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Luka's Story-Paradox	By : Ditmag Category: +M through R > Monster Girl Quest Views: 2709 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Monster Girl Quest Paradox is the intellectual property of Tortorro Restistance. I make no money from this.

Chapter List
- 51
- 52
- 53
We arrived in Succubus Village to find mayhem. My first thought was that the Purple Moon had indeed arrived, but it was broad daylight, so I spared myself the certain insult to my intelligence from Alice that would have been spat at me had I asked.
Succubi were attacking men everywhere, and not being gentle about it. It didn’t look at all consensual. The men being attacked were in ecstasy, but also terrified that they would die. I drew my sword and prepared to attack the nearest succubus engaged in the act of rape.
“Hold on, Luka,” Alice warned. “We definitely need to intervene, but don’t be indiscriminate. If you look around, the succubi are attacking each other as well. That tells me that the villagers are defending the men, not attacking them.”
“Then who are the succubi that are attacking the men?” Sonya asked, her club already out.
“Probably raiders of some sort,” Alice replied. “Okay, let’s go deal with this, but be sure not to attack anyone unless they are attacking a human.”
We sprang into action, Ilias, Sonya, Alice, and I, each of us finding an opponent who was raping a man. Three of us were successful in stopping the attacks. I sealed a succubus who was riding a man hard as he was begging for mercy, while Alice and Sonya beat up their own opponents soundly. Ilias was foolish, perhaps intentionally. She chose to go after a group of three succubi attacking a single man and ended up being dogpiled. Her illicit sexual sessions with her new monster friends had not prepared her for the power of a succubus. She instantly surrendered to their hands, mouths, and breasts.
“Holy Arrow! Holy Arrow! Holy Arrow!” Sonya shouted, quickly firing three of her favorite new spell at the succubi, with unerring accuracy. The succubi all fled. Ilias, who had already endured at least two orgasms in the space of a minute or two, lay on the ground, barely able to move a muscle.
“Sonya, get Ilias out of here!” I ordered.
Sonya didn’t argue. She had accepted her support role, and Ilias needed a medical evac. She was in no further danger as long as she wasn’t forced to climax again. Her example reminded me how dangerous succubi were. Even with my willpower, I had often been guilty of letting monsters pleasure me for just a few seconds from time to time, on the rationalization that I was waiting for the right opportunity to counterattack. Against a succubus those few seconds could be the difference between life and death.
That left Alice and I alone. At least we had succubus allies, as it was clear that the villagers were greater in number than the raiders. But the raiders appeared to be more powerful succubi, used to hunting prey rather than farming it, as the village succubi did. They were out of practice at combat and it showed. The battles I was seeing all around me were sometimes fierce, sometimes ridiculous. Some succubi were engaged in martial arts contests, which reminded me how many succubi secretly learned the arts of violence despite it being taboo among their race. Others were engaged in the more traditional way of succubus fighting, rolling around the ground in 69 position or fiercely rubbing each other, trying to induce critical ecstasy. Since they were very resistant to each other’s sexual magic, that could take some time. Still others, too impatient to laboriously lick or rub their opponents into submission, but also unskilled in the art of violence, were having slap fights that would have been comedic if the situation wasn’t so dire.
Alice, spotting another gang rape, sped to a young man’s aid. Attempting to avoid Ilias’ mistake, I found a solitary succubus working over an older man and charged towards her, sword at the ready. But another succubus, and a powerful looking one at that, intercepted me, landing between me and my quarry.
Most, but not all, succubi are beautiful. How beautiful they are tends to have more to do with their lifestyles than anything innate. Succubi are pleasure seekers, and if they are gluttons in ways other than sex, such as abusing drugs, smoking, excessive drinking, or overeating, it can take its toll on their beauty. But other succubi, and these tend to be powerful members of their race, are less attractive because they are more demonic than human. Although some men are really into that. Rumor had it that the more demonic looking a succubus, the better she was at sex. The one standing in front of me looked particularly demonic. She was purplish, with a long, scaly tail, razor sharp straight horns instead of the curved ones that most succubi sported, with white hair and enormous wings with scary looking spikes. Even more disturbingly, each wing had a seperate mouth with fearsome looking teeth.
“Oh, it’s you people,” she said derisively. “The ones I’ve heard rumors about. The heroes fighting to save the world, right? Well don’t interfere with me here! Let me carry out my mission. There are many people suffereing from oppression all over the world you should go help instead.”
