I Was Called A Demon

“… south-east, remember?”

“Ah, right. And since we’re heading south-ish first, where are we going to end up?”

“Provided we’re careful enough, not at Long Shiyi’s court. Accidents aside, we should be able to pass it without incident and arrive at the Dancer’s Abode, where I have a few friends,” the kitsune explained, “That’s for later, though. There’s something else that I’m curious about. Did your demonic self end up summoning a cock again?”

“U-um-”

“Come now, both of us are well aware, and there is no good reason for you to be pretending otherwise. Song Ming, if you’re concerned I’ll steal your girlfriend away from you, then have no fear, I am not interested in romance, so you may feel free to do whatever it is you two want. Oh, and we have had some sexual interactions, but most, if not all, were initiated by me, so your girlfriend had no intentions of cheating on you or anything like that,” the kitsune smiled, “And hey, if you want to sleep with me, I’m up for it. You’re cute and I’d love to see you moan and gasp as I touch you.”

Song Ming went from being mildly confused to extremely flustered in a few seconds, a sight that was slowly becoming rarer to see as she got used to the things happening around them.

“That… was probably the most blunt way you could’ve put any of it, but yeah, I imagine that it was somewhat obvious…” Bianca sighed, glancing down for a moment even though she knew the answer to Xue Yaling’s previous inquiry already, “And yes, it’s there. Again. No idea why that keeps happening.”

“Clearly, a cock helps you fight and channel energy. Would explain why the most notorious cultivator of our time is… a random piece of cloth, as far as most people can tell,” the kitsune shrugged, “In truth, I don’t know, but what your demonic side seems to be good at is managing planar energy and your various skills. That one slash you did was stronger than every other attack I’ve seen from you so far, maybe even if we combined them.”

Song Ming hid her flushed cheeks with her hand and suggested, “M-Maybe it’s something to do with the archetype… O-Or, maybe, Demon Queen Bianca just… uses everything.”

“That is also a possibility. Hard to be sure when you’re that reluctant to bring her out, you know,” Xue Yaling turned back to Bianca, “Regardless, we should be able to head onwards. We’ll need to do some experiments later during cultivation, but for the moment we should move along. We can stop once we find the river that heads down from here to Long Shiyi’s main camp, then follow it for a few days.”

“Wouldn’t that bring straight to the dragon, though? Oh, and is Song Ming okay?”

“Blushing that much won’t do much harm, don’t worry,” the kitsune chuckled, “But truly, there’s nothing to fear in either regard.”

“You sure?”

“Her current glow isn’t getting worse, so no chance of a physique outburst for the moment, and as for Long Shiyi’s domain, it should be rather easy to tell when we’re getting close. At that point, we can just spend a day or two travelling around it and return to the river for the remaining part of the journey, leaving it again only once we reach the land of the Dancer’s Abode.”

“And why are we not simply going there directly? Surely we could save a few days if the route isn’t too difficult to navigate?” Bianca asked again, since she had managed to travel the wilds faster than some sect disciples could even without a map or understanding of the local geography.

“There’s one little problem, and that is an excess of hungry nests in the area. In fact, there’s an outright infestation in these woods, and that’s if we don’t take into account certain other threats,” pulling a map out of her shrinking bag, Xue Yaling began pointing at seemingly random points, “I’ve heard of certain unusual entities over here, seemingly made of metal in intricate and inordinately complex designs, then abominations made of fingers here. Some loggers at the camp reported spotting a variety of crimson monstrosities, supposedly entities that were supposedly so awful that they were unable to describe anything but their terror.”

“… What the fuck are any of those things?” she looked to Song Ming for assistance.

“W-Well… I’m not sure, but the hungry nests are definitely real, and quite troublesome to deal with. They have a core – a nest – but are able to produce numerous entities of the same element with strength comparable to that of their own realm,” the young woman – who was still glowing ever so slightly, much to Bianca’s concern – nodded, “If they’re sufficiently powerful, they can manifest numerous entities that reach the strength of a higher realm when put together.”

“Oh. Guess that makes enough sense. Fine,” Bianca shrugged, “Let’s get going.”

“Not going to try and get rid of that thing in your pants?”

“It can wait, unless you start doing lewd things again,” she pre-emptively looked away, since such things had served as invitations for the fox to start doing said ‘things’, “Besides, I think we’re still too close. I don’t like the chance of us being spotted doing… well, anything, just because we can’t be bothered to get a bit further away.”

“Alright, sure. I’ll lead the way, since there’s no chance you’ll know the way. Follow me at your leisure.”

With that, she quickly began heading forth, and Bianca was about to do the same, but Song Ming suddenly grabbed her arm without another word, holding her until Xue Yaling had gotten so far away that she was beginning to disappear behind all kinds of trees and foliage.

