The Sensation of Devolving into a Bitch
Isana wasn't smashing the wolf statue.
It was because another "me"—one that had started appearing in her vision recently—had spoken to her.
She stood there with her arms crossed, leaning against the wolf statue. Her long black hair was neatly tied back, and her loose black martial arts uniform had faded to gray. Glimpses of her nape revealed scars both large and small, and she chewed on a reed stem clenched between her teeth. She had this air about her that screamed she shouldn't have grown up like that.
[You've peeked into my memories, right? Now you know the future... So, what do you plan to do about Han Do-yoon?]
"I'm not thinking anything... That hasn't happened yet, after all."
[You can feel my resentment too, can't you? I'm you, after all.]
"You're different from me. Stop talking nonsense and disappear."
[People repeat their mistakes... You think you'll end up any different from me? Why didn't you drink that potion earlier? You were scared, weren't you? Scared of turning out like me.]
"That's... inevitable. It's like flinching when you try to exercise after getting hurt once."
[No, that's the future coming for you.]
The hallucination-like "me" spat out the reed stem with a ptui.
Isana decided to ignore her.
"Get away from the statue."
[You can't deny what I said.]
"I said move!"
[I'm a parasite living in your head. Just swing your sword and it'll be over.]
She was just about to draw her sword.
...The hallucination vanished, and a rough presence stirred behind her.
The moment she turned, she saw Han Do-yoon—and the wolf chasing him. And the gun barrel aimed right at her.
'No way... is he shooting at me?'
Their eyes met over the gun barrel.
Shaking pupils... Only then did she realize what Han Do-yoon was trying to do, but it was too late.
No human legs could outrun a massive beast like that. Especially not with Han Do-yoon's cursed body.
-Thwack!
The alchemist's body slammed into the wolf's snout like mud flying through the air.
To Isana, the whole scene unfolded like a slow-motion video.
'...Because of me?'
She had no intention of becoming a helpless damsel in distress.
But in that moment... she realized she had become the very thing she despised.
Isana became the Sword God to correct her mistake.
A "enlightenment" that wasn't truly hers had seeped in unbidden, taking control of her body.
Beyond the Formless Sword and the realm of the Mind Sword—it was the domain of wielding a sword that didn't even exist.
She had experience battling an "outer god" that could slice stars and invade the Tower World.
-Shiiiing.
The Form of Heaven, Shadow of Sound, Blade of Tower revealed its majesty.
Its sharpness rent the air, causing light to refract.
The sword vanished, becoming a substance imperceptible to the naked eye.
But the Sword God could still sense its presence.
She swung the "formless sword" gripped in her hand.
-Whoosh!
Boom!
As if transcending physical limits, the wolf statue shattered into pieces unrelated to where the sword tip pointed.
The massive wolf linked to it screamed and collapsed.
While the monster, stripped of its invincible power, writhed in agony on the ground, Isana caught Han Do-yoon's falling body mid-air.
'His spine...'
It was hunched like a hunchback's, but as long as he didn't die, it was fine. Clearing Floor 10 would heal all injuries and restore everything...
And for the current Isana, hunting a single massive wolf stripped of the statue's power was no challenge.
'I made him get hurt.'
She pulled potions from her inventory.
The three potions Han Do-yoon had given her, each enhancing various physical abilities.
Without hesitation, she downed them all at once...
Her frail female body drew closer to the Sword God's domain.
'So, I have to fix this.'
She had no confidence.
Her memories of the 99th floor with Han Do-yoon weren't fully intact yet.
And she wasn't even sure if those were truly "her."
But right now, she had to become the Sword God.
Like a hesitant girl fumbling around, causing an accident.
"Form of Heaven, Shadow of Sound, Blade of Tower."
She set Han Do-yoon down and began her incantation.
The self-talk the dream "me" uttered before swinging her sword, to conjure a clear image.
"Time's Emotion, Peak of Resolve, Footsteps of Order."
Azure mana swirled around her, gathering into the intangible sword.
No one could see how the sword's form changed, but Isana could feel its weight.
"Time's Emotion, Peak of Resolve, Footsteps of Order."
What materialized was a single greatsword.
A crescent blade specialized for slashing, over two meters long—longer than Isana herself.
Her foot traced a circle.
One hand on the scabbard, the other on the hilt; the stance she took was the iai draw, ready to unsheathe at blinding speed.
"Dark Side of the Moon, Freezing of Sunspots, Song of the Blade...."
As all the statues shattered, the wolf that had lost consciousness stirred again.
The moment its unfocused eyes regained their feral gleam, Isana swung.
"Divine Qi Union, Five Strokes Moonlight Slash."
-Flash!
Light rippled, and everything taller than Isana's shoulders bowed its head in an instant... No, more precisely, it was severed.
Teaching all things proper etiquette toward the sword—that was the Sword God's duty.
The act was simple.
The sword traced a crescent arc like a new moon.
The arc soared into the night sky, leaving a comet-tail trail, and everything around paid due respect to the miraculous blade.
Naturally, the wolf blocking its path was no exception.
Isana exhaled deeply as she sheathed the greatsword.
The clear click of the blade hitting the guard echoed, and the wolf's body split in two, collapsing.
Only after the wolf fell did the world break its silence.
You have cleared Floor 10.
Shortest clear time record renewed!
Top party contributor selected... Han Do-yoon, Isana.
Would you like to confirm?
Messages filled her vision.
But checking that crap could wait—she needed to check on Han Do-yoon first.