“I see people suffering right now!” I shot back. “Now move and let me save that man or I’ll seal you!”
“The people suffering here deserve to suffer! The leader of this village refuses to hand over a certain man that I want! She could have avoided this by handing him over, but she had to be stubborn. The use of force is therefore justified.”
“And is that the man right there?!” I asked.
“No,” the succubus answered. “That man is simply providing energy for my forces. The man I want is the last survivor of the men who hurt me. I need to kill him so that I can finally get my life back! Please do not interfere any further! I’m going to the mayor’s house to give her one last chance to turn him over! If she refuses, we’ll suck this whole village dry! Unless you want to be sucked dry as well, I suggest you leave.”
I’d been taught by experience that when it came to monsters, eliminating the leader of an attacking force often caused the attackers to disintegrate. I looked over to Alice, Beaten and battered succubi lay all around Alice. She was doing an even better job than I was. I gestured to her, pointing at the mayor’s mansion down the street. Alice nodded her approval and went looking for more men to help, beginning with the old man who the strange succubus had blocked me from assisting..
Although my goal was the mayor’s mansion, I couldn’t ignore innocent victims in danger. I saw one man being attacked by four succubi, who were treating the attack as a lark.
“Please!” the man said. “No more! I’ll die!”
“Yes you will,” one blonde succubus said. “But if not for us you’d never have the opportunity to feel such pleasure. Enjoy it as you breathe your last.”
Recognizing the need for speed, I summoned Sylph and slashed among the succubi with my sword, trying to seal them or make them run away as quickly as possible. Succubi are often cowardly when faced with brute force. These were not cowardly succubi. I’d misjudged them. Not only were they not afraid, two of them could use the power of wind. With some difficulty, I sealed the cute blonde succubus and a raven haired succubus who looked particularly sadistic. But using teamwork, and able to keep up with me using their power of wind, a pretty short-haired bombshell tripped me up. That enabled a lovely plus sized succubus to rip my clothes off, get on top of me, and get me inside her.
Being thrust into a succubus’ vagina without warning nearly caused my head to explode. I could barely see for a few seconds through the haze of intense pleasure. The heavier one was on top of me, riding me, while the short haired one was pinning my arms. Once I had recovered enough to assess my situation, I summoned Gnome, easily tossing off the girl pinning my arms. But to my dismay, I couldn’t dislodge the bigger succubus riding me. It wasn’t because she was overweight.She was not a cow.. She couldn’t have weighed more than 180 pounds. That would normally have been no problem for me even without Gnome. The problem was her vagina. Powerful succubi can lock a man inside so that he can’t get out. As Alma Elma had once called it, it is an unbreakable bind. Bucking only made things worse, bringing me ever closer to orgasm. Experienced enough to relalize the futility of struggle, I reached for my sword, preparing to thrust it into the ample belly of the succubus raping me. But the short haired one had recovered enough to grab my sword arm and twist it painfully, causing me to drop Angel Halo.
All that was left to me was my power, and I really didn’t want to use it. Despite the murderous nature of some succubi, they were hard for me to hate. For some reason, I’d always regarded killing with pleasure to be less morally offensive than killing with pain. But I knew I had no choice. Not just my life, but many lives were depending on me.
I was bailed out of having to make that choice by rescuers. Regina’s sword slashed through the air, cutting deeply into the succubus who was raping me. Regina’s blow wasn’t meant to be a killing blow. All of the monsters in the castle knew my policy on that. But the cut still looked ugly, blood pouring from the succubus’ side as she released me and frantically flew off. The shorter haired succubus had already been pinned by Cindy with her big claws.
I rose to my feet and looked around. It seemed as if the bulk of the castle had come to my aid. Victoria’s great sword flashed, felling succubi with ease. Silk was busily tying up opponents in her silk, rendering them immobile. Nanabi’s tails whipped everywhere, knocking succubi out of the sky who tried to take advantage of her natural beast’s weakness to pleasure attacks. Even the three sisters with the tongues were in on the counterattack, eagerly ganging up on one unlucky succubus who writhed in pleasure under their assault. Our mantis girl was a virtual terror, rampaging through the village tossing succubi around like rag dolls, but refraining from using her sharp knife like pincers to behead them.
