Emergias tilted his head, the only part of him he could move while wrapped up in her tail. “Then how am I able to talk now?”
“Because I’m keeping you together. Like this,” she said with a gentle smile, tightening her grip on his body while she stroked his hair. “I’m holding together the broken pieces of your sssoul. Each time I let go, they fall apart and your sssense of ssself turns hazy...”
Emergias was baffled. He felt the sensation of Jiiria’s power flowing into him, the sensation of his “shell” bursting from within. He could feel the magic in the world around him better than ever before. He could feel her authority infusing with every part of his being. But that “shell” had been necessary to sustain “Emergias.” He was only barely maintaining a formal sense of self thanks to his new mother Jiiria holding the elements of his soul together. Said soul was now nothing more than loose magical power without a concrete form.
“No... So if I go back to the material world...”
“Your mind will be that of an infant.” Jiiria giggled. “There’s no telling if you’ll even make it through the Dark Portal.”
“What...?”
“Look at you. You are practically half devil now,” she revealed the devastating truth. “And you came here alone, yes? Perhaps you would have a chance if sssomeone was waiting for you on the other ssside, but...”
“One of my retainers is waiting for me...” Emergias muttered.
“Ah, is that ssso? Maybe there is a chance for you yet.” Jiiria sank into thought, wrapping her arms around him from behind while resting her chin on his head. “Do you really have to go back?”
“Of course I do...! But if I lose my sense of self...”
Ironically, while being constricted by Jiiria like this, his body felt lighter and freer than ever. He felt like he was made of wind. He understood the workings of his power. He possessed an instinctive understanding of how to properly apply magic. He knew that if he made it back to the material world, he could wield Jiiria’s authority with far greater power and control than ever before. But if he lost the ability to think in the process...
“There might be a possible sssolution.” Jiiria gave an ominous smile. “I could go with you. That way, I could hold the form of your sssoul together, letting you maintain your sssense of ssself.”
Emergias looked up at her in surprise. He hadn’t thought that was a possibility.
“With you now having ssso much of my power, surely I will be able to house myself in your sssoul. If I don’t materialize into a physical body, I should be able to do ssso with minimal cost.”
“House yourself? Inside me?” Emergias asked, uneasy as he looked up at the seemingly endless length of tail coiling through the trees. It was like she was a part of the forest itself.
“Of course not all of me could fit inside you, that would be like taking the entire forest. But a sssmall part of me should be sssufficient. It’ll be quite the task for me too, but given your current ssstate, it is probably possible.”
She then stared at him with a grin.
“Ssso, I’ll get ssstarted. It’ll hurt a little. Bear with me, okay?”
Emergias unconsciously flinched back. Was he going to have to experience that pain of his entire body being ripped apart again?
“W-Wait—” Jiiria’s fangs sank into his neck once more. The poison that was her authority flowed into him, reshaping his insides.
Emergias could only scream in pain as he was wracked with convulsions.
A woman with the lower half of a snake emerged from the trees, dragging a man covered in scales behind her. For Emergias, who couldn’t organize his thoughts, he felt like a mere spectator to the events.
“Oh, you are leaving the forest, Jiiria? What a rare sight.” The tailcoated cane waiting at the Dark Portal turned at their approach. “You aren’t perchance shorter than usual, are you?”
“I managed to cut off just a part of myself. I’ll be heading to the material world with this man.”
“My, that sounds wonderful. Enjoy your trip.” The cane waved its sleeves. “It seems you’ve found yourself quite the contractor. I must admit, I’m quite jealous.”
“Oh. Jealous? Of the Devil of Envy? Don’t think I’ll let you take my place.” The snake woman giggled before bidding a quick farewell, holding Emergias under her arm as she leaped into the portal.
Everything shuddered and warped, light and darkness inverting. Emergias felt the warmth of the Devil of Envy fade...no, more like dissolve into him. And then...
Emergias gasped as he struck the ground. It was hard, solid and gritty. He vaguely understood he was lying on paving stones.
