"What's the matter? You're slowing down, my dear~"
Sherry gritted her teeth. She was now standing on the ground, crossing her legs. Her hands were pressed to her crotch, scissored by her thighs. Her hardened nipples were visible through her white top, as she wasn't wearing a bra. Her face was flushed and red and her breath was short.
In short, she was horny.
The archfey had showered her with aphrodisiac spores. For a fairy that ruled over flowers, it was an easy trap to lay upon the Izurd.
She knew her kind's weakness. Embarrassment, especially embarrassment in matters of sexual nature. The girl was a virgin. And a completely pure one at that. She was too busy with her training to even notice her bourgening sexual needs. A simple arousal would no doubt incapacitate her, as she had no experience whatsoever in the matter.
And she was right. Sherry could feel her power fading, turning her into a weak (and aroused) human girl.
"You… you evil woman!" She yelled. "Fight me fair and square!"
The archfey broke into a melodious laugh. "Playing fair? With fairies? You really are a fool, mortal. Just like your grandmother."
"Just like me, is it, fairy?"
The fey turned her head. To her surprise, Quania was there, standing with her sword drawn.
For a second, fear crept into her heart. She wasn't scowling like her granddaughter. She simply gave her a hollow, terrifying stare. Enough to send chills all over her body.
"When Fran told me not to trust you, I didn't take her warning seriously." Quania slowly walked closer, a trail of darkness behind her, left behind by her sword. "You saved my broken heart. I would've taken my life otherwise. And you gave my people a safe place to be."
"But now… now I see you are just playing with me. Like you did with my granddaughter. You wanted to keep me in despair and to plunge her into it."
"G-Grandmother!" Sherry yelled. She didn't know how to feel. On one hand, she felt relieved for her coming to the rescue. But on the other hand, she was the one who cut Hugo's harm after all.
"What is this?" The fey flew closer to the ex-demon lord, though still keeping a good distance away. "Are you saying that… you wish to fight me? You wish to break our contract?"
"I no longer have need of you. That boy… he has shown me the courage I have lost."
"Without me, the outside world will swallow you and your people whole!"
"No. You are the one that will swallow us whole."
"Imbecile! Very well! If that is what you desire!"
The air shifted, a sudden fog manifesting out of thin air, blinding both Izurds.
Only for it to disappear in a flash, revealing an entirely new, and surprising environment.
For they were now below the Izurd village. Or rather, they could see it above them, upside down, replacing the blue summer sky. The flower field also had changed. The ground was now dark red with all the flowers wilted or dead.
"Behold! The destruction of your precious little village!"
Sherry moved her gaze upwards.
And saw a horde of treants slowly making their way towards the village.
And not only them. Dryads, sprites, fairies — all sorts of fey creatures were there as well.
"The forest rejects you. And now it shall swallow you whole."
Quania moved first. The moment she saw the smug smile on the archfey's face, the only thought she had was to cut the fairy into two.
Sherry moved second. The sight of her home being assaulted was enough to burn her anger once more, enough to overcome the aphrodisiac's effect on her.
As for the others…
--------
"Stay away from Master Hugo, you stupid tree!"
Kiri fired a high pressure jet of water, cutting through the treant in front of her in two.
The moment they arrived at the village's outskirts, treants of all shapes and sizes suddenly popped up from the ground.
Quickly, they found themselves surrounded. The two had run out of mana from their transformation and they could barely hold off the other feys from harming Hugo.
"Ooh, Master Hugo! Please wake up!" Kiri said to herself.
Unfortunately, the young man laying down behind her was still fast asleep. Even though she had healed him, he refused to regain his consciousness.
She didn't know it but his slow awakening was thanks to the side effect of the mana potion he had drank. It would cause great fatigue to the drinker after some minutes — a side effect that, unfortunately, Felicia had yet to be able to remedy.
"No." Aria replied, giving her friend a stern look. "It's our turn to fight."
The sprite was still angry and ashamed. At herself. Kiri was the one doing the healing. She was just supplying her with mana. She had yet to obtain her redemption.
