The Seventh Empress's Life Vessel
The woman who had introduced herself as Seraphila—the Life Vessel—sat on the bed filling the dark room. Staring at her, Eli began rummaging through her memories.
Seraphila. Seraphila. A name she'd heard somewhere before. Faint, but lingering in the corner of her mind. She racked her brain, trying to pull it to the surface.
"Seraphila. Seraphila...?"
As her thoughts continued, Eli's eyes suddenly flashed as if something had clicked. She stared at Seraphila.
"Seraphila Lionel of Eterion. Seventh emperor of the Eterion Empire—and the first female one."
The throne that only futanari had ever ascended, now claimed by a woman for the first time. Recorded in history as an exceptional ruler, she was the hero who had saved the empire from the path of corruption after just six generations. Eli felt dazed at the sight of a figure straight out of her academy textbooks sitting right in front of her.
It hit her like a hammer to the head. In this unbelievable situation, Eli slowly tried to process what was happening.
"Hmph. So, am I already dead, then?"
"Who are you? I mean, you."
"Hm? Didn't you hear what that futa over there said? I am Seraphila. Seraphila Lionel of Eterion. Empress of the Eterion Empire."
"Not that."
Kairan eyed Seraphila warily.
"Hmm? Ah."
Reading something in that gaze, Seraphila began introducing herself again.
"Impressive eyes you've got. Or did I give too many hints?"
"...A lingering thought?"
"No, not a lingering thought. I'm just a terminal. A spare me, created long ago by the me who craved immortality. Hmm, like a backup life, you could say. Though right now, this body's too weak to even use magic."
Seraphila gazed wistfully at her own body as she spoke.
"Eli, how many emperors have there been so far?"
"The 19th."
"Hmm... Well, no need for details like reign lengths since I don't know them."
"Strikeout on the bluff."
"Yeah..."
Eli gave a faint smile as she looked at Seraphila. The woman stared back blankly, her expression puzzled. Her eyes held no spark of life, exuding an eerie void—no presence, no vitality at all.
As she'd said, the Seraphila before them was a kind of terminal. A failed backup life.
"Well... doesn't seem like a lie. Can't feel any life in her, either."
"Hmm. And you, the white-haired futa there—are you a saintess?"
"Yeah, Saintess Elena Serenia."
"Hmm. Then the futa next to you must be the hero. House Borg?"
Kairan nodded slightly at Seraphila's words. Noting the reaction, Seraphila smiled faintly and clapped her hands.
"Just as I thought. That beautiful bronze skin and massive cock are hallmarks of House Borg. My dream was always to have that dick shatter my womb someday..."
Rolling her eyes playfully as she spoke, Seraphila slowly spread her legs and looked at Kairan.
"...Right now. I'd like you to make that dream come true."
"Heh, ngh."
"Huhu. A chance to taste an empress's pussy?"
Kairan slowly approached Seraphila. There was no piercing intimidation like from Belia, no threat of death like from that ugly bandit leader. Nothing at all. And with the confidence that Eli would have stopped her if it were dangerous, she didn't hesitate.
Cold.
Seraphila's body was ice-cold. Utterly devoid of warmth. As Kairan pushed her down and tried to insert her cock, Eli called out.
"Hold up."
"Eli?"
"Yeah... There. Done."
Pulling Kairan away from Seraphila, Eli drew the sign of the cross. Holy power spread out, gathering into the shape of a key.
"Know what a 'Life Vessel' is?"
"Lich thing, right? Their spare life."
"Yeah. They call it a spare life, but it's basically treated like an 'object.' So..."
Click.
The holy key plunged straight into Seraphila's head. A clicking sound like unlocking a door echoed, and Seraphila's body began to shudder violently.
"Ah, nghaaah?!"
A crackling, grating noise assaulted their ears. Staring at Seraphila's glitching, wavering body, Kairan asked Eli,
"What... did you do?"
"Simple. Just engraved a magic seal on the 'object.'"
"That's an object?"
"Yep. Not a living being."
Listening to Eli's nonchalant explanation, Kairan pictured the perfect analogy.
A love doll. One loaded with cutting-edge AI. Human in appearance, but at its core, just a doll. A spare body for immortality—not alive. That's why it could be marked with a magic seal and turned into property.
Simple, but not something anyone would think of easily.
