NOVEL NEXT Volume 2 – Chapter 15
We returned to the Island of Rozpacz thanks to Tomiko’s teleportation skill. She could teleport anywhere she had previously been, and as part of her training she has been shown all of the major locations around the world. No, this didn’t mean she had to travel there herself. Another catgirl attendant would have simply teleported her to various locations on after another.
Hollander was one such location. All we had to do was make our way out of the mines to our meeting point just at the entrance. Throughout our walk, I... serviced Elissa until Tomiko showed up.
The poor girl had a lot on her plate you see. First off, as a Demon Lord attendant she had to deal with whatever her charge desired. This was technically Elissa. The relationship between them was pretty cold, so at least she wasn’t expected to do much on that front, but the lack of orders probably wore on her desire to serve us. Second, because we had created Castle-Kun, that made her the formal residence for Tomiko. She was still adjusting to the pulsing labyrinth of meat which was its interior. At the very least Castle-kun was self-cleaning. Third... well, the three new additions to our group.
It had been a week since I created the flesh castle, and things had gone pretty well so far. The new, evil version of the guild girls were doing great, simply put. They were adjusting very quickly to their new forms, and lived inside the castle, doing various tasks.
What tasks? I have no clue. “Leave it to us, and don’t worry our Lordships!”, Delia would say, formally an Abyssal Slave Leader according to my contract screen.
They were still completely naked, but they didn’t seem to mind. They no longer looked human, and totally matched the appearance of how I’d imagine monster girls to look like, with scaly skin and other unique features, including their horns. And yes, they were adapting very quickly. They were also learning to control their new bodies. They could move very quickly and were very strong. They could also see in the dark and communicate with each other telepathically. It was hard to believe they used to be a gaggle of quivering humans, ready to beg for mercy at any given opportunity. This was something I had Castle-kun to thank for. She had impregnated them with power, the power of our seed, without turning their insides into Abyssal Penis Worms.
The problem was that they loved Tomiko. I don’t mean sexually. I mean... maybe a little sexually. They treated her as a pet, and would look for constant opportunities to pet her ears and molest her sensitive parts, like her tail.
Maybe that was part of their new nature, as all they ever did was play, tease, fuck each other and eat random shit they ordered from the catgirl kitchen – between their supposed “work” at the castle. Tomiko, was to train them, but was trapped between being their superior and slowly becoming their cat pet. The problem was that Tomiko was technically weaker than them. A kind of upside-down totem-pole situation, where the official roles were reversed.
I was seriously considering using (Eye)Corrupt on Tomiko to transform her into an abyssal creature. Maybe she’d unlock some new powers. But if she lost her ability to teleport us, we’d lose a major asset. I’d have to think about it more.
Elissa spent her time that week before we found out what happened to our “children” reading about magic in a library of sorts on the island. She also visited the labyrinth beneath Castle-kun’s chamber practicing her fighting skills in a sort of almost-indestructible practice arena. Castle-kun didn’t just sprout upwards, but also downwards, underground. I could sense an innate potential and desire for growth through some kind of link I had to Castle-kun. Elissa shared this desire as well, so they got along very well. If the level cap of 200 limited us, we’d just need to practice our practical skills and improve our knowledge.
It was an idyllic week, that is until Elissa demanded she wanted to practice some of her moves outside the island. She still had the adventurer’s bug. That’s how we ended up meeting Josh, who she saw as no more than a plaything. I’m pretty sure she always planned to kill him, but she expedited those plans when he casually mentioned the total annihilation of Fortress City of Wealdthurst. Not at the hands of some penis worms, those were not mentioned at all.
Instead the whole city was wiped out, blown up, or otherwise completely destroyed by some unknown force. Rumour was (according to Josh’s ramblings) that it was the work of the nation of Kalingrad, which bordered Bernhart’s east where the fortress (and border) city of Wealdthurst was located. Both nations fell under the power of the Emperor, but it permitted wars as long as they didn’t endanger the human empire itself. But it was only a rumour. Kalinigrad, however, was a major producer of explosives for the empire. Perhaps it had been ordered by the Emperor to destroy Wealdthurst before the Abyssal Worms could spread further?
