DD 203 Ch 32

Chapter 32

However, Des held firm that this had been an opportunity. She would to use it to make Ken become even stronger.

And if she was honest with herself, a slight part of her wanted him to be a little more demonic, like her. The Renard family had its fair share of demon blood, and all of the Renards' spouses took powerful demons to build secondary classes or use for class upgrades. Des had changed from the effects of taking on demon blood, but Ken had never showed any difference beyond the [Metamorphosis] ability.

Des could only assume that while Ken had gotten high level blood, maybe he’d been so low level he had not fully subdued the demon. And this time, she hoped she could give him a different outcome.

She had started the ritual with the hope that Ken would reclaim the full power of demon blood. Her intention was good, but what was currently happening was not what was supposed to, at least as far as the book depicted.

She looked down at the book once more. Ken was supposed to be unconscious on the ground, not in a blood orb cocoon thing. 

"Maybe we should cut it open," Charlotte said. 

"No, don't do that," Des held her hand out to stop Felin, who looked like she was about to stab into the cocoon. "We don't know what's happening, and I think for now we should wait," Des said. 

She glanced over her shoulder. The golden chains that had been on the boss' doors had fallen off. She could only hope that was a good sign that perhaps Demon Lord Snu Snu was no more, and what would emerge from that cocoon would be Ken.

While her nerves built, the cocoon began to wiggle and squirm, as if something was trying to get out. 

Fayeth took a deep breath and held her glaive at the ready. 

"It's Ken," Charlotte admonished her. 

"We don't know that." Fayeth looked ready for a fight.

"If it's the boss, I'll open the doors." Felin bounded away towards the doors. 

"Don't do that yet, either." Des wanted everyone to wait for the result before they started opening the doors. If they opened the boss' doors, she was worried the boss might respawn or reset. Who knew what that would do to the ritual? No. She had a feeling this was the one and only opportunity. 

A hand pushed out against the blood cocoon before making a fist and sinking back in. 

"That's not creepy at all," she muttered to herself. But creepy or not, she just wanted her attempt to work.

So desperately, she wanted Ken to be as strong as he desired. She wanted him to be able to shoulder every burden of the dungeon that came his way.

She had helped him in the beginning. However, as time had gone on, she had certainly lost her competitive edge. Ken's liminal speed had absolutely blown the rest of the damage dealers out of the water. 

For a while, she had thought satisfying Ken in bed was the best way to stick around. However, it was clear his heart was set on pushing deeper and deeper into the dungeon, and she wanted to follow him.

This was an opportunity for her to help in another way. If her family's grimoire could make Ken stronger once again, she felt like she would earn her keep, even though at times it felt useless to be another damage dealer alongside Ken. He was just that dominant in damage. 

The hand scraped against the edge of the cocoon again, only this time it found purchase and gripped the edge, pulling and tearing. It seemed with a single tear, that was all it needed as blood flooded out and the cocoon shrank, a bodily form ripping itself out. 

Des gasped. Her family's grimoire was immediately forgotten.

Fayeth’s glaive fell to the floor, and even Bun Bun's jaw smacked the ground. Somehow, the man that pulled himself from the cocoon was completely untouched by blood.

It was Ken, though his features were a little changed. He had perhaps grown several inches, and for whatever reason, his gear was currently not equipped. Instead, he had an athletic, chiseled body that was a few shades paler than before. Most strikingly, his hair had turned an ivory white, while his eyes had turned golden with a slit down the center of each of them. 

Des unconsciously licked her lips and hummed, seeing what she was currently going to dub as ‘Incubus Ken’ walked out of the cocoon.

***

I stepped out of the blood cocoon, finally rid of the stupid thing, only to see the women in my party staring slack-jawed at me.

They were completely and woefully ill prepared for a fight. What if I’d been a monster? It was silent as they stared at me.

"What?" I asked, looking at my hand and somehow, but happily, surprised that I didn't have a bunch of blood on me. Instead, I ran a hand through my hair. It felt a little curly instead of the straight black I remembered, and I twisted a little bit in front of me to see that it was white. 