Leaving the raiding party to my companions, I rushed to the mansion and through the already open door. It was an intimidating sight. I saw at least ten succubi lying on the ground, some beaten, others in the throes of critical ecstasy. Not seeing the demonic succubus anywhere,I rushed up the stairs. More unconscious or helpless succubi. None of them were even responsive enough to give me information. Then I saw that there was one person who was conscious, and she wasn’t even a succubus. She was clearly human. A beautiful pink haired young lady was standing over the prone form of a succubus.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“H-How could I lose to a human?” the succubus moaned.
“You did this?” I asked the human woman in disbelief.
“I only beat her because she’s a low ranked succubus,” the woman explained. “I’m just a battle fucker, but I’m here to train with the best. Obviously, this one wasn’t the best.”
“Go to hell….” The fallen enemy succubus said weakly.
I wasn’t sure how a human could induce critical ecstasy, but that was a question for another time.
“The mayor, where can I find her?” I asked the woman.
“You went the wrong way! Her office is in the basement!”
Thanking her, I raced back down the stairs, then found the staircase to the basement and hurried down there as well. The woman’s directions had been accurate. I found the demonic succubus confronting the mayor, with a shady looking man hiding behind her. The man I didn’t recognize, but the mayor was the same mayor I’d met and fought in Succubus Village on my first adventure. She had been one of my easiest converts, a kind soul who only needed to be shown that humans were capable of loving and respecting monsters. She returned that love and respect, and as leader of Succubus Village, all of her citizens did as well. I was determined to protect her from the attacker.
“I will not hand this man over to you!” the mayor yelled. “He came to us for help and is now a member of our community!”
“Why are you going so far to protect that man?!” the purple succubus demanded to know. “Your other men are dying because of him!”
“There are principles at stake here,” the mayor responded. “We defend our villagers, no matter who they are! It is essential that every man who is kind enough to feed us feel safe in our village!”
“Even if they are horrible scum of the worst kind?!”
“If he is a criminal, as you say, we’ll put him on trial in accordance with the law. I will not allow you to be his judge, jury, and executioner!”
“She’s right!” I interjected. “I know how men often treat women. One of my best friends is a succubus who takes a lot of pleasure in putting such men in their place. But those were men who justice could not reach any other way! You’re among your own people here! None of these succubi will stand for an abusive man! Tell your story to a jury and let them decide what should be done with him!”
“Oh, it’s you again,” the dark succubus said. “I already asked you not to try to stop me from getting my revenge.”
“You’re not killing him,” I warned.
“So you’ve come to save him? Where were you when I needed you?”
“I’ve only been here like… a couple of months!”
“You were there in Luddite Village!” she shot back. “Just passing through, of course! I was born and raised in that village, and went through hell! Lilith saved me, showed me my true path!”
“I didn’t know,” I said weakly.
“Perhaps not,” she responded. “But you were just passing through, only there for a few moments. Other heroes stayed longer, and knew what was going on. They did nothing! They just turned a blind eye! Well, that’s not entirely true. Some actually helped our abusers! A few joined in on the fun! Who came to help us?! WHO?!”
I had no answer.
“Lilith helped us! She slaughtered those stupid villagers and saved me! Lilith gave me this power! The power to overthrow oppression and get the revenge I deserve!”
I’d heard that story before. I still had Lily in the castle, although I hadn’t had the opportunity to get her involved in any missions. Or even sit down and talk with her. She had holed herself up in her room and only occasionally made it to dinner.
“That man is a survivor from Luddite!” the succubus yelled. “He happened to be away from the village at the time and avoided the massacre! He took a special interest in my body! I was powerless to resist him as he raped me over and over! But now it’s time for my revenge. If I don’t kill him, I can’t start my new life!”
“Is that true, Mister?” I asked.
“Hey, I did nothin’ wrong!” he protested. “Do something! You’er a hero, ain’t you?”
I turned back to the succubus. “What’s your name?” I asked gently.
“It’s Natasha,” she replied. “Do you even know how old I am?”
Her appearance had been so far from human that I had been unable to determine her age. I had no answer.
“I’m fourteen!” she raged. “That man started abusing me when I was only eight! If you protect him, you can’t call yourself a hero!”