I could understand the thinking of whoever ordered such a decisive response. But I didn’t understand how they could have gotten all those explosives to the city on time. I was pretty sure we had caught everyone by surprised. Hell! Even I was surprised. Something didn’t add up. But as it stood, Elissa and I were enemies of Kalingrad, and the Emperor. Who am I kidding? We’re absolutely the enemies of the human empire as a whole. Where we stood with the elven tribes, the dwarven coalition and the smattering of other races was still unknown. Elissa had read there was constant war, but the human empire currently dominated all others after its unification under the first emperor.
But what we needed was information, not a history or geography lesson.
“Tomiko,” I said as we finished teleporting to Castle-kun in a blue flash. She was still blushing after seeing the spectacle Elissa was putting me through when she had originally teleported in. Ao and the guild girls were currently playing together in another section of the castle.
“Anything you ask Abyssal One-meow!”, her ears perked up as she responded dutifully.
“Summon the Pentagram! I want to talk to the other Demon Lords,” I commanded.
“Meow! Yes, of course, Abyssal One. What should I propose as the purpose of the gathering-meow?”
“We’d like information about the destruction of the Fortress City of Wealdthurst, in the eastern nation of Bernhart.”
“Please excuse my foolishness, Abyssal One-meow. But are your... children not the cause-meow?”
“No, we have just received new intelligence. The city was completely destroyed by some unknown force, possibly the Kalingrad nation at the behest of the Empire. But we need to know what exactly transpired before we take action.”
“That’s right, Hero and I will find those responsible for the murder of my children!” Elissa added.
“Understood-meow!”, Tomiko humbly said as she bowed, her forehead pointed the floor, her cat tail protruding straight out behind her tight-covered ass bent forwards and sideways in a very cute expression of loyalty and desire to please her masters.
I really had a soft-spot for Tomiko. It was the cat ears, her cute eyes, her pitch-black and elegant maid uniform. Her tail. Those luscious legs encased in midnight-black tights. Tomiko was just so terribly cute, and I wanted to do terrible things to her for being so. I couldn’t forget that one night when we arrived here and I had a chance to taste Tomiko’s pretty body. But I was a parasite, and I had Elissa, whose whole body, breasts and legs, and Holy Land I was enveloping right now. Was I being greedy? Maybe I was jealous of the guild girls...
An hour passed. Elissa was sitting on the throne in the main chamber. Her latex-covered leg impatiently rocking on top of her other latex-covered leg. She really had the body of a goddess. I had recently taken to individually sealing myself around each of her toes, instead of squishing them all together in a sock. Elissa asked for whatever improvements to her mobility I could come up with, and finer control over her feet was just an excuse for me to make the bottom of her suit into toe-socks. It was so hot. I could feel her wriggling each toe as she was thinking and pondering.
She was unusually silent. Perhaps she really was jealous of Tomiko. But somehow that feeling, the feeling of jealousy was stirring emotion in me that made me feel more alive, like I was being recognised as a someone, not a something. And indeed, I was short on emotions ever-since reincarnating. I thought I’d never miss them. But here I was, missing how ordinary I used to be, taking so much pleasure in the simple life of being a gacha-obsessed NEET. Fantasising about tights.
Perhaps I was just feeling nostalgic. Right now, with my new existence as an Abyssal Lord, I was learning to live, to become strong, to become part of Elissa, part of her body and together, as Demon and Abyssal Lords, we’d get our vengeance and maybe, just maybe, enjoy ourselves while doing so? What was there to be afraid of? Of what would the goddesses do? Of what would happen to Elissa? Of why Elissa was so annoyed whenever I thought of Tomiko? Of why I liked it for some reason?
Just as I was about to use the Stop skill to talk to Elissa in private, there was a blue flash in the audience chamber. Tomiko had returned.
“What news bring you?”, I said, sounding a bit more formal than I intended.
“Meow! I am very sorry my Lordships! I have failed-meow!”
“What do you mean?”, I asked. I wasn’t expecting this.
“I have spoken to the other Demon Lord attendants to arrange for the Pentagram. Demon Lord Mellow is willing to help under certain conditions. However, Demon Lord Justus and Demon Lord Pandora would not hear me out-meow.”