"Holy shit, my hair!" I fumbled, stepping fully out of the cocoon and distracted from my ladies’ surprise.

Felin, who had been standing close to the doors, bounded in my direction and I held my hands up.

"It's me!" I yelled as I watched her prepare to attack. But the words seemed pointless as the Nekorian pounced on me and knocked me to the floor. However, instead of a true attack, she began smothering me in kisses. Purring began next as she pushed herself up, straddling my hips. 

"Down girl!" Des said, half laughing, half chiding the Nekorian.

Felin let out a low growl as Des tried to pull her off of me. The Nekorian resisted Des and tried to latch onto me.

"Hand, please!" Des glanced at Fayeth, who was still staring at me.

"Yeah, of course." The elf hurried over and helped pull the Nekorian off of me as she shook herself out of a daze. "He's..." Fayeth started, her eyes locking on my body and raking up and down it again. 

"I’m what?" I asked. 

"Ken, you look fucking delicious," Des stared at me. "I don't know what just happened," she gestured at me, "but you're rocking it." 

I chuckled and looked down at my body, noticing it looked like I'd been out of the sun my entire life. I had always had an athletic form, but something about my current body just seemed a little extra toned. Like someone darkened the shadows and lightened the rippling muscles of my abs. Turning over my arm to get at my CID, I tried to look at my stats, only to get an error from the device. I frowned and began tapping at it several more times.

The oddity of my new form forgotten as I failed to use my CID.

"Something's wrong with my CID," I said. 

"Something changed with you," Charlotte held out a mirror for me and I looked in it. I was myself, but it was as if someone had drawn me, trying to perfect every inch. Somehow, white hair and golden eyes were part of the end result. I leaned closer to the mirror, seeing that I no longer had round pupils. Instead, they were elongated slits that ran up and down through the iris. 

"Whoa." I held my eyelids down and stared at my eyes closer, watching as they adjusted to the shifting light. "Des, what did you do to me?" I leaned back and glanced at the warlock.

 Des fumbled with her grimoire. "Well, I tried to fix your seal. Yeah, that's it." She continued to flip through the pages. "I don't know how I turned you into a..." She hesitated, staring back at me and swallowing around a lump in her throat. "Incredibly sexy demon. And I can't say I'm really that upset about the outcome."

"Des... What am I going to do? My CID doesn't work. Heck, if I go back to the surface... People are going to have a lot of questions.” I was starting to freak out a bit. I didn’t want to end up as a lab rat.

“It wasn't like you were really human anyways. Adventurers aren't really human." Des offered.

"Yeah, but adventurers aren't some entire other race. They're just extra… human." I sighed and looked at the mirror again. "Alright, well, we can just maybe put a little dye in my hair? Colored contacts?" I was reaching and I knew it. Suddenly, having my body change was incredibly startling. Having a different set of eyes staring back at me was particularly unsettling.

The demonic slit pupils gave me a sort of uncanny valley situation. When I looked in the mirror, I was supposed to see Ken Nagato. Now I saw something similar enough that it felt like me, yet it was clearly something different. I opened my eyes just to see the reflection. 

Felin held her hand up where Fayeth was restraining her. "I think it's an upgrade." 

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. "Well, I'm glad you think it's an upgrade. Hopefully, we'll..." I gestured at myself vaguely. "Work this out. I'm sure it's not the first time that something has changed about an adventurer while diving in a dungeon." I was trying to reassure myself. 

Wanting a distraction, I looked at the stairs that led down to the next safe zone and glanced back at Des, then looked to the rest of my party. "What do you guys say we go take a peek at what's down in the safe zone? It would be important to know if there were any surprises for us."

The rest of my party only shrugged helplessly, while they kept sneaking glances at me out of the corner of their eyes. 

