Demonic Baptism
Yu-mi's body had already far surpassed its limits under the relentless cascade of orgasms.
She lay deeply sunk into the sofa, eyes unfocused and mouth half-open.
Sang-hyuk kept himself buried to the hilt in her deepest place and paused for a moment. His own climax was drawing near.
In his mind, Valentine's voice resonated low and calm.
"What wilt thou do with this woman? Wilt thou keep her, or cast her aside?"
She doesn't seem like someone I can keep by my side.
"Then wilt thou drain her essence and slay her?"
Turn this woman into a corpse in my own room? Absolutely not.
"Then transform her into a female incubus and set her free."
I don't know how to do anything. I only just found out yesterday that I even have these strange powers.
"At the moment of climax, recite the incantation I shall give thee. Then baptize her with thy seed."
Sang-hyuk cupped Yu-mi's chin and lifted her face. Her unfocused eyes reflected him hazily. Still buried deep inside her, he resumed a slow, deliberate rhythm.
Yu-mi's body convulsed in a whirlwind of orgasm so fierce it seemed ready to tear soul from flesh; her inner walls clenched around him with mad intensity.
Feeling that crushing pressure, Sang-hyuk drove himself to the root and finally began to come.
Hot semen flooded into her deepest place.
Yu-mi's mouth fell open; her mind went white as she thrashed, unable to endure the pleasure.
In that instant of supreme ecstasy, Sang-hyuk carefully repeated the Latin Valentine whispered to him.
"Mea es."
⟨ Thou art mine. ⟩
The moment the words reached her, Yu-mi's writhing ceased. Her body locked rigid.
Sang-hyuk slowly withdrew.
Still not finished, he followed the voice's instruction and began to paint the remaining seed across her hair and face.
Even after flooding her womb with a considerable amount, a generous quantity still spurted free.
Semen coated Yu-mi's face and forehead thickly.
Sang-hyuk dipped his fingertips in the scattered fluid and slowly traced a demonic sigil upon her brow. Beginning at the center of her forehead, he drew the mark downward, then lightly anointed both cheeks and the skin above her lips.
Gazing at the white fluid still glistening on her forehead, he continued with the second incantation.
"Samaelis nomine impero:
Moriaris et renascaris.
Hic est satanae minister.
Ab hoc tempore animas vorabis."
"In the name of Samael I command:
Die and be reborn.
This is a servant of the Devil.
From this hour forth thou shalt devour souls."
⟨ Demonic Baptism ⟩
The instant the chant ended, Yu-mi's body arched like a drawn bow. Her eyes flew wide; a short, sharp breath tore from her throat.
Her breathing and heartbeat stopped.
Sang-hyuk stepped back and looked down at her.
"Why isn't she breathing? Is she dead?"
But soon the death-like rigidity left her staring face. She drew a deep, shuddering breath.
Only then did Sang-hyuk declare in a low voice:
"Thou art my servant. As thy master I issue two commands."
"Command me, Master."
"First: never approach me again."
Yu-mi fixed him with a gaze burning with resentment.
"Second command: so long as thou keepest the first, thou art free. Leave me and live as thou wilt. I shall give no further orders."
Yu-mi slowly rose from the sofa. Semen still dripped from her forehead and face, yet she made no move to wipe it away. Between her thighs the glistening trails of her own fluids had spread wide.
Without a word she gathered her clothes and dressed. Her movements were unexpectedly precise and composed.
Once fully clothed, Yu-mi turned to look at him.
There was neither submission nor gratitude in that gaze—only a deep, dark grudge, and at the same time the liberation of no longer having to wrestle with her relationship to Sang-hyuk.
She did not speak. She simply glared at him once, then walked to the entrance, opened the door, and vanished.
The sound of the door closing rang briefly through the studio apartment.
Sang-hyuk stared at the empty sofa and sank down where he stood. Yu-mi's warmth and scent still lingered in the living room. He covered his face with both hands and exhaled a long breath.
In his mind Valentine's voice laughed softly.
"The contract is sealed."
Sang-hyuk did not answer. Outside the window, now dark, the moon had risen.
"I wish to speak with you, Valentine."
He called into the empty air.
No further reply came.
The thought that Yu-mi was gone brought relief and lingering regret in equal measure.
After all, she had been his first love.
The moment he accepted that she was gone forever, every terrible memory vanished and only the good ones remained.