I wished Alice were here, or Ilias, or Sonya, or somebody. I was never afraid to charge into battle alone, but moral dilemmas scared me, despite my many years of experience. I instinctively believed Natasha. I was revolted by the actions of the man, victimizing a small child. My power was rising within me, demanding his blood. But that was not my job. He wasn’t attacking anyone in my sight, thus justifying deadly force to stop him. He wasn’t gloating about what he’d done. He hadn’t denied her accusations to my satisfaction, but he had not admitted his crimes either. But most importantly, I realized that the most important consideration was Natasha, and how her quest for revenge had already partially consumed her.
“Natasha,” I said carefully. “if you kill him, you won’t get your life back. It won’t fill that emptiness inside you. It won’t undo what he did to you. You’ll still have those nightmares.”
“And you think that leaving him alive will make things better?!” Natasha countered.
“If he did the things you accuse him of, he will die,” the mayor said. That clearly alarmed the man. “As the hero said, you are among your people now. Despite what you’ve done, you can still be welcome in this village, provided no one has died as a result of your attack. If you want to get your new life started, if you want to make the trauma go away, you need to go on that journey with us. Most of us have experienced what you’ve experienced. Many of us can share our stories with you of how we exacted our revenge, and how it didn’t make it better. You want closure? Tell your story, let the man be judged fairly, and let his sentence be carried out.”
“Do I get to carry out the sentence?” Natasha asked.
“If you insist, then yes,” the mayor said. “Provided it isn’t excessively cruel. We do not permit torture here. If he is to die, he will either die in ecstasy, or violently, but quickly. Take my advice, sister. I’ve been where you are. Don’t make the mistakes I did. Committing cruel acts in response to cruel acts done to you only turns you into what you hate. If you want a new life, be the better person. Most of us have had to learn that the hard way. You’re so young! You still have a chance to heal!”
Natasha seemed to think it over. The man was quaking behind the mayor, realizing there was now no escape for him if he was guilty.
“All right,” Natasha said reluctantly. “I’ll try things your way. Maybe seeing him face justice for his crimes will be better than just killing him right here.”
“You’re growing already, Natasha,” the mayor said proudly. “A succubus is not known for her ability to delay gratification. I’d have this man arrested now, but you’ve disabled my guards.”
“I’ve got this!” the woman from upstairs aid eagerly, wielding a pair of handcuffs and advancing on the frightened suspect. “Don’t give me any trouble, either, fiend! I can take you down as easily as any succubus!”
“Thank you, Alleria,” the mayor said gratefully. “Please take him to the jail. Natasha, please call off the attack.”
“Yes, mayor,” Natasha said, heading back up the stairs.
“You’ve surprised me as well, hero,” the mayor said. “I would have expected you to side with the human and be willing to fight that little girl to protect him.”
“Isn’t that what you were willing to do?” I asked.
“Absolutely. But for the right reasons. As I said to Natasha, we have principles here. We do not summarily execute those we accuse of crimes. But you helped to talk her down in very unherolike fashion. It sounds like a criticism, but it’s actually a compliment. You must be much more experienced than you appear.”
“Thank you,” I said gratefully. “I was so scared that I was going to do the wrong thing.”
“Sometimes there are only wrong things, and you just have to choose the least wrong thing. I was as scared as you, even though I hope it didn’t show. Natasha and I already had that debate. She wouldn’t listen. You were the missing element. She sensed your kindness and heard you, enabling me to reach her this time. I owe you a great debt.”
“It’s… It’s okay!” I said quickly.
“Don’t worry, hero,” the mayor said. “Having lived among humans for a long time, I understand your culture. While my body is yours should you want it, I’ll put no pressure on you. I know that for many of you, a sincere thank you is enough. So if that’s what you’re looking for, I say…Thank you.”
‘And thank you. That was a team effort. I got her to open her mind, but you were the one who persuaded her.”
Alice and Sonya rushed in, finally arriving from the battle.
“Is everything okay?” Sonya asked. “The fighting stopped out there.”
“Yes, I think we resolved everything as best we could,” I replied. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to the castle. It’s an ugly story, but hopefully we took a small step towards justice today.”
“That’s nice, Luka, honestly,” Alice said. “But shouldn’t you put some pants on?”
What does it say about me that I’m so used to getting them removed that I barely notice anymore when I’m around women with my stuff hanging out? I sheepishly went into my bag to get a new pair of pants so that I could get decent.
