-eyed gaze. Her orange-furred tail swayed uncertainly behind her.

Both hands were hidden behind her back.

“…?”

Kah’ri tilted her head slightly, floating down.

The girl swallowed.

She shifted nervously on her feet before finally gathering enough courage to bring her hands forward.

She presented something to Kah’ri.

A little wooden sculpture.

Kah’ri’s eyes widened.

It was unmistakably supposed to be her.

The basic silhouette was surprisingly recognizable. Four arms extended from a curving torso, while roughly carved grooves represented her long flowing hair and divine figure.

But the craftsmanship was extremely crude.

The proportions were uneven. There was no real face. Her hands and feet were little more than rounded stumps, and several cuts in the wood showed where the carving knife had slipped.

The girl’s hands told the rest of the story.

Her fingers were dirty with wood dust, with several tiny scratches marking them from mistakes she’d apparently made while carving it herself.

“I think it’s an offering…” Kaz said with a small smile.

Kah’ri said nothing.

Her gaze moved between the crude little representation of herself and the nervous child holding it.

Slowly, one of her four hands reached forward.

She carefully took the sculpture.

The girl immediately stepped backward.

“I think you’re really pretty miss…!” She said embarrassed.

Her face flushed.

Then, before Kah’ri could respond, the girl spun around and hurried back toward the celebration.

Kah’ri remained completely still.

All four eyes were wide.

The crude sculpture rested in her palm.

Kaz leaned slightly closer to inspect it.

“That’s cute, it’s you.” He said.

“I can see that…” Kah’ri said “It is poorly made, no face, and my hands and feet are just stumps…”

Kaz looked at her.

Then at the sculpture.

“Hm…perhaps you’ll throw it away then…”

“…”

Kah’ri didn’t answer.

Her fingers remained curled carefully around the wooden figure.

She stared down at its uneven shape.

At the crude arms.

The featureless face.

The badly carved feet.

Objectively, there was almost nothing remarkable about it.

Yet the girl had made it herself. She had scratched her own hands carving it.

And nobody had commanded her to do so.

No divine law had compelled an offering. No threat demanded worship. No promise of reward had bought her admiration.

The child had simply wanted to give Kah’ri something.

Kaz watched her silence.

Then chuckled softly.

“Little one…I mean, Kaz.”

A familiar voice pulled his attention away.

“Oh, hi, thought you were skewing a lizard.” Kaz said as he turned to her.

Kitsara stood nearby, illuminated by the orange glow of the campfires.

“I did.”

She pointed toward the celebration.

Several villagers had taken over the task, slowly rotating the enormous lizard above the roaring fire as its meal cooked.

“Me and mother need to talk to you…”

“Oh, sure…”

Kaz pushed himself off the rock and stood.

There was still some tiredness in his movements, but compared to the barely conscious state he’d been in only hours earlier, he looked remarkably recovered.

He followed Kitsara toward the village.

Kah’ri remained behind.

She sat silently upon the rock while music, laughter, and singing continued.

Her eyes returned to the little wooden sculpture resting in her hand.

Something made freely.

Something imperfect.

Something completely unnecessary.

Something someone had chosen to give her.

And Kah’ri continued staring at it.

…

Kaz followed Kitsara away from the louder center of the celebration.

The music and laughter gradually softened behind them as she led him between the enormous trees toward a more secluded part of the village. There, illuminated by the softer glow of a few hanging lanterns, stood a small tent separated from the festivities.

Matama was already waiting beside its entrance.

“There’s someone in here who wishes to speak with you…” Kitsara said as Matama opened the draped entrance.

Kaz glanced between them before stepping inside.

The tent was dim and quiet, the distant sounds of celebration barely filtering through its thick walls.

Someone was waiting for him.

The elf woman.

The same woman whose body Abyzou had possessed.

She was awake now, seated inside the tent and still wearing the dark armor Abyzou had fought him in. Without the demon controlling her, however, she seemed almost like a completely different person.

Her eyes were no longer crimson.

They were a clear sky blue, softer.

Her posture was more relaxed and reserved, even her presence could be felt, gentle, delicate and kind.

Her eyes immediately turned toward Kaz.

“Oh, hello.” Kaz waved. “Are you ok?”

“…”

The elf remained silent.

Her blue eyes trembled as she stared at him.

Kaz’s expression softened.

“I’m sorry for what I did back there…” Kaz said to her, “I had no idea tha-“

“Don’t apologize!” The elf yelled.

Kaz flinched slightly.

The sudden volume seemed to surprise the elf herself just as much as it surprised him.

She immediately looked away, shoulders tensing as though embarrassed by her own outburst.