"You're right!" Kiri nodded. "We're his family now! He's like our younger brother!"
"No. I'm the older sister. You're the younger one." Aria nonchalantly replied.
"Whaaat?! I'm older than him too!"
"No you're not."
They would've argued further, if not for a group of treants firing their leaves towards them.
-------
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the Izurd didn't stay idle. Fran, in her capacity as the unofficial second chief of the tribe, had rallied her people to defend her village.
They all had watched Hugo's fight against the archfey, courtesy of Quania who wanted a showing of a weak human and his misdeeds. However, all that happened was them seeing how this human managed to match their chieftain. And they all knew how monstrously strong she was. Not to mention his courage and bravery, standing against her demonic aura like it was nothing when even a dragon would flee from it.
It all became clear to them — why their Sherry was so madly in love with him. It didn't matter that he had brought another girl with him. His love for her was true and pure.
It was enough to even make some of the yet to be wed Izurd females swoon over him, thinking how lucky Sherry was to have him.
As for Emel, the boy who pined for Sherry, he could only begrudgingly accept that she would never be his. He could never compete with someone as strong and gallant as him.
And so, when the archfey tried to cheat him of his happy ending, they fell into an uproar. They already didn't trust the archfey and now that distrust was proven to be right beyond a shadow of a doubt. They all agreed with their chief in opposing her.
Unfortunately, none of them were really that well-trained in the art of combat. Only the males had some training in the art of the sword. The women had abandoned fighting for hundreds of years.
If they had been in their prime, these fey armies would stand no chance against them.
But now, they had to make do with their natural strength.
"Haaa!"
Fran slammed a hammer made out of her hair into a nearby treant, pulverizing its wood in an instant.
"Darling! Behind you!"
Graha, her husband, sidestepped a spear of vine from a dryad. He swiftly retaliated with a slash of his sword, disintegrating the fey in an instant.
All with a smile on his face.
He was happy. His sword had not dulled after all. The sword he had used to win his wife's heart all those years ago.
"Good job, Darling!" Fran giggled before smashing another treant into dust.
The duo was in perfect sync. But even so, they were not making any headway into the fey army. More and more fairies, dryads, and treants popped into their dimension, manifesting out of thin air even behind their line.
Their village was technically inside the Great Fairy Forest after all. And the number of feys living there were practically endless. And a good chunk of infinity is still infinity.
The only way to stop the assault was to stop the archfey herself. And for that, they both knew only Quania stood a chance.
For now, their duty was to stand their ground. And make sure that there will be an Izurd village when she returns.
And of course, to make sure Hugo and his companions are safe as well.
They owed that to Sherry. There would be no more heartbroken Izurd if they could help it!
—-----
Myrilla
"Out of the way!"
Myrilla aimed her staff forward and conjured a miniature tornado, sending a crowd of fairies blocking her path flying to the clouds.
The demoness, unlike her usual self, had fire blazing in her eyes.
She knew this could happen but she didn't expect it to happen this fast. Feys cannot be trusted. Especially one as old and powerful as the ruler of this land.
And now, his son's life is in danger. That boy, who had blossomed into a fine adult, who had passed her test with flying colors…
She would not let his life end like this!
Behind her she could sense Felicia and the others piercing their way through the masses as well. Reading their minds, she knew just how much they wanted to save him as well. Felicia, still rushing ahead with her legs submerged in shadow, took care of the more difficult feys. When a pair of high fairies blocked their way, she submerged into the ground before stabbing them from the back with her shadows. As for the other three, they took on the smaller opponents. Using their weapon skills, swarms of fairies and gnomes fell in seconds.
Still, she was faster, more experienced than them. She had to be their spear, their tip of the sword through this crowd.
She would be the one to come to his aid first.
A massive treant blocked her way, with a giggling dryad sitting on the top of its head. A burst of large roots grew towards her, fully intending to wrap themselves around her before crushing her body into a corpse. The dryad then fired a surge of vines from her fingertips, intending to prevent her from jumping to avoid the roots.
Dispelling her Wind Step (or her version of it, as the name came from Hugo), she tapped her staff to the ground, conjuring a counterspell in an instant.
