Family Ties and Hidden Wings
Stella had built up quite a sizable faction in her own way. Through her position as the first child between me and Master, she had created a family gathering and was actively communicating with the other children. The establishment of a community for children who symbiotically bonded with angels owed much to Stella’s influence.
“Oh, right. A lot of the kids say they want to meet Master at the family gathering.”
“That thing Stella made? That child, I don’t know who she takes after, but she really loves building groups and factions.”
“She clearly takes after you, Master.”
No matter how I thought about it, she was undoubtedly modeled after Master, who sought to swallow Eden whole and rule it. It was obvious just from the way she led the other children as the eldest sister in their family meetings.
“Still, it’s good that she’s gathering her own kind on her own. My situation isn’t the best right now, so I was a little worried.”
“Huh? But you have me, don’t you?”
At my words, Master lifted her head, which had been tilted downward, and shot me a sidelong glance with eyes sparkling with pink hearts.
“Hmph. You’re good at following orders, but you’re not the type who can lead others. Definitely not a leader type.”
“Well… that’s true, I suppose.”
“Eek! Let go!”
Perhaps a little sulky, she struggled to break free as I tightened my arms around her from behind inside the bathtub.
“This happened to me because of you too, Master. Weren’t you the one who turned me into an obedient slave in the first place?”
“Back then, it was necessary… ngh.”
I gave her pale nape a light bite, and felt her body tremble delicately.
“You’ve been working out hard like I told you. It feels really nice when I touch you.”
“Ugh… QA is so merciless when it comes to training. It’s brutal.”
“But thanks to that, you’re turning into a very attractive female, aren’t you? Especially this line from your full, voluptuous breasts down to your abdomen.”
It wasn’t to the point of visible muscle definition yet, but the sleek lines of her body, now free of excess fat, were quite beautiful. After continued caresses, Master finally climaxed once before going limp inside the tub.
“Haa… having my vital energy drained is way too stimulating.”
“You’ll be supplying us with your essence for the rest of your life, so you’d better get used to it soon.”
“Sometimes you succubi really do seem like you view humans as nothing but food. Both QA and you—the way you look at me can be scary sometimes. Like I’m about to be devoured.”
“Hmm… I suppose it’s because we have to feed on vital energy from people? But it’s not like we’re actually eating you, and you’re being controlled by a collar, so don’t worry.”
“The very fact that you need a collar to control me is proof of how dangerous it is.”
“It is true that succubi are dangerous beings to humans.”
With a pouty expression, Master suddenly pounced on me. She tickled and groped my body before reaching behind me to stroke the area around my spine. Then, as if noticing something strange, she rubbed and pressed firmly on that spot.
“It only looked like a faint line so I didn’t notice before, but now that I’m touching it, it’s obvious. How can a spine be this soft? What is this?”
“Ahh, don’t press so hard!”
The part of my spine invaded by Tia’s tentacles was wrapped in soft tentacles around the hard bone at its core, making it squishy to the touch. Because the nerves were still connected, pressing too hard sent a sharp jolt through my spine.
“Tell me quickly. Did those lab bastards do something to you?”
“No. It wasn’t them. It was Tia.”
“Tia?”
I explained to Master what Tia had done. She didn’t seem entirely convinced, so I summoned Tia, even showing her in her underwear form, before Master finally believed me.
“So Tiriel’s removed ability remained intact in Tia. She really is a dangerous creature to ordinary humans.”
“She’s similar to an Abaddon.”
“And you just let that slide? I know it’s strange coming from me, but what if she seizes control of your body?”
“Hmm… Tia is kind, so I’m not too worried. Besides, it reminded me of the old days when I was with Master, and that made me happy.”
“Tsk. Now that I think about it, that was always your preference, wasn’t it?”
Master clicked her tongue as if she had worried for nothing. When our conversation paused, the only sound in the quiet bathroom was the soft dripping of water. In that silence, looking at Master’s expression, I felt like I could somehow read her heart—something I used to be completely oblivious to.
“I’ll do well and come back safely.”
“Yeah. I trust you.”
“Hehe. Is your worry that obvious on your face?”
“Do you realize you’re getting more and more cheeky these days?”
“Aww, there you go again.”
Even though I said that, Master’s concern was probably natural. Assassinating a being whose true identity we didn’t even fully understand—a so-called god—couldn’t possibly be as easy as it sounded. The plan had been carried out solely on the belief that angels could enter the temple, so there were far too many variables. Just like the child who had now become Isabel said, I realized we had come this far while being far too optimistic.
“But even if it’s dangerous, what can I do? My mission hasn’t changed. And no matter who I fight, I’m confident I won’t lose in hand-to-hand combat.”