'Yeah, no way there'd be any issues left.'
His hunched spine had mercifully returned to normal.
Isana let out a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
As the tension released... the price of unleashing techniques in a body so unsuited to them came crashing down.
'No... this... this can't be right.'
The aftereffects of Divine Sword Union were healed upon clearing Floor 10.
This bodily anomaly was a different reaction.
The Sword God didn't know what it was, but Isana did.
'Why am I suddenly so sensitive?'
Using her sword like a cane, she touched her lower abdomen.
Like someone holding in pee, her back arched, and her thighs clenched together tightly.
'No way... those potions from earlier...'
And right on cue.
Han Do-yoon woke up.
@
Lately, I'd been in more near-death situations than I could count.
The common thread? Women were always involved.
As I pieced that together, I came back to my senses.
'Well, at least we cleared it.'
I shoved the messages filling my view aside and checked my body first...
Everything resetting to normal was par for the course after a floor clear—no need to check, but humans like confirming anyway.
'Why's my back so stiff... Have I been overdoing it lately?'
I thumped my lower back as I stood.
Isana was turned away, striking some weird pose.
"What's up? Did we get some killer reward or something?"
She'd suddenly plopped down on the ground.
I let out a long sigh, thinking it might be time to come clean.
"...Isana. If you have something to say, spit it out."
Still no reply.
Her shoulders trembled.
Looked like she was swallowing her anger...
Well, couldn't be helped.
If she found out I'd betrayed her right before reaching the 100th floor, just as our dream of returning to Earth was within grasp... Of course she'd be pissed.
I steeled myself mentally.
I had no idea how much she knew, or how she'd learned what she shouldn't—but if it came to this, I had to pay the price calmly.
Self-sacrifice? Nah.
Self-satisfaction.
Back then, everyone forgave me with an "It couldn't be helped," and we pushed on to the 99th floor. Knowing I'd at least atoned let me move forward.
If they didn't forgive me and lashed out instead, that was fine too.
"...Isana?"
It didn't take long to realize her reaction was off.
I approached her cautiously, like a cat, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
And in that instant—
"D-don't touch me!"
Isana shoved me away with a weak yelp.
Cold sweat drenched her, whether from the battle's aftermath or something else.
Her face was flushed, her nape slick with sweat, strands of hair sticking to it.
...Her pupils shook, her lips quivered.
Her nervous system was hypersensitive, her body disobeying her will.
I clocked it immediately.
"You..."
"Th-the potion... you gave me... Ngh!"
"...It's a beneficial effect, so it didn't reset. No harm to your body."
"Th-that's not the problem!"
For a split second, Isana panicked—wondering if she'd die again like in that future.
Fortunately, her suspicion was unfounded.
This was a different reaction.
'...The one that turns a woman into a bitch in heat.'
Senses growing weak, devolving from the Sword God who wielded thousands of blades to slice stars... into a female spreading her legs for a weaker male.
No matter how much of a Sword God she was, she was still a woman.
Proof of the axiom: a woman needs a man.
"Wh-what did you... put in that drug?!"
I approached Isana.
The Sword God who bisected the floor boss and birthed a comet in the night sky backed away from someone weaker than her.
'It was better when she knew nothing.'
Better when she was just a woman...
Now that she knew about me, she understood the danger and potency of my potions—and the unknown future terrified her.
Using drugs to... fuck me?
'He never showed interest in me like that!'
-Thud!
Backing up, she bumped into a tree stump that had received "etiquette training" from the Five Strokes Moonlight Slash.
Plenty of escape routes around, but she trembled like a cornered animal... Not fear of being devoured by a predator, but anticipation of "that act" she'd experienced many times.
'If I get taken like this...'
Her lower belly swelling full, that place squirting and twitching, snake-like tongue tormenting her stiff nipples until they ached.
'Ah...'
Just imagining it... her crotch grew slick.
"...Don't want it?"
I met her teary, shaking head.
It almost felt like I was bullying her.
Does she not want me?
Pathetic loser thoughts crept in.
But.
'If she really hated it, she'd refuse outright.'
-Swish.
I undid the sash holding her uniform pants.
Her pale legs gleamed bare, thighs slick with arousal.
I looked at Isana one last time.
She let out frail moans, panting.
The bandages binding her chest had half-unraveled, exposing perky pink nipples making their case.
"Sorry. I must've mixed up the potion wrong."
Her head shook side to side at my words, loaded with layered meaning.
"N-no... It's not that, this is..."
I leaned down.
Isana knew what I was about to do and tried to flee even harder.
But the tree stump blocked her like an iron wall.
With nowhere to go, her upper body trapped, her legs splayed wide by chance—my face drew near her crotch.
"N-now's scary...!"
Her uniform top, splayed open like a kimono, draped over her head.
Like peeking only her face out from warm blankets.
Isana's hands gently gripped my head.
Not pushing away, not pulling closer—just that strength.
...I don't want you, or I do.
Even after giving her the choice to push or pull, no real self showed.
'If we've come this far, like always, I can just do what I want.'
Women don't know their own hearts, and neither do I.
I didn't have much experience.
But... at some point, I realized doing things my way never caused issues.
I flicked out my tongue.
Her coarse pubic hair brushed my face, sticky labia like melted cheese.
As I slipped the soft key into the closed door, a bird-like scream burst out with a gush of fluid.
"Hyaaahhn♡"
Truth be told, I'd anticipated the potion's side effect: going into heat.
I figured if she was in heat, that ambiguous distance between us would vanish.