“Meow, in fact they refused-meow”, Tomiko was bowing with her forehead pointing towards the floor ever since she teleported back, and her voice sounded strained, as if she was struggling to maintain composure.
“Why?” Elissa asked as she stood up off the throne.
“Demon Lord Justus appears to be displeased about the size and appearance of your Lordship’s Demon Lord Castle-meow.”
I could feel Castle-kun stirring. Don’t worry, you’re a beautiful, mighty castle!
“And that Panda girl?” Elissa probed.
“Meow! She is said to have said that she won’t talk to Your Lordships until you... customise me... meow...”, Tomiko said with an odd tone in her voice I couldn’t place exactly. There was something in her tone that was new, different, I’d never heard before?
“Customise you?!” I asked, my tongue throwing some spit as I blurted the question out.
“Meow... All the other Demon Lord attendants have been ‘customised’ by their Lordships-meow.”
I was waiting for Tomiko to continue... and she did.
“Aiko, Demon Lord Justus’ attendant, for example has been taught magic by Demon Lord Justus himself-meow.”
Interesting...
“Sakura, belonging to Demon Lord Mellow... I don’t know the details, but half her body is made of slime... and she can... do things the others can’t do-meow...”
Were we neglecting our resident catgirl all this time? I mean, I had planned for this, but I wasn’t ready...
“And... Haruki, belonging to Demon Lord Pandora... well she didn’t use to always be a boy, or so I’ve heard... meow...”
Wait? What? That panda loli turned her attendant into a boy. Just for fun?! Or is there some reason for it?!
Elissa, however, was focused on different details of this situation entirely and decided to cut right to the point with an unexpected question, “Where are we supposed to get a cock for you? Do we even need one?!” she demanded, her voice rising with frustration and a little bit of anger, but more confusion than anything else. I mean, she had a penis of sorts herself, but that was thanks to my emergency surgery. Anyway, all of this was beside the point!
Tomiko, still bowing, remained silent. I had to come to her rescue.
“Elissa, I don’t think this is what Pandora-sama means by ‘customise’. We’re supposed to do something unique to us,” I paused, not sure what I wanted to do exactly, and not wanting to commit to it just yet, “Anyway, Tomiko, don’t worry, we’ll work something out, and stop bowing,” I said in my most reassuring voice.
“Abyssal One... Meow?” Tomiko let out a questioning whisper as she stood back straight up, tears in her eyes.
She was crying throughout! No wonder she was bowing all this time! I’m the worst! I need to fix this situation immediately!
I paused time using the Stop skill to speak to Elissa.
It took a lot of convincing. And I mean a lot of convincing but this was going to be best for everyone.
When time returned to normal, I had a deal for Tomiko.
“Tomiko, if you can somehow convince Justus to feel better about our castle, and get him to meet us we’ll... customise... you” “
“This should also clear up any misunderstandings between us and Pandora-sama,” I added.
“But we’ll only do it if you’re willing. We don’t want to force anything on you.”
By ‘we’, I really meant ‘me’. Elissa was happy to just do whatever, without caring for what Tomiko wanted.
“Meow... Your Lordships are so kind-meow... Yes, please do with me what you will. I exist only to serve you-meow, and if I may serve you better when you customise me, then I will be of much use to you-meow!”
So we settled it. Tomiko had a quest to convince Justus. And if she succeeded, I’d use my (Eye)Corrupt title skill on her. She’d become an abyssal being just like the slave girls, Ao and me.
[STATUS]
Level: 200
Title: Abyssal Lord
HP: 999,999,970/999,999,970
MP: 450,000,001/450,000,001
EXP: 1,000,000,000,000
STR: ?
CON: ?
INT: ?
AGI: ?
CHA: ?
LUK: ?
Skills:
Locate
Cleanse
Couture
Conceal Aura
Reveal Aura
Death==Evolution (passive)
Stop
Start
Master Chef
???
[…]
Title skills:
(Abyssal)Command
(Domain)Create
(Eye)Corrupt
(Re)Construct
(Re)Coalesce
(Mind)Communicate
Alignment: Abyssal True Evil
Contract: Elissa (Demon Lord)
Subcontracts: Ao (Mimic), Francisa (Abyssal Slave), Sarah (Abyssal Slave), Delia (Abyssal Slave Leader)