“I…I’m the one who should be sor-“

“Don’t be.” Kaz cut her off.

She looked back at him.

Surprised.

Kaz’s expression had straightened, he looked at her with calm certainty.

“It was not your fault, none of it.” He said calmly and seriously to her, before smiling, “I’m just glad miss Matama managed to save you.”

The elf stared at him.

Something in her expression broke.

Her lips began trembling.

Tears welled in her blue eyes until they spilled freely down her cheeks.

Then she suddenly lunged forward.

Kaz barely had time to react before her arms wrapped tightly around him.

His eyes widened.

“Thank you!” She said, “Thank you…thank you…!”

She clung to him as though finally releasing emotions she had been forced to hold inside for far too long, which she quite literally was.

Kaz stiffened at first, caught completely unprepared by the embrace.

Then his shoulders relaxed.

He slowly raised one hand and gently rubbed her back.

He couldn’t imagine what she had endured.

If she had remained conscious throughout the possession, then she had been trapped inside her own body while Abyzou controlled it—forced to witness everything the demon did through her eyes without being able to stop any of it.

And there was no telling how long Abyzou had kept her that way.

“There there…” he said.

The elf buried her face against his chest and cried.

Kaz didn’t say anything else.

He simply stayed there with her.

Several minutes later, Kaz finally emerged from the tent.

Kitsara and Matama remained waiting outside.

Kaz looked toward them—

Then stopped.

Matama wasn’t wearing her veil.

For the first time, Kaz had a clear look at the elder kitsune’s face.

Her features were strikingly youthful despite her immense age, framed by long pale hair and the three thin crimson markings decorating each cheek. Her red eyes caught the lantern light, giving her unveiled appearance an almost otherworldly beauty.

Kaz immediately blushed.

“Oh wow…” he said, “I…hadn’t seen your face before…”

Matama’s lips curled into a pleased smile.

“Hehe~ don’t worry, it is rather common for others to be mesmerized by me, it’s why I wear the veil.” Matama said proudly, “Our elf friend wanted to personally thank you, apparently she was conscious the whole time she was possessed, poor thing…”

Kaz’s smile faded slightly at that revelation.

“Abyzou took much from her…” Kitsara said, crossing her arms “But don’t worry, we’ll take her in, should she wish to stay.”

Kaz glanced back toward the tent.

At least she wouldn’t be alone.

“I see, good then, was there anything else you two wished to tell me?” He asked.

Kitsara suddenly went quiet.

Her ears twitched.

“Y-yes, as a matter of fact…” she said.

Beside her, Matama smiled knowingly and looked away.

“Hm?” Kaz was confused, tilting his head slightly.

Kitsara shifted her weight.

For someone who had fearlessly charged a demonic general only hours earlier, she suddenly seemed remarkably uncomfortable.

“You see, Kaz…as the leader, I am expected to be strong and fearless…and…” Kitsara blushed, fidgeting, “And to have very strong offsprings…”

“…”

Kaz stared at her.

The words slowly registered.

His face began turning red.

Then redder.

“And, as you’ve shown, you’re extremely strong so…I would like to ask you to be my mate!” She said embarrassed, closing her eyes shut.

Kitsara squeezed her eyes closed as though bracing for an attack.

Kaz looked as though he’d just been hit by one.

His entire face burned crimson.

He stumbled backward a step, momentarily losing his balance as imaginary steam practically pumped from his head.

“I…I…” he stuttered.

His heart hammered against his chest.

Thoughts crashed over one another faster than he could organize them.

There was no denying Kitsara was beautiful.

More than that, Kaz genuinely admired her. She was brave, protective of her people, powerful despite being born without magic, and had treated him kindly even after their rather unusual introduction.

And physically—

Kaz immediately tried not to continue that thought.

Because that was precisely the problem.

He was attracted to her.

But that attraction wasn’t love.

Kaz closed his eyes and took a slow breath.

Then another.

“I am…beyond flattered, Kitsara, you’re beautiful, and an amazing woman…but I’m afraid I cannot be your mate…” he said, blushing.

Both kitsunes stared at him.

Kitsara’s ears rose in surprise.

So did Matama’s.

“Ara!” Matama said.

“…”

Kitsara clearly hadn’t expected that answer.

For a moment, embarrassment and surprise remained written across her face.

Then the chief straightened herself and regained her composure.

“I see…very well then…”

Matama looked between the two.

“Just a surprise after another…are you perhaps…not into females, Kaz?” Matama asked genuinely.

“What? No! It’s just…I don’t want to be with someone because of lust only…” he said.

Understanding slowly crossed Matama’s face.

“Ah…I see…” Matama said, “Suppose I shouldn’t be surprised given that pure heart of yours.”