I got to my feet, walking down the stairs and leading my party. I somewhat hoped there was something down here. If nothing else, a pleasant distraction from my current situation would be nice. I really had no idea what to do about suddenly becoming a demon. At least, that's what I thought I had become. Who knew what the proper term for my current species even was at the moment.

I got to the bottom of the steps only for my jaw to drop. Considering the surprise I had just received, the fact that I could still be shocked was impressive. 

As we exited the stairs, there was no flat plain like most safe zones. Instead, I was met with a tower that ran through the center of the safe zone and down what I would consider were several dungeon floors. 

Blinking, I looked around and there were multiple entrances like the one I had just come from all the way along the wall. Each level of entrances had a corresponding floor of the tower that spanned most of the safe zone. That tower in the center was more akin to a stacked city built into the dungeon. 

"Whoa." Des said, walking out behind me.

"Have the elves ever seen something like this?" I glanced at Fayeth, and then at Felin, waiting to see if either of them knew anything.

"No. What is this?" Fayeth asked. 

Felin shook her head hard enough to make her ears flop on top of her head. "It's huge." 

The tiered city, as I was beginning to think of it, took up most of the space. The structure had to be over 300 feet tall going from the very tip of this open space down to the bottom. It was all carved of intricate white stone. Pillars kept it open so the levels could be seen from up above. Meanwhile, it was broken up into a dozen of tier. Each one was about twenty feet tall. 

As I stared, movement caught my eye.

There was a race with wings that flew out from one tier to the next. Occasionally, a green-skinned humanoid would move between the pillars. We stood there gawking from where we had stepped into this massive safe zone.

There was a bridge that ran from the balcony that we stood on over to the tiered city. Our gawking must have caught one of those flyers' attention, because a female angel-like woman began to head over to us rapidly.

"What if they're hostile?" Des asked suddenly.

I didn't blame her for the question. We had dealt with a few hostile races recently. "If they're hostile, then we get out of here," I said.

The five of us were in no condition to take on an entire city. Besides, this whole thing screamed high level to me. The last thing I wanted to do was take them all on. 

The angel was on us a moment later, chirping excitedly, flapping her wings and staying airborne. As she hovered around us, I scratched my cheek. She didn't seem hostile.

I waved at the angel in front of us. "Hi, I'm Ken." I gave my most charming smile.

She chirped several more times before she very clearly said, "Ken," back, and then chirped a few more times, waving her hands at me before she flipped over midair and flew back into the tiered city. 

"Did you catch any of that?" I glanced over at the rest of my party. The ladies all shook their heads. 

"No, but I really want to pounce on her," Felin said, rubbing her hands together as she wiggled her butt. 

"Please don't pounce on the new mysterious winged race," I said, hurriedly. "I would really rather not have any misunderstandings." 

"There'll be no misunderstandings," Felin said. "I want to pounce on her, so I will pounce on her." 

"Well, don't," I quickly told her, suddenly very worried about us pissing off the other race.

“Don't pounce on the winged lady. Please." The others echoed me.

"They might be able to help us, and they certainly won't help us if you're pouncing on all of them." I added.

Felin pouted, but nodded in agreement. "You're probably right, but who knows? Maybe that's how they say hello." 

"It is most certainly not how anyone is going to say hello," Des rubbed her face with a hand.

"Maybe we should bring Neldra down here.” Fayeth said. “They might be a little more respectful of her." 

She paused mid-sentence as the angel that had come over and talked to us was flapping alongside a green-skinned humanoid. As he approached along the bridge, it was clear he was quite large. He had his own angel flapping more sedately on the other side of him. 

I gave what I hoped would be a friendly smile and a wave.

The orc, because that’s what he appeared to be, grimaced back, showing off a pair of large, not-very-friendly-looking tusks. 

"Oh, he seems nice," Charlotte said as she held Bun-Bun closer. The more I looked at her current hold, the more I realized she held the rabbit in a stranglehold, most likely trying to keep him out of trouble. 

The second angel came up near us and landed with a small bow, her hand over her heart. "Welcome," she said. 