A burst of wind exploded under the demoness, lifting her ankle-length all the way upwards, revealing her black lace panties to the world.
"Wind Spring!"
With another tap of her staff, this time held with both hands, she flew.
No. Not just flew. She took off like a cork of a champagne's bottle, dodging both vines and roots before they could land on her.
Using the wind, she created a spring effect, launching her with great speed to the skies.
She cursed, feeling the pain from the cracks appearing in her leg and feet bones. This was why she didn't use the spell from the start.
Well, that, and the one time she used it, her panties snapped from the force.
Landing right on top of Alan's face while he was looking upwards right under her skirt.
It took her one month until she could look him in the eyes again. And one day until she could speak with him, thanks to his irresistible charisma.
Renee thought the accident hilarious. The naive girl didn't even care that her lover (oh, she knew she had a crush on him at that point) had peeked at another woman's privates. Or smelled her panties for that matter.
The demoness, on the other hand, gravely disagreed. It was a shameful disaster that should never be repeated again.
That’s why she had improved on the spell. This time around, it shouldn’t have any unwanted effects on her undergarments.
But enough reminiscing. Time to return her attention to the present.
Now up in mid-air, she saw him. The unconscious body of Hugo, being defended by his two summons.
She turned her Wind Step back on before descending down on his location. All the while bombarding the feys from above with Thunder and Wind spells.
She, of course, was capable of Dual Casting. There was a reason why she was the strongest member of her party back in the day.
"Reinforcements! Miss Myrilla!" Kiri exclaimed, a wide smile breaking out on her face as she looked upwards towards the demoness.
Aria glanced upwards as well. She didn’t say anything but she had a smile on her face as well.
As Myrilla descended over Hugo’s unconscious body, however…
*SNAP*
A triangular fabric fell between her legs, landing right on top of his face.
It was, well, what else, her panties.
Her heart froze.
She nearly botched her landing. A deep blush like none ever saw before now infused her face.
"U-urghhh…"
And, to both her joy and horror, Hugo, who she thought was still unconscious, was stirring in his sleep.
In panic, her mind-reader ability activated, allowing her to read the groggy mind of the now awakened young adult.
Mmm, this scent… it's so good…
It was the same thought his father had when he got his nose covered by her unmentionables.
...No. That's not right. It was my arm that got cut off. And those two… I think… they spoke to me in my dream?
...This scent… I know this… This is… a woman's scent, isn't it? In some ways, it's similar to Felicia's. Yet in other ways, it's different…
Hold on…
I moved my arms, lifting them slowly together. To my surprise, my right arm, the arm that should've been cut off, worked perfectly, without any itch or tingle in the slightest.
Using my hands, I lifted what seemed like a fabric covering my face, pinching its hem with my thumbs and index fingers.
My suspicion was correct.
I had a pair of panties covering my face.
So that's where the womanly scent was coming from…
They were black with laces, the sort of garment an adult woman would wear for sure. Their size looked to be a little small though. They would no doubt be stretched to their limits whenever they were worn.
Though their waistband seemed to have snapped. That's a shame.
Instinctively, I brought them closer to my face once more. Without thinking, I gave them another sniff.
God, this scent… it's making me go—
I froze.
Only now I noticed them. My two new familiars, Kiri and Aria, looking at me with relieved expressions.
And Myrilla, whose face was as red as a tomato, looking as if she wanted to kill me on the spot.
"Are these… your panties?" I glanced at the demoness.
"...No. It just fell from the sky. Now get up and stop dawdling. We still have a fight we have to do."
Judging by her blush, and her aversion to my gaze, these were totally hers.
Well, I'll just keep them for now.
I sat up and pocketed the fabric, before standing up slowly, still feeling a bit shaky on my feet.
I flashed a smile towards the demoness. Your panties woke me up. Thank you for that. Though I doubt you gave them intentionally. I guess they must have snapped in the middle of combat.
"Master! You're alright!" Kiri glanced back at me. "Stay still, Master Hugo! Me and Aria will keep you safe!"