“Young master!” a familiar voice called out to him. Familiar, yet somehow very different. “What happened?! Are you okay?!”
Emergias groaned. “I’m fine,” he replied, refusing the hand she offered to help him back to his feet almost without realizing it.
It felt like he was in the body of someone else. Not in a particularly bad way though. The sensation of lightness and freedom was exceptional, like his flesh and bones had been remade using wind. He leaped to his feet with ease. Bending and warping around him unlike ever before were the laws of nature. The way they bent so willingly made Emergias feel as though it would take quite some time to get acclimated to the change.
And that was when he realized. He was thinking.
“Young master...?!” Hisuizia gulped at his side. She stared at him wide-eyed. Emergias stepped over to one of the nearby stores, searching for his reflection in the window. His skin was still the blue he remembered, but scalelike marks were present here and there. And his eyes... They were abyssal pits of black with vertical slit pupils, like a snake’s.
“It ssseems everything went well.” Jiiria chuckled, her voice coming from deep within him. “Let’s have sssome fun, Emergias.”
And so, Fourth Demon Prince Emergias Izanis returned to the material world in one piece.
†††
“Construction of the forward base to fend off the fiends has been completed. Guards and citizens have already moved in to start rebuilding the land. They plan to expand the base into a village to provide facilities for daily life,” the Devil of Oppression, Porkun, said as he flipped through the pages of his report.
I was in Evaloti Castle, receiving reports from my three nondemon officials. Though they had received a crippling blow in their last encounter with a fiend, the City Guard had bolstered their numbers and their resolve, heading back out into the field to retake the land. With the addition of some apprentice priests to their ranks, they had achieved better results thanks to their holy blessings. It seemed that Charlotte’s efforts were starting to bear fruit, the little baby chicks finally working their way out of their shells.
“As for this ‘village,’ the humans have requested your input on giving the settlement a name,” Tavo added to Porkun’s report.
Me? Oh. Well I am the governor.
“Why should that little hovel be of any concern to me? I’m sure there’ll be plenty more, so there’s no need for me to waste time naming each of them. Tell them to call it whatever they want.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Tavo responded to my haughty answer with a deep bow. Good.
“Wow, those humans can really work!” Nichar crowed. “I must say, I’m mighty impressed! Your insight is truly a sight to behold, Your Highness!” The night elf grinned broadly.
Ignoring his brownnosing, I started to give some thought to my next plans. Maybe it was time I headed back to the Demon King’s castle. I’d fill up Claire’s magic, ask about how the humans were doing, and then make my way home.
“So, how are things in the autonomous zone?” We were in the library. The curtains were drawn, leaving the room exceptionally dark. I was holding Claire’s hand, resupplying her with magic.
“Nothing out of the ordinary.” Her reply was fairly curt. “They’re living it up like always.” Well...maybe that wasn’t the best way to put it. Let’s say she was being “sarcastic.”
“They seem strangely motivated these days,” I observed.
“Oh, are you worried about them, Mr. Prince?” she said, a somewhat teasing grin on her face. “I guess you could say that. On that note, I had another chat with the City Guard’s vice captain.”
“His name is Tafman, right?”
“That run-in with the fiend had him down in the dumps, but now he’s all fired up. Apparently he’s trying to become a Swordmaster.”
“That’s...well, fine I suppose.” I gave a wry grin. That guy must have thought if they didn’t have any high-level fighters, then they’d have to become them. If just anyone could become a Weaponmaster, life would be a lot easier for all of us, but you couldn’t succeed if you never took a chance. The head of the City Guard being so motivated would be good for the whole outfit.
“If you ask me, it seems pretty pointless. They’ll all be dead sooner or later anyway.” Claire shrugged with an unpleasant smile. “But whatever makes them happy. Thanks, Mr. Prince. This should be enough to last me a while.”
And we were done. Her hand, usually so cold but now warmed up by contact with me, pulled away.