"Heh, heeeyyng...♥"
Seraphila trembled at the eyes, drooling fluids from below. Eli grabbed her face and said,
"Looks like we've got a portable onahole."
"For real?"
"Hehe, even if it's a copy, turning an imperial pussy into an onahole? Anyone else sees this, they'd call it blasphemy and try to kill us..."
Eli spoke as she tended to Seraphila, who had collapsed like she'd overloaded.
"Well... so she's the boss, then?"
"Pretty much. Not defeated, more like subjugated... Oh, here it is. The dungeon token."
Responding to Kairan—who had switched to casual speech—Eli picked up the token that had fallen on the bed.
"With this, we get credit for clearing the dungeon."
Kairan nodded and exited the boss room. When she returned to where Karni was—
"Guhhh! Nn, gurooorb...♥"
—Karni was being smothered by a mimic.
"...That idiot."
"Huh... Did I not heal her brain enough...?"
Kairan sighed deeply and rescued the fool who'd fallen for the trap.
"It was definitely a reward chest...!"
She didn't forget to comfort the teary-eyed Karni, either.
She's turned into a total kid...
Whoosh—
Pure white snow fell from the sky. It piled up relentlessly, freezing what had once been a swamp.
"Still alive, huh."
"Hngh. You thought that'd kill me?"
"Damn monster bitch."
At Serianne's irritated words, the lich in the form of a young woman burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Pot calling the kettle black. You and me both—we're far beyond human now."
"Hmph, at least I'm better off than you? Your speech has turned all childish too, Seraphila."
"...Call me liege, Seri."
Serianne snorted at Seraphila's icy tone.
"Ha, I've never had a brain-eaten-by-a-means as my liege."
Crackle—
Mana rippled, melting the surrounding ice into water. The water swelled instantly, blotting out the sky in a massive puddle that replaced the clouds. The lich let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
"You're a monster too."
Purple magic circles appeared around Seraphila, perched on a chunk of ice. One, two, ten, a hundred... They filled the space, and from them erupted pillars of immense mana.
Kraka-ka-ka-ka—!
Snap!
The light flick of a finger froze the massive water mass and mana pillars in an instant.
Crack.
Serianne shattered the fully frozen mana pillar. Seraphila clicked her tongue, watching her.
How the hell is that a 'water mage'? She's an ice mage through and through.
"Result of an experiment too?"
"No, pure effort."
"Damn it."
Seraphila looked around. The swamp, now blanketed in snow and ice. Knowing it was formed from the mana of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Gratos, sent chills down her spine. The swamp was Gratos's mana—which meant the entire swamp was Gratos.
A normal mage would have been digested as nutrients, but this monster had frozen the whole thing solid. Not a drop of mana left untouched. All of it.
"Get lost already."
Seraphila growled. Words possible only because they knew neither could kill the other. Otherwise, they'd have fought until one was obliterated.
"Fine."
Serianne scooped up the fallen priestess nearby and vanished. A simple teleport. Ordinary magic, aside from vanishing from detection range in an instant.
"This is exhausting... For real."
Resting by tapping a rock with her skeletal right arm, she saw space slice open beside her. A headless dullahan emerged.
"Gratos?"
"Captured."
"I see."
Rahatrik, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, asked the lich,
"Seraphila. How's the Great Forest?"
"Mm, probably under attack by now."
"You okay staying here?"
"Yeah, this is a clone. Main body's at the forest."
Rahatrik nodded at Seraphila's words.
"How many Life Vessels left?"
"Mm, 100."
"100? Plenty. Enough to harass the elves..."
"99, 98, 97..."
"Huh?"
Rahatrik's confused voice. Still, the numbers kept dropping.
"40, oh. 17. 12, 11... Hold up, retreating."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"How many left?"
"Mm... 5?"
Haaaah...
At Rahatrik's heavy sigh, Seraphila quickly added an excuse.
"W-well...! The most important one's hidden in the safest spot?"
"...Where?"
"A dungeon. The boss room of one that's stayed intact for 600 years."
Seraphila recalled the spare body hidden in the boss room of the dungeon she'd made herself. A perfect replica of her living self. The first doll she'd created, yet the pinnacle of her craft.
Thinking of it, Seraphila declared confidently.
"It's fine. I'm immortal, after all."