"I'm glad you are healthy and whole too, Master." Aria followed, glancing back as well. "I want to hug you now but unfortunately this is not the right time to do that."
She was right. Looking around us, we were pretty much surrounded by all manner of feys. Not to mention that more continued to swarm in from out of thin air.
"That Archfey… She really wants my life, huh?" I chuckled. I took out my staff from my back. I had it tied to my body with a rope. Probably courtesy of Kiri and Aria.
My sword wasn't there, however. Fiora's gift… it had been cut in two by Quania.
"She wants your Sherry to fall to despair." Myrilla commented with a scowl. "And now, that ex-demon lord and said granddaughter is fighting her."
My face brightened. "Really? Does that mean Quania approved of me?"
"Approve? ...Yes. I suppose you can call it that."
"I can't believe it! Even though I lost to her…"
"Oh, stop talking down to yourself. You destroyed her left arm. That is a victory worthy enough to be in the history books."
Heh, thinking about it, she's right. Going that far against a Demon Lord is already an insane accomplishment for a 14-year old kid like me.
"...I have to help them. Myrilla, do you know where they are?"
"...You're not going to ask where Felicia and the others are?"
"They're safe. I'm sure of it. Or else you wouldn't be here with me right now." I gave her a smile. "Though before I go, I should take care of all these feys first."
Gripping my staff tightly, I flew all the way up to the sky with Wind Step.
Before blasting the battlefield with my spells.
---------
Sherry
"Gahh!"
An arrow pierced through Sherry's lower back, poking all the way on the other side of her stomach.
Without hesitation, the Izurd pulled the object from the front before throwing it away.
There was no time to catch her breath. Another volley of her arrows was coming.
She was now in quite the predicament. The Archfey had proved to be a far tougher opponent than she had anticipated. She was now conjuring thousands of fire arrows out of thin air, raining them down from all directions towards her. All the while she was going toe to toe with her grandmother.
Unlike the latter, she couldn't get close to the archfey in the slightest. The speed and numbers of the arrows were too much for her. Her hair wasn't fast enough to cope with all of them.
Not to mention the pollen continuously swimming around her. Its aphrodisiac effect was beginning to affect her again, weakening her physical ability. She couldn't take care of them at the source either as the archfey had created an endless field of flowers generating the thing under her. Even now, with her high up in the air, the pollen still swam around her.
Another wave of arrows fired. She swiftly extended her hair to all directions, focusing her mind to catch every single arrow.
"Arghh!"
Another arrow landed on her thighs. She pulled it off without a flinch as well. Her regenerative ability assured her that such wounds would not be a problem, and yet, it still hurt nonetheless.
She gritted her teeth. How could she be this weak, even after training day after day with barely any rest?
Hugo… he needed her. And yet, she could do nothing. She could only watch as her grandmother did all the work.
Hugo…
...No, stupid Sherry! You can't be thinking about him like that! Not now!
The aphrodisiac, naturally, turned her thoughts perverse as well. She began to imagine him laying down on his bed without a shirt. With his charming smile, he would invite her to sleep with him. And then, she would undress his pants, releasing the bulge that strained his—
Aahhhh, nonono!
She gripped her pants' crotch with her left hand, feeling its wetness. She quickly took it off, however, as if she started to rub it, there would be no going back.
Fran had taught her about this. And all the other lewd things a woman could do alone or with a man. She insisted that it was important for her to know them, precisely for a situation like this.
Her solution?
"I'm not sure. But I guess you just have to get used at being horny?"
That was her answer.
A frustratingly idiotic, worthless answer.
How was she supposed to do that?! No one could just get used to feeling like this! Her privates ached and throbbed, begging for his thing! Yes! She knew perfectly well now what Renee and Alan did in their bedroom! And she couldn't imagine how that could've been so pleasurable!
Until now!
She swore that, after this, she'd do that thing with him. He owed her that much!
With a renewed determination and anger, she handled the next set of arrows quite differently. Instead of trying to deflect them, she instead wrapped her hair all around her body, forming a cocoon.
And then, she spun. Flying right to where the archfey was battling her grandmother.