At no point did the kitsune turn around, though she had likely looked back plenty of times with spiritual perception. Still, she chose to do nothing, which was… interesting.

“Um… Bianca.”

“Yes? If… if it’s about that thing with Xue Yaling, then, uh, I-”

“No. I mean, I’m not too

happy to know that stuff, but I don’t mind it too much… Maybe I’d even, um… I-I’ll say it later, actually. Ahem. It’s about the way you were when your, uh, Demon Queen self was around…” Song Ming stuttered an unusual amount, her gaze flickering between Bianca’s eyes, her chest, the trees behind her and the ground, “W-Where you called me… uh… your… your property.”

“… I… I did say that, yeah… Sorry-”

“No, no, it’s not… not a bad thing…” her attention rested entirely on the ground now, fidgeting like she was getting through a year of tension in seconds, “And the things that the kitsune said, too… Me being your girlfriend… and now… your p-property… It’s… hot.”

Bianca felt her own cheeks redden as she recalled her actions while under the influence of her Demon Queen self. It was something she’d have rather not recalled, and it might have been much better if both Xue Yaling and Song Ming had forgotten about it… though this wasn’t quite as bad as she imagined. Having someone outright desire such a thing… it was nice, albeit rather scary. Obviously, she’d never refuse appreciation, but the fact that it had to be tied to something so awful meant that she might not be as resistant to it if those tendencies arose again.

She was already struggling to hold herself back, and as far as she could tell, her journey throughout this world was only beginning. It would be a long, long time until a way out emerges, and if she is failing to hold to her morals already, then…

“I… I appreciate that, but… the whole Demon Queen thing, we agreed that it would be just an act, right?”

“W-Well… It doesn’t have to be part of the act. Y-You could… still… own me. Regardless.”

 Bianca gulped. She couldn’t deny the fact that it turned her on as well, perhaps even more so than it did Song Ming, though she wasn’t about to check. Her own arousal was immensely evident, however, as a bulge quickly formed within her pants, her flaccid length growing to full mast in moments. It strained against her clothing and tempted her to free it and give it to someone that clearly desired it… but she held back for now.

“That… let’s consider it later. Um… but I don’t dislike it,” Bianca admitted, since she knew that it was obvious enough as is, “As long as you don’t start calling me your Queen or anything… then it should end up being okay.”

Although she pouted for a little while, Song Ming ended up nodding, “Alright. It’s… not a good time, anyway. We need to catch up with the kitsune.”

“Mhm.”

 

“Aww, I thought you two might have a bit of fun. I even stopped just far enough away for either of you not to have a clue,” Xue Yaling shrugged, “Shall we proceed?”

“Yes… So, hungry nests?”

“… Hm?”

“I was curious about them. What do they look like, why do they hunger so much… you know, general learning stuff.”

Xue Yaling raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure it doesn’t have anything to do with your pants being too tight for that hard cock? You could’ve taken care of it – you could do so right now, if you like. I’ll watch or go, whatever you prefer.”

“Don’t you start. We’re trying to get somewhere to day, and there’s no way that happens if we stop now.”

“Seems to me like you’re overestimating your endurance, sweetie. Half an hour would be enough for you to finish and for all three of us to clean up,” the kitsune teased, “Just make sure to cum in her mouth, and she’ll have plenty in her belly for the journey ahead.”

“Stop…” Bianca groaned, nearly trying to turn away and hide the bulge growing yet again before she recalled that there was no way it wouldn’t get her even more teasing, “I know I don’t exactly have much authority here, but wouldn’t you agree that it is best to be away from the logging site? Whether they go out to look for us or not, I’d rather not risk it, and we should also make up as much time as possible after spending so long in that place without really benefitting from it.”

“You may not have, but these shards are rather valuable to any Shard half-archetype cultivators… or those who might be interested in giving that path a go.”

“Meaning you.”

“Meaning me,” she responded with a smile and nod, “To be honest, I’ve never been too happy with the ghostflames that I use. They’re effective, but I think I can do better than to copy half the other kitsune out there.”

“Are there many?”

“Not sure, but these kinds of skills are rather common for us. My parents had plenty of them, and most kitsune will try to employ ghostflame – or, sometimes, faerie flame – in any other archetypes they practise. I’m likely to attempt this as well, but I did not wish to deviate from a familiar path prior to having at least one proper shard to work with. These should be absolutely perfect.”

“Can you tell what they’ll even do without… well, absorbing them or whatever it is you plan to do?”

The kitsune shook her head, “Not enough to be sure of which one to start with. I can probably decipher certain effects from them, but… Ultimately, I’ll just need to pick one at random and hope that it fills in the gaps that will be created by switching cultivation techniques.”

“I see… and we’ve also jumped away from the original topic quite a bit. Hungry nests?”