We walked out of the mayor’s mansion. The fighting had indeed ended. Those who were seriously drained were being treated. Since Sonya could do nothing for critical ecstasy, there was no helping anyone. Fortunately, no men had died in the attack, although many had been brought to the brink. Some might have been driven mad, which would require more of the type of treatment that Sonya could not assist with. Natasha would eventually have to make amends for what she had done here. She had victimized a lot of men who didn’t deserve it. But I couldn’t blame her. She was a teenager who had been through hell.
As we walked through the village towards the entrance, there were still occasional cries of ecstasy. Every few blocks, a succubus could be seen pleasuring a man in public. Ah, Succubus Village! I thought. So many great memories of this place.
“Did we really resolve anything here?” Sonya asked uncertainly.
“Oh, that’s just what happenes here,” Alice said dismissively. “They should just rename this place Pervert Village. The men are perverts, the succubi are sure as hell perverts, and everyone thinks it’s okay to have sex just anywhere.”
“But right after that attack?” Sonya asked. “Weren’t those men just raped? Are they really okay with this?”
“For the succubi, it’s food,” I reminded her. “Even moreso than with other monster races. When you’re hungry, you eat, even if it’s just after a battle. Maybe those men are being loved by succubi they know and trust. Maybe it helps them to feel comforted after what happened.”
“That sounds stupid,” Sonya said bitterly.
“Yeah, it does sound that way, but people are weird, you know? We all deal with trauma in different ways. And this place is trauma central. Most succubi aren’t born. They’re made. Sometimes it’s their own lustful nature that transforms them. More often it’s abuse warping their minds.”
“Very good, Luka,” Alice said. “And should I be disturbed that you are an expert on the succubus race?”
“Probably. You should be more disturbed that I’m an expert on trauma. I think I’ve dealt with it in healthier ways than most, and admittedly I had a bit of a cheat later in life. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but Ilias cured my trauma back on my world.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that angels have that power,” Alice said.”I can only imagine how potent the Goddess’ version of it would be.”
“Did we lose anyone?” I asked.
“No deaths or injuries,” Sonya reported. “But a few of our friends will be carried back to the castle.”
“They’ll be sleeping this battle off for a day or two,” Alice chuckled. “But I shouldn’t laugh. Our opponents are only going to get stronger. We will lose people. Are you prepared for that, Luka?”
“Not in the slightest,” I replied with absolute certainty. I could get over a lot of personal trauma, even without Ilias’ help. Losing people…. That was tough on me. As we left the city gates, Sonya noticed something.
“We just left Succubus Village and Luka didn’t recruit a single succubus!” she exclaimed.
“Well good for him,” Alice said, managing to not be sarcastic, much to my surprise.
“Good for me, too,” Sonya replied. “You owe me five gold!”

After dinner, I went to check on Ilias, who was still in bed. She looked fine, but could barely roll herself over. It was far from her first time experiencing critical ecstasy, but getting it inflicted on her by multiple succubus attacks was not normal critical ecstasy. It was possible that she wouldn’t even be ready by the time we got to Lady’s Village, our next stop.
“I’ll be ready,” Ilias assured me, although her voice sounded weak. “Cassandra is bad news, Luka. And I can’t trust you to just end her if it becomes necessary.”
“And you’re going to?” I asked skeptically. At her full strength, Ilias could easily master Cassandra, but in her current state Cassandra would eat her alive. Literally.
“You have a point there,” Ilias admitted. “Still, I’m not letting her do what she does to you. It’s too horrible to contemplate. You dying I can accept. It’s what my heroes do. You suffering…. It bothers me. Must be that empathy thing again. Speaking of empathy, I’m sure you can relate to what happened to me.”
“I sure can. But you’ll get stronger. The more you experience that kind of critical ecstasy, the harder you’ll be to subdue.”
“I should have the succubi here train me,” she said.
“Of course you should,” I said supportively, knowing that she just wanted to feel pleasure from a succubus again.
“Don’t patronize me!” Ilias said angrily. “I know I’ve gotten… intimate with a lot of monsters here, but I still think succubi are the worst of the worst. I admit the feeling was out of this world. After experiencing that, and surrendering so easily, I can no longer judge humans who have given in. I’m a little ashamed. So when I tell you I’ll only go to them for training, I’m being serious.”
“Okay,” I replied. “No judgments. I know exactly where you’re coming from.”
“Good. Now leave me alone. I want to go back to sleep.”

Since I had some time and I’d avoided critical ecstasy myself, I decided to go see if Mephisto had time to give me some magic pointers. It turned out that she not only had time, but was looking for me.
