Round 14: The Old Witch’s Business

“…So! I have a plan!”
The Balor Flame Demon commander of the fortress spat out a breath filled with flames, his voice like a series of distant thunderclaps. He stretched out a claw and pointed at a spot on the map, leaving behind scorched marks instantly.
The Metal Man kept his head down—not because he was dozing off, but because he didn’t want to be covered in embers. He sat beside Naba, with a six-armed serpent demon on the other side—she was admiring her beautiful nails, seemingly torn between choosing Devil Red or Ghost Green.
No plan could continue once faced with enemies, let alone one devised by a demon. Naba opened his mouth wide, trying hard to listen, but the Metal Man knew he couldn’t understand a thing. Most massive demons were simply strong but simple-minded; it was only because Naba could hide his hatred for those stronger and more powerful beings that he had managed to rise to a position where he could attend these fortress leadership meetings.
“Iron Warrior! Lead the charge!” the Balor Flame Demon said, pointing at the Metal Man.
Ever since he became eligible, every meeting had revolved around the same topic. But the Metal Man liked it.
After that day, he wandered the bloody battlefield as before, returning to his original state—tearing apart anyone within reach and swallowing them. He never saw that burning demon, Melganis, again.
So, he would keep charging—until he encountered him again and ripped out his heart.
Every man seeks revenge.
Stephanie let out a long sigh, very satisfied with his state. Putting the larva in his mouth and gently squeezing it with his tongue and gums, he could feel the ticklish sensation as the larva struggled to twist. At first, it felt like holding a worm, but it turned into a strange kind of pleasure, especially when the larva bit Stephanie’s tongue with its tiny teeth—pain mixed with tingling spread throughout his mouth. Then, with a firm squeeze, the tender juices, tinged with a slight bloodiness, flowed down his throat. There was a slight bitterness mixed with sourness; it didn’t taste good at first and might even cause disgust, but the more he tasted it, the more he realized that each larva had a different flavor. Not to mention the increase in strength, just the desire to discover what the next larva would taste like was addictive…
It made him feel intoxicated, like he was on drugs, and he regretted it a bit—maybe he shouldn’t have gotten involved with the Old Witch?
“Hehe…” The Old Witch walked into Stephanie’s room, rubbing her hands together.
“Hmph…” Stephanie felt uneasy and closed his eyes, pretending to meditate—though he could clearly sense his mental power growing rapidly. Perhaps in the near future, he would be able to grasp the mysteries of magic at its peak… The Abyss was indeed a place of both danger and opportunity.
He thought to himself, somewhat complacent.

“I have a big deal for you…” The old witch stared at him with her cloudy yellow eyes. No matter how beautifully and temptingly she transformed herself, those eyes remained the same—unhiding their desire for anything that could lead to despair.
“Oh?” Stephanie looked at her. “I’m not interested in anything too risky… I’m already quite satisfied… Maybe I should consider going home.”
“Hehe… There won’t be such delicious larvae to enjoy once you go back…” The old witch met Stephanie’s eyes, seemingly trying to instill all her evil thoughts into her. “But… the profits from this deal are huge, and it might just fulfill your wish to go home…”
Stephanie sat up straight, intrigued. “Well then, tell me more.”
The metal man lay on a steel platform, his blood-soaked armor steaming under the heat radiating from beneath it.
“Uh—Pippi knows—uh—Stephanie and the old witch have a plan!” Pippi swallowed his last bite. He had just eaten an entire devil’s heart, brought back to him by the metal man from the battlefield—something that filled him with gratitude, even to the point of burping several times.
“Hmph. Are you sure that mage isn’t part of the plan himself?” The succubus followed the metal man’s steps but kept a distance, stepping down the stairs one by one before jumping back up. Her swaying curves attracted many gazes. If it weren’t for the demonic-looking metal man walking beside her, the scene would have been perfect.
“You’d better stay away from him,” the metal man suddenly said.
A few days earlier, by chance, the metal man met Stephanie. Though she still greeted him politely and nobly, he felt he had changed—just as if he too had been utterly transformed by the bloodbattles. The power of the abyss had slowly but irreversibly seeped into him, giving him an aura common in fortresses—not merely a superficial stain, but an inherent scent, from within to without, from bone marrow to skin; every inch of his soul and flesh exuded that scent… the scent of a soul.
The succubus blinked, indicating she had heard him.
The metal man didn’t see the cunning in her eyes—moving effortlessly between men was something the succubus loved and excelled at… If there was anything she loved and excelled at even more, it was navigating among even more men.
I certainly won’t give that ugly woman the soul of that stupid mage for free… I’ve already paid such a high price and endured so much humiliation!
“By the way, could you tell me about humans summoning demons to their world and how you demons summon your own kind for help when necessary?” The metal man changed the subject, or perhaps he remembered something—he had recently noticed that in bloodbattles, the numbers of opponents and one’s own troops sometimes increased dramatically just before the fight, with summoned devils and demons emerging from thin air to join their sides. However, this required a long preparation time to cast the summoning spell, and neither side usually had the patience for that. Still, it might serve as a reference…

The Metal Man had always known very little about spatial jumps. He hadn’t needed to know before, but now that he wasn’t on the mother ship equipped with a wormhole generator, he had to learn to adapt to the environment.
“Oh?” The succubus rolled her eyes. Perhaps it would be good to find a fixed summoner… She was tired of the Russian roulette of summoning the irritable Balor Flame Demon with less than a 10% chance of success!
“Would you help me?” The Metal Man’s question made the succubus find him adorable.
“Sure,” she said, smiling innocently.