 

A massive mass of writhing roots and vines, countless tendrils extending out and wrapped around the trunks of large trees and rocks around it, pulsing with the beat of some unseen and doubtlessly monstrous heart. The crimson glow from within illuminated the region with an ominous shade, making it seem as if this whole area was claimed by it, a territory outside the domain of the greater world.

“Is… is that it?” Bianca whispered, “Is that a hungry nest?”

“Yes, it is. Do you see those openings? Those are mouths, and they can devour you whole with ease. The whole thing is around 4 metres in diameter, so you’re unlikely to beat it with your knife. That being said, I think this can serve as an opportunity to test out something else.”

“What- I mean, what?”

“Song Ming, you’ve been quiet for a while. The physique energy isn’t fading away this time, is it?”

“N-no… I thought you knew that already.”

“I did. The idea is simple enough. We combine your and Bianca’s energy to use your physique energy without burning up your body. How about it?”

Song Ming looked to Bianca, and Bianca looked to Song Ming, since neither of them knew what to make of the situation. Whatever cultivation knowledge that the young woman had clearly wasn’t enough to determine if this was a good opportunity, and Bianca… it hardly needed to be said at this point. If she did happen to know something that Song Ming didn’t in regards to cultivation, then she would be sure that she had somehow obtained the memories of someone else from this world.

Still, Xue Yaling seemed to be opening up and becoming more honest, so there was little reason to assume that she would be trying to kill them with this. Furthermore, Bianca could imagine that, by using dual cultivation, she might be able to provide Song Ming with enough energy and mitigate whatever destructive properties that her physique energy had by taking it into herself.

Her body was absurdly tough anyway, so if she could somehow prevent Song Ming from being injured, then why not help her? And…

‘If she is really so sure about… being my property and all… Well… I should probably take good care of her, whenever I can. Not that I wouldn’t do so anyway, of course, but… fuck, why did she have to say that so soon after the Demon Queen broke out again?’

“So…”

“F- Fine, fine, let’s just get on with it. What do we do?”

Xue Yaling didn’t reply and simply pulled Bianca over, bringing her to Song Ming’s back and getting her to rest her hands on the young woman’s shoulders. Then, after a moment of thought, she shook her head and made Bianca hug her instead, showing a satisfied expression afterwards. Whether it was due to determining a more efficient way of sharing their energy or because she managed to get Bianca to press her flaccid length against Song Ming’s ass, it pleased the enigmatic kitsune.

“Now, just try to use your dual cultivation technique, and Song Ming, you should try to recall what happened when your physique first emerged. Try exerting that energy, and when any of it seems dangerous, let it be taken by Bianca.”

Such an explanation would’ve only confused Bianca more, but Song Ming nodded right away and focused, managing to blush only a little when she felt Bianca grow hard behind her. As energy began to flow between them, the glow of Song Ming’s skin grew more intense, but it did not seem quite as hostile as usual. On the contrary, it seemed pleasant – though the same could not be said of the energy entering Bianca’s body. It burned, it made everything from her skin to her bones feel as if it was being evenly boiled… but it wasn’t that bad.

As far as she could tell, her skin was only growing a little red, and she’d dealt with plenty of worse things already. Until it got any worse, she had no issues paying attention to other details.

For instance, she noticed that her body somehow felt even sturdier, though not significantly enough to be sure. The rise in her cultivation was also subtle, but it was very clear that she was getting back more energy than she was providing to Song Ming – despite what that energy appeared capable of doing.

Whether due to luck or skill, it only took Song Ming a short while to exert the power of the Crusader’s Runes. She held out one hand, her fingers pointing towards the hungry nest, and a vibrant rune manifested on the back of her hand. Another, far larger one, burst out of the ground beneath the nest, individual glowing spots connecting into a single symbol, with additional bright points on the outside attempting to coalesce into a rough circle.

Bluish-white had dominated the rune at first, but as Bianca provided more and more of her energy, it became tinged with shadow. The darkness filled the outside of each spot and line of light, whereas crimson manifested at the centre, growing more and more violent with every breath. Soon, it reached the level of her usual Dominion’s Light, and it seemed to be only then that the hungry nest noticed.

Unfortunately for it, while the time it took to set up the rune at Song Ming’s current realm was outrageous, so was its power.

The moment she let the energy building up burst out, it didn’t matter that the nest was spitting out some kind of vine and wood monstrosity. A radiant explosion of crimson and a darkened blue erupted from the earth, crashing into the hungry nest and throwing it off the various tendrils that kept it aloft.

With a horrid screech, it fell, consumed by the absolute might of the rune beneath, and soon its sounds faded, leaving a barely twitching form in the place of its former intimidating appearance. At that point, even Bianca in her regular state would have no trouble with it, not to mention Xue Yaling and her ghostflame.