Is It Strange For A Succubus To Be Wearing Clothes?

Chapter 58

—–CROW—– 

“The kingdom of plunderers has fallen!”

“Overnight?”

“What in the world happened?”

The news spread like wildfire throughout Transvia.  While they had heard rumors of the plunderers invading another world, most had dismissed it as bluster.  But now, the entire kingdom had vanished without a trace!

The power vacuum left in their wake sparked a frenzy of ambition.

“The vacant land is ours!”

“Serves those plunderers right.”

“Now it’s *our* turn to plunder!”

“We’ll seize the land before those disgusting Holy Kingdom bastards get their hands on it.”

Though an entire kingdom had been erased, Transvia still held countless nations and cities, and they now converged on the former kingdom’s territory like flies on a corpse.

This event would likely plunge Transvia into another era of war.  Peace was a fragile thing, easily shattered.  The disappearance of a single kingdom was enough to render any peace treaty worthless.

A succubus’s life force was incredibly resilient, capable of manifesting physically.  It was the culmination of a living being’s essence, their desires, their potential, their very being, more enduring than even mana.  The life force that Jae-hee had absorbed was particularly potent, clinging to reality with a terrifying tenacity.

Normally, a succubus wouldn’t relinquish such energy.  It was their sustenance, their power source, the very fuel of their existence.

But Jae-hee, on a whim, released the vast life force she had absorbed from the humanoids of Transvia.  Not because she was moved by the old king’s defiance.  It was simply time to go.  Dan Unnie was waiting.

The unleashed life force, now adrift, would dissipate, carried by the wind and water.  Perhaps a lucky beast or monster would absorb it, gaining immense power or undergoing a transformation.  Perhaps… perhaps the essence of the Succubus Empress, contained within that life force, would coalesce, creating a new life.  With the combined essence of hundreds, thousands of beings, it wasn’t impossible.  But the odds were astronomical.

The king’s body, reduced to dust, scattered in the wind, mingling with the unleashed life force and the smoke from the burning palace.

Then, as if on cue, the heavens opened, unleashing a torrential downpour.  Heavy rain was rare in Transvia, but as if mourning the fallen kingdom, the rain came down in sheets, delaying the advance of other would-be plunderers.  The rain washed over the faces of those enthralled by Jae-hee, bringing some measure of clarity, a belated return to their senses.

Some fled.  Some tended to the ruins.  Some helped those still struggling to regain their minds.

The rain washed away the remains of those who had become Jae-hee’s puppets, their bodies dissolving into the crimson tide, flowing into the valleys, their forms indistinguishable.  Among them, the dust of the old king.

The dust settled, mingling with the earth, absorbed by the very world.  A series of coincidences, a chain of improbable events, began to unfold.

The wind carried the king’s ashes to the riverbank.  The dust, infused with Jae-hee’s released life force, touched the water’s surface, swirling in the current.  The river embraced the dust and the energy, forming a gentle whirlpool.

The water stilled, as if waiting.  Sunlight broke through the clouds, warming the river, creating a nurturing environment.

Then, a small fish, swimming by chance, was caught in the whirlpool.  It struggled, then succumbed, absorbing the life force as it breathed its last.  Its body dissolved, mingling with the king’s dust.  And then, the fragments began to coalesce, drawn together by an unseen force.

Small pebbles leaped from the riverbed, joining the swirling mass.  The river water, as if anticipating this moment, flowed warmer, embracing the dust and the life force, creating the perfect conditions for the birth of a new life.

The clouds parted, sunlight bathing the river.  The warmth raised the water temperature, further nurturing the nascent life.

Another coincidence.  The rain returned, but instead of dispersing the life force, it bound the water and dust together even tighter.  The current strengthened, the whirlpool intensified, concentrating the king’s dust and the life force.  A faint pulse echoed from within the water, like a heartbeat.

Such a confluence of events shouldn’t have been enough to create life.  But this was no ordinary life force.  It was infused with the essence of the Succubus Empress, amplified by the combined life force of countless humanoids.

The shattered life force coalesced, rejuvenated.  And at its core, the spirit of the old king, the one who had resisted Jae-hee’s charm to the very end, remained.

With every fortunate coincidence, the king’s dust began to take shape.

“…Cough!”  The king awoke in the water, instinctively spitting out the water that filled his mouth, swimming towards the shore.  Infused with Jae-hee’s potent life force, his body moved with ease.

But his hands trembled.  Even in the warmth of the returning sun, he shivered, as if newly born.  He felt cold, disoriented.

What was happening?  Why was he alive?

“…Wasn’t I… dead?”

He crawled onto the riverbank, blinking in the bright sunlight that pierced through the dissipating clouds.

“My… voice…?”  It was different.  Thin, high-pitched, like a young girl’s, not the gruff voice of an old king.

A chilling sensation ran through him.  He looked down at his hands.  Small, delicate, his skin smooth and pale.  His rough, calloused hands were gone.  His once-powerful muscles had vanished, replaced by soft curves.

“…What is…?”  He stumbled towards a nearby puddle, using it as a mirror.

The reflection staring back was not the old king.  The humanoid tail and black eyes remained, but his skin was pale and delicate, his body slender and feminine.  The mark of his manhood was gone, replaced by the curves of a woman.

But that wasn’t the most shocking part.

“I’m… alive?”  How was this possible?  He had died in the burning palace…

Was this the demon’s doing?  A cruel jest, a twisted form of mercy?

He didn’t know.  He knew it wasn’t normal to be reborn with all his memories intact.

—*Growl!*

“…”  A dark beast emerged from the forest.  A creature with the head of a wolf and the legs of a spider, it preyed on anything that entered its territory.  It climbed trees with ease, its eight legs propelling it towards its prey with terrifying speed.  Even adult humanoids knew to avoid it.