Alone, Sang-hyuk sat recalling her better qualities and the happy times they had shared, trapped for a long while in a tangle of conflicting feelings.
While wiping away the fluids she had left behind, sudden tears of self-pity spilled over.
For some time he crouched in a corner of the room, shoulders shaking as he wept.
"It's because I'm worthless that it turned out like this. It's all my fault."
If only he had been a little better-looking… if only he had been more manly… if only he had been a little taller…
Perhaps Yu-mi would never have wandered among other men and they might have built a happy home together.
While he was still crying, his eyes fell on the kitchen knife she had brandished earlier.
At the sight of it Sang-hyuk simply shook his head.
Let go of the attachment.
He went to a nearby convenience store, bought a bottle of soju, and drank it straight with no side dishes.
Yet no drunkenness came at all.
He considered buying another bottle, but the thought of going out again was too tiresome, so he simply lay down.
After long tossing and turning, Sang-hyuk finally fell asleep only as dawn approached.
In the dream…
Sang-hyuk stood alone in a dark room.
The boundaries of wall, floor, and ceiling were indistinct. The air was cold and damp. Somewhere a faint scent of burning candle wax drifted.
In that darkness a man sat in an elegant chair.
The man rose slowly and approached.
Valentine emerged from the shadows.
Hair of silver-blond, pale and perfect features. Clad in the garments of a medieval noble, he looked down upon Sang-hyuk.
"At last we meet properly."
Valentine continued.
"I am but a core remaining within thy body; while thou art awake, conversation with thee is extremely limited. As I am an incubus, true discourse is possible only in dreams—a regrettable state of affairs."
Sang-hyuk stepped back and asked,
"Where is this…?"
"Within thy dream. My domain. Here I hold absolute power. No god, no angel can withstand my strength in this place."
"Who are you?"
"I am Count Valentine, incubus."
"What is an incubus?"
"Incubi and succubi—members of the demon race. An incubus is a male demon, a succubus a female. Yet both spring from the same root: Lilith. They seduce humans of the opposite sex and feed upon the human essence known as ectoplasm."
"Then have I become an incubus?"
"Not yet…"
"Not yet. But my power is exercised through thee; therefore thou mayest wield all of my authority."
"So I'm not an incubus yet, but I can use your power by borrowing it."
"Precisely. The power thou now possessest originates from my core planted within thy manhood."
He raised a finger and pointed to Sang-hyuk's forehead.
"What exactly are the phenomena I've experienced? Why do women change like that?"
"When thou meetest a woman's eyes and smile with intent, she falls under thy hypnosis. The collapse of the mind's defenses—that is hypnosis. Think of it as a half-sleeping state."
"In that state thou mayest infiltrate her nerves. Thy hypnosis is no mere suggestion; it is an exceedingly potent force that temporarily subordinates the target's very thoughts to thine own."
"And after that?"
"The next stage is domination. Through thy bodily fluids, which explode dopamine, thou makest the woman thy slave."
Sang-hyuk clenched his teeth and asked,
"Then earlier I turned Yu-mi into something… what happened to her?"
Valentine smiled thinly.
"Just as one bitten by Dracula becomes a vampire, when thou recitest the contract's incantation and baptizest her with thy seed, the subject is reborn as a succubus. She sheds the limits of humanity and becomes a being that feeds upon desire. That is precisely what thou didst to the woman this night."
"What becomes of her—of Yu-mi?"
"The future of a succubus who awakens without a matron to guide her is plain enough."
"What does that mean?"
"Keep abreast of the news. Rumors of that woman will soon begin to spread."
"There's one more thing I want to know."
"The child in Yu-mi's belly might not even be mine, but if it is… I want to raise it…"
"What child?"
"That woman was pregnant earlier."
"In that room there were only two life forces. There was never any child."
"…"
The candle snuffed out. Absolute darkness surged in. Within that darkness only Valentine's crimson eyes glowed, fixed straight upon Sang-hyuk.
"Thou art the most virtuous human I have ever beheld. That is why I chose to hide within thee for a time… Yet forget not: the race to which thou belongest—humanity—is the most wicked species in the cosmos, far surpassing even demons…"
The moment Sang-hyuk tried to shout something, the dream shattered like glass and scattered.
Sang-hyuk awoke to the ringing of his alarm clock.
He drew a deep breath.
It was roughly a month later that Sang-hyuk heard news of Yu-mi.
To be continued…