“Luka, so good to see that you’re free!” Mephisto said. “Come, join me in one of the training rooms.”
I followed her warily,remembering Alice’s warning that just because I was in the castle didn’t mean I was totally safe. Mephisto was a dangerous person to be alone with, and she made no secret of the fact that she worked for the Monster Lord. If Alice’s mother ordered her to kill me, I knew that she would. I assumed that no such order would be forthcoming, as the Monster Lord needed me to kill her, but I couldn’t count on that. I could be wrong about her intentions, or she could consider me surviving the obstacles she put in my path part of proving my worthiness to be the one to slay her.
Today was not the day, however. Mephisto patiently worked with me, trying without success to teach me little tricks. It wasn’t that I was dumb, or that she was a bad teacher. She was simply running into the same challenges Gabriela had. I didn’t understand my power, and neither did she. In theory, it could do anything. In practice, everything I tried either fizzled uselessly, or failed hilariously. But Mephisto was very patient. After failing to even light a candle with my power(instead, I melted it into wax in three seconds), she decided to take a different tack.
“Remember what I told you about transformation?” she asked me. I nodded. “Transformation magic is very complex, but requires little power. It is difficult to learn, but even a weak magician who is a good student can do it. It seems to come naturally to you. You envision what you want the person to look like, and they look that way.”
“Really, I just get it from memory,” I corrected her. “I can make Alice and Ilias big because I can picture in my mind what they looked like that way. I doubt I could change Alice into Ilias, or Ilias into Alice.”
“You most definitely could do that, but you obviously have a mental block. It’s a bit like trying to control your dreams. In dreams, you should be able to do anything you desire, no matter how impossible, as long as you can imagine yourself doing it. But the rational part of your mind will sometimes rebel and not allow you to do many things which seem impossible to you. Since Alice is not Ilias, and Ilias is not Alice, it makes no sense to your rational mind to make them so. Whereas since their true forms are adult, it is easy for you to imagine them as they are supposed to be.”
“Yes, that’s exactly how it works!” I said. “My healing power seems to work the same way, although it’s the only use of my power I know that isn’t temporary. People I heal stay healed.”
“That is because you are restoring them to their true form. It doesn’t work with a sealed victim because the sealed form is their true form as long as their body is sealed. The seal must be reversed, something which you are also capable of doing, although it would be much more difficult. First, you’d have to know how they were sealed.”
“Weren’t they sealed using the Six Ancestors’ Seal?” I asked.
“Possibly,” Mephisto mused. “Perhaps even probably. But there are other strong spells that can take away a being’s power. Your Angel Halo seals, although the effect is also temporary. They could also have been de-aged. Alice says that the white rabbit sealed her into that form. Perhaps she is not sealed at all. The white rabbit is master of time. She could have simply rewound everything about Alice except her mind. Perhaps the only reason you cannot restore Alice is because you believe her to be sealed, rather than transformed.”
“Now that’s an interesting thought!”
“Let’s try a standard witch spell,” Mephisto instructed. “Change me into a frog.”
“Excuse me?”
“Go on, imagine me as a frog, and change me! Then try to restore me. Should you fail to restore me, it doesn’t matter. I will recover my true form shortly after you leave the room.”
She had a point. My magical effects didn’t last much longer than my concentration. Given that Mephisto was already green, perhaps it wouldn’t be too difficult to transform her into a frog? I closed my eyes.
“Don’t close your eyes!” she said, rapping me with her wand. “You need to be able to see your opponent if you’re in combat. Closing your eyes is a good way to die.”
I saw no reason why I couldn’t do it when simply training, as first I needed to successfully perform the spell before I could use it in combat, but she was the teacher, so I complied. I looked right at Mephisto and willed her to be a frog.
“Are you going to do it or not?” she asked.
“I’m working on it.”
“It looks more like you’re staring at me. Go on, change me into a frog! Or a butterfly, or even a chair! There is no limit to what you can do! If you can imagine it, you can do it!”
I concentrated. She wasn’t changing.
“Fine, close your eyes if that helps,” Mephisto conceded.
I did, and imagined her as a frog. I opened my eyes. Mephisto was still standing there, looking vaguely disapproving.
“Well, that was a bust,” she sighed. “Perhaps I expected too much of you. After all, you’re only RIBBIT!”