The arrows tried to pierce through but to no avail. The combination of her hair's toughness and the centrifugal force she was applying deflected all of them away.
Her grandmother might be able to catch all the arrows normally but she wasn't her. This should've been what she did from the very start.
You evil fairy! Just you wait! I swear I'm going to punch you in the face over and over again!
--------
Tch! To think she still has this much fighting spirit!
The Archfey was surprised. This sapling… even though a veil of misery had enveloped her for so many years… she still had this much fighting spirit in her.
She was now busy dodging back her sword slashes, switching around the dimensions she existed in back and forth. Every pocket dimension she created the former Demon Lord would just destroy with a single sword slash.
She fought back using her arrows, as well as other magic at her disposal. She would fire beams that would grow flowers on her body, only to find that every single one was blocked and devoured by her sword. She would use illusions to try and deceive her, creating multiple copies of herself or even Sherry, only to find out that the demoness could pinpoint her real self every single time.
Fear began to creep inside her heart. This wasn’t the loser Demon Lord she made a pact with all those years ago!
She tried using the aphrodisiac flowers as well. But, unlike in Sherry’s case, it was far less effective than she desired.
My aphrodisiac doesn't work on her at all! Why?!
She didn't know but the aphrodisiac did work. Even now, the demoness' womanly fluids were spurting out of her privates, absorbed immediately by her skirt. Being a traditionalist, she didn't wear any panties under her long skirt.
She simply did not care. If she still possessed her heart that loved her late husband, it would be a different story. But now, all she felt was emptiness.
After all these years, or over more than two hundred summers, the only man she was ever attracted to was him.
The ex-Demon Lord saw an opening, and, with a glint in her eyes, she pushed forward, performing a horizontal slice towards the archfey's abdomen. Unlike humans and their fancy sword techniques, she didn't have any special moves. She only attacked as swiftly and strongly as she could.
And it landed. The sword drank greedily on the fairy's barrier. Even with its reduced effectiveness against fairy magic, its aura and Quania's combined were enough to pierce and dispel it.
It cut through her abdomen, cleanly separating her into two.
"You—insolent—mortal!"
With a puff, both halves completed themselves, forming a perfect replica of the original. Only, this time, they were half as tall, making them as tall as the Demon Lord.
I have to… I have to run!
The two flew in opposite directions. In this separate form, each was only half as strong. They couldn't afford to continue the fight without being overwhelmed.
Quania glanced at the one going to the left before chasing after the right. After all, in that direction…
"Got you, you stupid fairy!"
Sherry laid in wait.
Before Archfey A could react, Sherry flew in and landed a full force punch to her face, just as she promised to.
If she had been less than an archfey, her fist would've formed a hole clean through. As such, she merely cracked her skull, dislocated her jaw, and broke her nose.
She wasn't satisfied however.
She grabbed her in the hair to prevent her from flying away. And then, with a ferocity of a beast, she punched her again, and again, and again, over and over, without hesitation nor mercy. Even as the archfey begged for her to stop.
Archfey B didn’t fare any better. Without the unrelenting attack against Quania, it quickly found that it lacked the speed to run from the ex-Demon Lord. She could only scream as her hair grabbed her from behind, bringing her right in front of the still all-too-furious woman.
“P-please! I-it was just… it was merely a jest! I… I didn’t want to actually destroy your village or kill that boy! O-or to make that girl fall to despair!”
"...I thank you for hiding us from the world all this time. But, you are now no longer needed. We Izurds are ready — I am ready — to face the world once more."
"T-That succubus who beat you before — she's still out there, you know! What would she and her kind do the moment they know the Izurds aren't really extinct?"
"I don't care. I am done wallowing in despair. And I am done with being your plaything as well."
"You—"
Before the archfey could respond, she sliced her throat clean off.
Followed by cutting her body over and over, making sure she would not be able to split her body like that again.
When she finished, the chunks of flesh that used to be the archfey disappeared, returning back to the forest as mana.
Sherry, who continued beating up the other fey until she became little more than a broken mass of flesh, found her half disappear as well.