Kitsara studied Kaz for another moment.

Despite the lingering blush on her cheeks, there was no anger in her expression.

“Hm, I can respect that as well, little one, sorry if my request caught you off guard…” Kitsara said, looking at him despite blushing.

“I-it’s fine, it’s fine.” He says shaking his head blushing as well.

An awkward silence threatened to settle between them.

Matama promptly broke it.

“Well then, one last thing!” Matama said stepping forward. “Thank you, Kaz.”

Her playful demeanor softened.

Matama bowed deeply.

Kitsara did the same beside her.

Kaz’s eyes widened.

“W-wait you two really don’t have to…”

Matama raised her head.

“You’ve saved us, without you we would never even have dreamed of facing the demons…”

“It was mostly you two who finished them off…” Kaz said.

Matama’s eyebrows lowered.

Tack!

Her finger flicked directly against his forehead.

“Ow!” He yelped.

Kaz immediately brought a hand to the spot.

“Let me finish!” Matama said, “While we’re strong, we would’ve easily been outnumbered by them, and the only reason I managed to consume Abyzou was because you were there.”

Kaz fell quiet.

“Without you there was no telling what would have happened…” Kitsara said, “Our plan was to move, but eventually they would reach us again, so, thank you, Kaz, we are eternally in your debt.”

Kaz stared at them.

He didn’t quite know how to respond.

He had saved people before.

But usually he left soon afterward.

Sometimes nobody ever learned his name. Sometimes he slipped through another portal before the people he’d helped even understood what had happened.

He’d never expected gratitude.

That wasn’t why he helped.

But standing here now, with two people sincerely thanking him for ensuring their home would still exist tomorrow…

It felt nice.

Kaz smiled.

“I’m glad I could help.” He said nodding.

“As are we, you’re always welcome in our village, should you ever visit our world again.” Kitsara said.

“And here…” Matama said.

Behind her, Matama’s nine tails slowly spread.

The crimson tips began to glow.

The red markings across her body illuminated with the same light as she brought both hands together. Spiritual energy gathered between her palms, swirling in a concentrated red aura while her tails gently flexed behind her.

Several seconds passed.

Then the glow faded.

Her tails relaxed.

Matama opened her hands.

Resting in her palms was a small red bead shaped like a curved comma.

A magatama.

“For you to remember us!” She said.

Kaz’s eyes brightened.

“Woah!” Kaz said, accepting it in his hands, “Cool!”

He immediately brought it closer to inspect.

The polished red surface shimmered faintly beneath the lantern light, but the glow seemed to originate from deeper within. Something almost fluid appeared to drift through its center, like a tiny current of red spiritual energy endlessly flowing inside the bead.

“My Magatama, Kaz, I only have those around the village, but I’m giving one to you” she said stepping closer. “Any spirits, even from other worlds, I hope, will think twice before attacking you, if you keep it close.”

Kaz looked from the magatama to Matama.

Before he could respond, she stepped closer.

One hand settled gently atop his hair.

Kaz instinctively leaned down beneath her touch.

Matama’s expression became unusually serious.

“Don’t lose it.”

She leaned forward.

Her lips gently touched his forehead.

Kaz froze for a moment.

The kiss was soft and affectionate, carrying none of Matama’s usual teasing.

His fingers curled more securely around the magatama.

When she pulled away, Kaz looked down at the little red bead again before smiling.

“Thank you, miss Matama.” He said smiling.

Kitsara stepped closer next.

Kaz turned toward her.

She leaned in and pressed a kiss against his cheek.

His eyes widened.

Then Kitsara immediately pulled away and turned her face aside.

“Very well, let’s return to the celebration.” Kitsara said as she walked away.

Kaz remained motionless for another second.

Matama’s kiss had felt warm and motherly.

Kitsara’s…

Not quite.

There had been something considerably more possessive behind that one.

“Yes and…Kitsara’s offer will remain…should you ever change your mind…” Matama whispered to him, then winked. “Now then, spirits aren’t that filling so let’s go eat!”

Kaz’s blush immediately returned.

Before he could respond, several of Matama’s enormous tails curled around his back.

Rather than restraining him, the soft white fur gently pressed against him and began ushering him forward.

Kaz allowed himself to be pushed along.

Together, they returned toward the glow of the village.

Music grew louder with every step.

Laughter carried between the trees.

Campfires illuminated the night while the villagers ate, danced, sang, and celebrated the home they still had.

Only hours earlier, an army had threatened to descend upon them.

Now that darkness was gone.

And for one night, beneath the floating mountains and the stars above them, they celebrated their victory—

and the unexpected blessing that had appeared in their darkest hour.

The End.