At the very least, my strength and stamina should be on par with monsters now, right? After becoming a succubus, I had already distanced myself a little from the human race. I confidently flexed the muscles in my forearm and smiled. Master let out a small chuckle and said,
“You said you’d win against your husband too, didn’t you?”
“Hey, husband? We’re not even married yet.”
“You received a proposal and accepted it, so it’s basically the same as being married. By the way, I heard a rumor that Blackmen can match orcs with nothing but their physical bodies. Is that true?”
“If you dressed an orc in fancy clothes, a black-skinned orc wouldn’t look out of place at all. Their strength and stamina are similar, but above all, their sexual stamina is incredible. Now that I think about it, they really are quite similar to orcs. Though I’m sure they wouldn’t like hearing that.”
“For the Western Continent to be pushed back by monsters when it’s crawling with those monster-like beings… just how monstrous are those Minotaur bastards?”
“Hehe. It’s a relief they don’t inhabit the Eastern Continent.”
The people of the Western Continent, who had been waging endless wars against such Minotaurs, must have developed such robust physiques because of it.
“The Eastern Continent has orcs as its nemesis too. The greatest weapon of orcs is their terrifying reproductive rate. Orcs themselves can be fought evenly by humans if we take up weapons. The problem is replenishing the consumed troops. Compared to humans who take at least fourteen years to reach maturity, orcs reach their prime in just three years. How long can we keep fighting a war of attrition against them…?”
“Just like the monster hunter grandpa said before, we need to eliminate their breeders. But that would require a large-scale subjugation operation, which is difficult while the four nations are busy checking each other.”
“With the threat of monsters right in front of them, they’re too busy watching each other to do anything. Humans really are pathetic.”
Perhaps it was the development of science that allowed them to resist the threat of monsters, which in turn led them to start checking one another. Seeing how the Western Continent, which faced the enormous threat of Minotaurs, had formed a single powerful human nation, it seemed plausible.
Creak.
“Huh? Didn’t I just hear the door open?”
“Hm? Who is it? Is someone supposed to come?”
Mother should be busy draining the vital energy of the researchers right now. Who could it be? The bathroom was filled with hot water in a large tub, so the air was thick with steam. Only dark silhouettes were visible.
“Who’s there?”
Master poked her head out and called. The dark figure paused for a moment, then began approaching again. As it drew closer to the tub, its identity was revealed.
“What the—why is Grandpa here?”
The person Master called “Grandpa” was none other than Faust. Wearing only a towel around his lower body, Faust responded to her words with an exasperated expression.
“That’s what I should be saying. I wondered who was wasting all this hot water. So it was you two. Hmph.”
“Hello.”
“Kyubey, you look healthy. Haven’t found a candidate among your kind yet?”
“Nope. I still haven’t met anyone who gives me that strong feeling.”
“Hahaha. You’ve only recently reached adulthood, so that’s understandable. I wonder how many years it took QA to create one of her own kind.”
He laughed heartily and stroked my head with his wrinkled hand.
“Grandpa, shouldn’t you wash first? If you’re thinking of getting in the tub like that, just know you’ll get kicked in the ass.”
“My, my. Still such a yellow sprout. Where did you sell all your manners toward your elders?”
“Hmph. You want me to treat you with respect? After you experimented on me however you pleased?”
“But in the end, you gained a wonderful body, didn’t you?”
Faust and Master seemed to get along well, yet they always bickered whenever they met. Hmm… I wonder if they realize that, from the side, they just look like a grandfather and granddaughter.
“Alright, alright. Both Faust and Master, that’s enough. You came here to bathe, right? I’ll wash you, so come here.”
“Even Kyubey is treating me like an old man now? I can do it myself.”
“Just leave him. Who would want to wash that wrinkly old body anyway?”
“My, what a temper. Who would even take you?”
“Hmph. This old geezer sure talks a lot. Is your dick even standing?”
“Want to see?”
“Kyaaak! My eyes!”
In the end, Faust left the defeated Master behind, washed himself alone, and entered the tub.
But there was something I had been curious about for a while.
“Faust. I’ve been wondering since earlier. Is this bath originally mixed-gender?”
Faust, who had placed a towel on his head and was letting out a satisfied groan, raised one eyebrow and looked at me.
“This bathroom was originally used only by QA and me. There were never any rules about mixed bathing or anything like that.”
“I see.”
So it was a private bath that Mother used alone with him. Come to think of it, just how long had Faust and Mother known each other?
“How long have you known Mother, Faust?”
“QA, you mean? Hmm…”
Sitting cross-legged in the tub with his eyes closed, he remained silent for a long time, as if recalling the past. Master, who had been watching him with clear displeasure, spoke grumpily.