I blinked at her using English, wondering if there was some sort of magic at play. I didn't question it so much as suddenly my attention shifted to the orc, not just because he was a very large person, but he defied my expectation in several ways.

He wore a fine silk shirt with a vest over it and a monocle in one eye. His tusks were capped with gold, and though he had an imposing eight-foot-tall frame, absolutely corded with muscle. He was not leaning forward aggressively. Instead, he seemed to have a poised posture about him, his shoulders relaxed and back, as he regarded me curiously. 

"Welcome," the angel spoke again, seeming to wait.

“Uh… Hi. We were diving in the dungeon and got lost during the mix-up." I tried to explain. “We've been pushing down only to find this place." 

She turned, looking back at the tiered city with a proud smile on her face. "Yes, you couldn't pronounce it, but we'll just call it Star City," she said. 

The orc seemed to be patiently waiting as we conversed in English. I couldn't tell if he understood a word. In fact, it was rather hard to read the well-manicured orc.

"Well, thank you for being so welcoming," I said. "We have a..." I started to tell her about our camp in the safe zone above, but then decided we should learn more. "A need to resupply," I hurriedly changed what I had been about to say. "I don't suppose we could trade here." I hesitated, glancing at the orc. "Does your orc friend have anything to say?" I asked.

The angel gasped, and the orc growled at me. She turned, speaking in another language, and hurriedly waved at the orc, as if she was trying to prevent him from crushing my skull. "You should apologize," she said quickly. "Quickly, bow, bow!" 

I didn't know what to do, but I followed my instincts and bowed towards the orc. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked. 

The angel held fingers to her forehead. "Yes, of course. You have no idea what you just did. Do humans have a..." She snapped at her fingers several times, trying to come up with a word. "An ancient ancestor, one that was possibly not very civilized or not very intelligent?”

“Like a Neanderthal?" Des asked. 

The angel pointed at her. "Neanderthal, yes. Calling the gentleman behind me an orc would be like me calling you a Neanderthal," the angel hurriedly explained. 

I made a big O with my mouth of understanding, and then bowed towards him twice more. "I am sorry, I did not mean to offend you. Could you give me the correct name for the… gentleman’s people?" Given the haste in which she wanted me to apologize, and the way she was referring to the definitely not an orc, made me think he was the one in charge. 

"Oh, they're called Orkai," she said. 

I smiled at her, and decided not to point out that there was only a one syllable difference between that and what I had said.

"Orkai," I repeated, making sure to say it slowly. 

The finely dressed man crossed his arms and gave me a nod of smug satisfaction. Good, it seems we had dodged at least one bullet. 

"This is going to sound strange," I turned back to the angel. "But, how do you speak English?" 

"Oh, well, you aren't the first human I have met. In fact, the one I learned from is currently staying in the city. She only recently came, but my linguist skill helps me pick up languages quickly. It's why I'm the assistant to our wonderful governor here." She gestured at the Orkai, and I understood why he was the one in charge. 

At the gesture towards him, he stuck out a large green beady hand in what I could only assume was a handshake. Though when I reached out to grab his hand, he reached a little further and clasped my forearm. His hand completely engulfed my forearm, and then he squeezed enough to make my bones ache before he let go.

Despite the pain, everything about his demeanor told me that it was, in fact, a friendly squeeze. I resisted the urge to rub my arm as I pulled it away. 

"Oh, well, maybe you could introduce us," I gestured towards the city. "We would love to come in if we are welcome, especially to trade supplies." 

"Of course, anyone's welcome. All races are welcome as long as they don't cause trouble within Star City," she said. "I would be happy to find someone else who could function as your translator as you settle in," she gestured at me. "Though someone of your heritage likely has no trouble with that," she winked. 

I gave her a smile, remembering that I no longer looked very human.

"It's rare to see such a mixed party," she said, glancing back at us already turning to show us the way. "But I'm being nosy. Come, let me show you to the other human."