Succubus Alicia Sien
Alicia Sien. She pondered it often.
Why did succubi have to live like this? Why grovel to powerful demons, clinging to their strength just to scrape by in comfort?
Succubi weren't a weak species by any means. As demons, they boasted superior physical prowess from the start. And even as lower beings, they wielded charm—a devastating mental magic that could topple even higher demons. Wielding such potent spells meant their mana reserves were substantial too.
So why couldn't succubi break free from the low-demon mold?
Wasn't forging their own strength, rather than leeching off others' power, the more promising path for their kind?
The answer came from a friend watching her swing her sword at empty air.
"Alicia, why make life so hard for yourself? We're pretty, aren't we?"
Their physical abilities were impressive, sure—but only by human standards. Among demons, succubi lagged behind. No demon who smashed through everything with brute force would rely on a weaker succubus for physical might.
And their mana? She'd thought it mighty enough for powerful mental magic. But was that truly the case? If their mana was so vast, they should dominate with other spells too—and that was laughable.
Hence the label: one-trick charm ponies.
In truth, charm's potency stemmed from their kind's defining trait: stunning beauty. A trait useless against fellow females, no less.
All told, classifying succubi as low demons was fair and square.
"We lure them in with our looks, make them do our bidding—that's our power, right?"
Alicia rejected that notion. So whenever she had time, she'd swing her sword one more time, cast a basic spell one more time.
That's how she rose to become the Succubus Queen, leader of her kind. Unlike typical mid-rank succubus queens, she'd even climbed to high-demon status.
Alicia Sien believed she'd shattered her species' limits.
"Hnggh♡"
Until she met someone stronger.
She'd poured herself into training, free from the need to fawn over mighty demons, because she was a succubus strong enough to break the mold. A powerful succubus.
But a succubus nonetheless. Born to depend on the strong. Shackled by fate from birth.
Even she, who thought she'd escaped her kind's chains, was still just a succubus.
Before a truly overwhelming force, she was no different from any other—utterly ordinary.
The moment an unfamiliar male demon threw a punch, a brutal shock slammed into her gut. Not mere physical force, but pure demonic mana.
The impact soon twisted into a ticklish buzz, her belly throbbing wildly. Lightning jolted through her veins—zzzt♡—her body quaking, mind blanking to pure white. No thoughts. Nothing.
She didn't want to admit it, but nothing in her life had ever felt this ecstatic.
Alicia Sien's consciousness faded away.
"What's up with her?"
"Maybe... she's putting on that succubus seduction act on you?"
"Nah, that's not seduction..."
Well, could it count as seduction?
The succubus who'd passed out from a gut punch blushed furiously upon waking, legs twisting together. So embarrassing to watch, I averted my eyes—only for her to roll on the ground, belly exposed, whimpering like a puppy begging for scratches.
"Lai, looks like she wants you to rub her belly. Go on."
"S-scary... What if she kills me?"
"Drag her to the cave and do it there. No dying on your watch."
"No way! I hate demons in my cave!"
"I'm a demon."
"Cluster, you're my f-friend..."
Two years together, and now she was whining like that? My resolve softened.
Fine, guess it's on me.
"Hey, succubus?"
"Nng... Hngh♡"
"Never mind, forget it."
Lai and I backed away fast from the succubus, whose eyes were back but mind clearly gone. Human, demon, divine—nobody sane would get near that.
"Cluster, go snap her out of it..."
"She's lost it. Why bother? Let's just leave her and keep moving."
"What if something happens? She might rampage among humans looking for you, spark another war..."
"Then you rub her."
"I'm... weak... Cluster, please? Pretty please?"
I flicked her forehead and sat, waiting for the succubus to come around. No point talking to her in that state.
"Hey, Cluster."
"Yeah?"
I was staring at the sinking sun, inwardly lamenting our first day barely covering 100 meters, when Lai spoke up cautiously.
"That succubus... maybe she woke up embarrassed and that's why she's still lying there?"
"No way..."
"She just twitched a bit..."
Looking closer, her face was beet red—not just flushed, but ears too. Like she'd been caught in something shameful.
"Hey, succubus? You good? Come here."
"C-come here!"
"Hnggh♡?"
No sooner said than she staggered up and shuffled toward us, body jerking like pushed by gale-force wind. Eerily puppet-like.
"Wh-what's wrong with my body? Is this... the pull of my fated one?!"
If that's her "sane" state, could we even talk? Was this gonna be more trouble than Lai?
Dread washed over me.
The succubus—Alicia—sat across from Lai and me, clapping her hands.
Lai, of course, was atoning for her bad intel.
"So you're the Demon King!"
Sane at last, Alicia seemed perfectly normal. Save for insisting she'd blacked out from a massive demonic mana surge to her gut, forgetting everything. We let that slide—too awkward to dwell on.
"I woke wondering why, but of course—the Demon King descends!"
"Care to explain that part? What's the Demon King got to do with you lot waking up?"
"Cluster! Let me explain! So, just release this hand..."
"Wanna face the wall?"
"I'll be good..."
Awkwardly smiling at Lai—kneeling, hands up—Alicia continued.
"You know the previous Demon King, Radiata Versilver, fell in the interspecies war? Demons lost because of it."
"Yeah, wallflower over there told me. Said all mid-rank and above went dormant."
"Right. Outside mana-rich Boreas Region, demonic mana needs a Demon King to sustain it."
Like light and shadow, demonic mana—dark as it was—formed the world's basic fabric. It couldn't vanish entirely.
Low demons scraped by on ambient traces, but mids and highs needed more. Like bigger humans burning more energy, stronger demons required denser mana to function.
With the Demon King dead, mana thinned. Survivors clung to scraps, so the mighty slept.
"If not for that wretched Lai Teresa, no such humiliation..."
"Huh?"
"Oh, right—you're her priestess. No shade on humans if you're not the goddess herself. No need to freak."
She'd flip if she knew that "priestess" was Lai Teresa.
"I woke two years back. So why you only now?"
"Weren't you far away?"
"Nah. Been holed up in this cave for two years... Oh!"
Lai's cave mimicked the divine realm. My mana must've been bottled up inside.
That explained the sudden spread today.
"Cave?"
"Alicia—so demonic mana fills high demons that fast?"
I tossed another question to distract her from "cave," hiding Lai's secret. A Demon King buddying with a goddess? Sketchy. Especially a ditz like her—embarrassing.
"Not quite. Even strong mana builds slow. Density suggests it leaked gradually for 1-2 years, then burst. Some mids are probably up already."
"Lai."
My glare hit Lai, whose arm was creeping down. She'd bragged about fixing my "cave fart," but clearly half-assed it.
My bad, though. About to tell her to drop it—
She misunderstood, jamming her arm back to her ear.
Her choice. Felt wrong to stop her.
"High demons take longer, then?"
"Yes. As for me and the current Demon King... er..."
"Cluster Versilver. Call me Cluster."
"Hng♡"
"Hm?"
"N-nothing. I got lucky—slept near you, so I felt it first."
Lai's cave blocked it; leaks through the hole built slow till today's flood.
Like I was a demonic mana Wi-Fi router. No wonder demons were stirring.
Alicia cleared it up perfectly.
"Lai, drop the hand and sit straight."
"Okay!"
Arm down, knees unfolding—she wobbled from numb legs, crashed, and crack! snapped her arm.