“No matter what, isn’t it too casual to act like that in front of two women? Don’t scientists have any sexual desire or sense of shame?”
“Since he’s Mother’s partner, maybe it’s not about lust but something else?”
“Whatever the reason, it’s strange to be that relaxed in a bathroom with two women.”
“Why would I feel lust looking at you two, who are practically my great-granddaughters’ age as experimental subjects?”
When he opened his eyes and looked at us, his gaze held not lust, but a small amount of affection.
“QA has been with me in the lab for the past fifteen years. She has been a tremendous help to our research.”
After saying that, Faust fell silent again. It seemed he had no intention of saying anything more.
“That’s it? How anticlimactic.”
“Do you really want to know exactly what kind of help she provided? It’s better if you don’t hear it.”
“That’s right, Master. Sometimes it’s better not to know. But to think she’s been trapped here for fifteen years…”
Even for Mother, who had lived for hundreds of years, fifteen years was not a short time.
“She would fall into a dormant sleep for several months at a time. In the beginning, she suffered greatly from all kinds of experiments.”
Faust told us about some of the experiments Mother had undergone. Live dissection, experiments involving severing and reattaching body parts, and all sorts of cruel tortures to test her immortality.
“Ugh… no matter if it was for research, peeling off skin and burning her with fire is too much, isn’t it? I can’t believe QA endured all that.”
“It turns out that as long as a succubus has enough vital energy, even if her heart is destroyed, she can recover.”
“Eww… you even tried destroying her heart?”
Hmm… so I wouldn’t die from most injuries either. If I played my cards right, I could use that as a hidden weapon to strike from behind. Hmm? Hidden weapon?
A sudden thought flashed through my mind. I abruptly stood up and released my transformation. Immediately, horns, wings, and a tail appeared, and my skin turned a light purple.
“What? Why the sudden transformation?”
“Ho… you’ve grown a lot since I last saw you. You seem even bigger than QA.”
Under the gazes of Master and Faust, I moved in front of the mirror to check my appearance. Reflected in the mirror was a woman with red pupils set in black sclera and purple skin with silver hair. Black horns rose smoothly from between her silver locks, curving elegantly and radiating a powerful presence. Wings larger than Mother’s were neatly folded, gleaming with a glossy black texture. I shook my tail and checked my body’s condition as Faust approached and began observing me closely.
“Hmm. Does the size of each part scale with body size? Though it seems smaller than I expected.”
“They grew along with my magic core. Perhaps growth progresses together with the core, and the size limit is determined by the body?”
“That makes sense. When we cut out QA’s magic core, the size of her horns didn’t shrink. So once they’ve grown, they become independent of the core’s size.”
Ugh… the mention of cutting out a magic core brought back memories of when the collar was installed, making my body tremble slightly. I tapped the horns on both sides of my head with my hand. They were as hard as bone and sharp at the tips—they looked like they could easily be used as weapons.
“I’ve been curious for a while. Can those wings actually fly?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried flying before.”
“She can fly.”
Faust answered Master’s question as she touched my wings. He had been touching my horns. So they really could fly?
“Eh? These are real wings? I thought they were just for show.”
“I thought the same thing.”
“Did QA not teach you? Succubi are capable of flight. More precisely, they float using their wings and vital energy. Learn how from QA.”
I had always kept them hidden, so I never realized. But why didn’t Mother teach me? She really can be such an airhead sometimes.
“Hmm. No matter how many times I see them, succubi really are a beautiful race. It’s such a shame that they’re on the verge of extinction.”
“Didn’t you think about breeding them?”
“We still haven’t fully uncovered how succubi reproduce as a species.”
According to what Mother said, when she saw a woman with the potential to become a succubus, she would get a sudden “pop” of intuition. The only common trait was that they tended to be extremely lewd women.
“Even if they’re lewd women, if only Kyubey has qualified so far, it doesn’t mean much.”
“I’m not particularly lewd, though.”
“You’re plenty lewd. Anyway, I’m not talking about that. I mean pregnancy. Pregnancy. You can just give birth to children directly.”
At Master’s words, Faust tapped my lower abdomen and said,
“Succubi cease reproductive activity. We even tried forced ovulation, but it was completely ineffective. We extracted germ cells, artificially matured them, and attempted fertilization, but they wouldn’t grow properly.”
“Huh? Can’t Mother ovulate?”
“Hm? Can’t you?”
“I just haven’t been doing it.”
“What?”
“I can ovulate eggs and get pregnant.”
My words must have been incredibly shocking. Faust’s eyes shook violently as if an earthquake had struck them.