“Excuse me?” I asked. “I’m only a rabbit?”
Mephisto tried to respond, but instead made a croaking sound.
“Are you all right?” I asked, concerned that she might be choking.
“I’m fine,” Mephisto assured me. “It appears that you failed to change me, but your attempt did have some eff- RIBBIT!”
“Oh, wow,” I breathed. “Are you sure you don’t just have the hiccups?”
She rapped me with her wand again.
“Now, last lesson of the d-RIBBIT! Damnit! Change me back.”
“But you already look like you’re supposed to look,” I pointed out. “How do I imagine you not making that sound?”
“You make a good point. Let’s try something else then. In the world of conventional magic, we call this a dispel. Dispelling is powerful magic, but also simple, so you should be able to master it. Can you feel the magic in this room? Can you sense my magic?”
I peered at Mephisto, trying to read her magic. I saw nothing. As Ilias often said, I was like a blind man with a bazooka. I could rarely tell that someone wielded powerful magic just by looking at them, the way Alice could. But I did sense the ambient magic of the room if I “listened” closely. The room had many passive spells designed to prevent damage to the room extending outside of it. Any room where magic was practiced needed such protections, or else a wayward spell could bring down the entire castle.
“I can’t see yours, but I sense the spells protecting the room,” I said.
“Good, good! Now simply wish the spells away.”
I did. The spells remained.
“Hmmm….” Mephisto said. “I realize this is our first lesson, but it’s rather frustrating to see someone with such incredible power unable to do the simplest tasks. Forgive me, I am not insulting your intelligence. Your magic is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Let’s try this: instead of wishing the magic away, wish for the truth.”
“The truth?” I asked uncertainly.
“Something in this room is not as it appears to be,” Mephisto said. “While this is not something you can envision in your mind, I judge you a man who values truth as much as you value the lives of others, even your enemies. Your power seems to respond to your moral outrage. Well, be outraged now. There is a lie in this room, and it is waiting for you to reveal it. You are being deceived right now. That should make you angry. Let your power rise, and dispel the illusion that clouds your sight!”
It didn’t make me angry, but I was beginning to understand, or at least I hoped I did. When I’d first made Alice and Ilias big, I’d used the Word of Dispel spell as an aid, to make it feel as if I was actually casting the spell as a real wizard would. Maybe I could try something similar. I looked directly at Mephisto again.
“Show me the truth!” I said, my power emanating out of me more forcefully than I had intended, but this time not with explosive force. Instead, the power functioned on a different level, sweeping every enchantment in the room before it, nullifying the protective spells in the room, spells that had been put in place by powerful monster wizards.
But that wasn’t the lie. I knew about those spells, and there was no deception intended by their existence. They were there for everyone’s protection. The lie in the room was Mephisto herself. A vaguely humanoid green woman no longer stood before me. Instead, I saw a hideous yoma out of my worst nightmares.
“Holy crap!” I exclaimed. “Mephisto?!”
“This is my true form,” Mephisto said sadly, changing back into her more familiar form. “It is not a pretty sight, is it?”
“I….”
“You do not need to spare my feelings, Luka. My mother, and her grandmother before her, sought to increase their power beyond natural means. Most monsters learn magic. My mother and grandmother sought to acquire it. That required…. Bargains with entities that were let us say, not benign. Those bargains warped them. Alas, I inherited their appearance, as well as their power. But I have learned from their mistakes. I have learned magic the old fashioned way. I read, I study, I practice. I’ve long wished to adopt a more pleasing form than the one I have, but it is difficult to maintain a face that is not one’s own. That is why even when your Alice is in human form, she still looks like Alice, rather than say, the battle fucker you encountered in the mayor’s house today.”
“Mephisto, if you want to feed, you can always come to me.”
“How dare you?!” Mephisto yelled indignantly. “I do not want your pity semen. I’m not going to deceive you, Luka. When the time comes, we will be on opposite sides. And on that day, I will TAKE your semen, and then devour your body!”
“Um… Can I go now?” I asked.
“Yes, of course,” she said dismissively. “Come to me any time. I am not actually angry with you. I simply wish you to know where we stand. We are not friends and I am not one of your projects. I am your ally for as long as it suits the Monster Lord. And as long as I am your ally, I will teach you as well as I am able. You learned a valuable use of your power today. Excellent work. I hope that we’ll have even more success the next time.”
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Luka's Story-Paradox