In this frail, young girl’s body, he was in grave danger.

“Ha… haha…”  Yet, he smiled.  He remembered hunting this creature, his body covered in wounds, the battle lasting half a day.

“Hahahaha…!”

—*Grrrrr!*  The beast recognized him as prey.  A small, defenseless girl, a tasty snack.  It charged.

—*Whoosh!*  He leaped, grabbing a hanging vine, swinging above the beast’s head.  His body felt light, his movements swift and agile.  His joints didn’t ache.  Was this what it felt like to be young again?

He grabbed a stone from the ground, his small hand closing around it.  A flicker of confusion crossed the beast’s eyes.

But it was too late.  He knew the beast’s weakness: the soft palate.  A strike there would paralyze it, its spider legs curling inwards in agony.

He yanked on the vine, wrapping it around the beast’s jaws, then slammed the stone against its palate.

—*Screech!*

“…”  It had been a long time since he had hunted alone.  And to take down this beast, a creature he had once feared, so easily…

But the danger wasn’t over.  His body was still frail.  One swipe of those spider legs could shatter his bones.  He relied on instinct, on the ingrained reflexes of a warrior, a king.

—*Thwack!*

—*Yelp!*

—*Thwack! Thwack!*  He struck again and again, ignoring the blood that welled up as the beast’s teeth grazed his arm.

—*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*

The beast went silent.

“Ha… ha… ha… ha…”  He collapsed onto the dead beast, catching his breath.

He was alive.

He hadn’t feared death.  He had accepted it as inevitable.  Death was the natural end, and for a plunderer, death in battle was a fitting end.  He had challenged the Succubus Empress; death was the only logical outcome.

But this… this was a second chance.  A female body?  A young girl’s form?  It didn’t matter.  The world had saved him, granted him a new beginning.

“I… I can do this again.”  A new opportunity, granted to the plunderer who had fallen in love with the world and sought to claim it as his own.  He wasn’t in a jeweled palace anymore.  He was back in the plains, in the forests of his youth.

“From the beginning…”  He could start over.  He had his youth, his agility, his reflexes.  He could rebuild his strength.  He had the knowledge, the memories, the experience of a king, a plunderer, a warrior.

“I can run through the plains again…!”

He had much to do.  He would skin the beast, make clothes from its hide, weapons from its teeth.  He would gather the survivors, rebuild his kingdom.

And then…

“I will plunder this world, the world I love, once more!”

***

***

***

As rain poured down on the burning kingdom, Dan Ah-yeon, accompanied by soldiers and fully armed Hunters, stepped through the Transvia Gate.  It had been closed, but Jae-hee’s passage had left a residual energy signature, allowing Dan Ah-yeon, with a herculean effort, to decipher the magical pattern and reopen it.

“Jae-hee-nim! Are you alright?!”

“Heehee, praise me~”  Jae-hee beamed, puffing out her chest like a child seeking approval.

But behind her… utter devastation.  Villages, forests, cities, the palace, all reduced to smoldering ruins.  And everywhere, a gruesome landscape of melted flesh and dust.

“…Jae-hee-nim?  Any survivors?  Prisoners?”

“What for?”

Dan Ah-yeon’s eyes darted around, taking in the scene.  The torrential rain, the destroyed cities, the pervasive stench of death.  Countless humanoid lives lost.  There were probably no survivors… or if there were, they would be impossible to find.

“…Jae-hee-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember the objective of this invasion?”

“Of course… oh.”  Jae-hee finally remembered.  To seize Transvia’s resources and territory.  But with everything destroyed… that would be difficult.

“…Let’s just forget about that.  You worked hard, Jae-hee-nim.  You did your best…”  But now they had no one to guide them, and the destruction… it was too thorough.  There was nothing left.  How were they supposed to find the mines, the resource deposits?

There were other nations in Transvia besides this kingdom.  But the Korean government wasn’t ready to engage them.  They needed to establish a foothold, secure the misillite deposits…

*‘How am I supposed to report this…?’*  They could find the misillite eventually, but…

*‘With the kingdom destroyed… the other nations won’t just stand idly by…’*  They would be after the misillite too.

Dan Ah-yeon decided to worry about the strategic implications of deploying Jae-hee later.  For now, she forced a smile.  Jae-hee-nim had worked hard.  She would have to write a dozen reports and apologies for Jae-hee’s unauthorized rampage, but as long as Jae-hee-nim was happy… it was fine.  It was fine.

“Heehee, and I had such an interesting encounter~”

“W-what kind of encounter?”

“Do you know the old king of the humanoids?”

“The old… king…?”  Dan Ah-yeon knew *of* him.  The leader who had declared war on Earth, on Korea.  A notoriously violent plunderer, known for killing men and raping women…

“Heehee, I had such a fun time with him~”

“…What?”  *Fun time*?  Coming from the Succubus Empress, those words sent a chill down Dan Ah-yeon’s spine.

“W-what do you… mean?”

“Heeheehee…”  Jae-hee touched the torn fabric of her suit at the shoulder, her touch soft and seductive.

“…Ah.”  The torn suit.  The old plunderer king.  A fun time.  The words, combined with the flush on Jae-hee’s face, made Dan Ah-yeon’s eyes widen in horror.

“Heeheehee, and he didn’t even try to submit.  He actually tried to *conquer* me.”

“…”

“Heehee, it was quite thrilling when he tried to stab me with that long thing of his.”

“…”

—*Thump!*  Dan Ah-yeon fainted.

It is presumed that she fainted due to mental shock.

“Oh dear, Dan Unnie?”

—–CROW—– 

#Only READ at DarkstarTranslations