Ep4: The New Order

"Now that you have the basics down, it is time for you to get accurate from a distance," Melisa said, pointing at a tree. "You sometimes will need to throw your weapon if you cannot when up close." She throws her own without looking, the rapier piercing the tree perfectly. "Fu fu fu, don't be upset if you can't get it the first time. It is a skill that must be practiced."

"This is merely ax-throwing but with a sword." Lao lined up his shot, throwing the sword hard into the spot above the rapier. It sent chunks of bark flying to the found as the blade slide into the tree like a card. "That, I can do."

"Lucky shot. Let's keep going." They both went and got their weapons, backing up to beside the house and then tossing. They both landed back in their spots, the shortsword sending more bits of bark falling as it cut deeper. Determined to prove Lao's skill as imperfect, the vampire kept demanding that they continue, until they were throwing from on top of a tree branch across the clearing. Melisa closed one eye, judging her aim before tossing it straight in the air. She watched it fall down gloriously, spinning until it landed blade first in the dirt. "Damn! I might have actually lost to you Lao…." she turned to him, waiting for him to take his throw before she conceded. She saw him thinking to himself, turned around while staring into his hand. "Did you hear me? I'm saying you won, idiot…" he slowly turned around, his eyes unable to look Melisa in the eye.

"What? You have been training long enough for the moon to disappear in the night. Haven't you? You've bested me, your teacher, a monster girl. Isn't that satisfactory?"

"It's not that….Melisa, I have been thinking about the New Order…." she watched her expression change, going dark as she turned from him. "What if I joined? And you too. Your father…"

"My father is fine Lao. You know that. He just rests a lot." She sits on the roof, staring at the front while Lao gazed off to the back. "Why should either of us join, I'm still an outlaw, and you hate anything that's not the Order."

"About that...I think I can handle being around a few monster girls."

"What if they come up to you?" Lao went silent, unsure if he would attack or not. "See? You don't even trust yourself if a succubus hugs you. What if I hugged you? Will you attack me?"

"No, I am used to you." He got up from his spot, scaling down the roof. "Lao! Get back here!"

"No, I am ready to go now. If not, I can always talk to that human."

"That is even worse! You wouldn't survive there! You'll turn into an incubus! You will be lonely! You will-"

"Why are you so adamant about me staying then?" He snapped. "I don't even know the reason why you kept me here! All I have been told was that you will kill me if I didn't let you train me!" In an act of frustration, he unsheathed his sword, stabbing in the ground and holding his arms open. "Just kill me then! Do it if it's a better fate than going over there!"

"I will!" She jumped down to him, putting the pointy end of her rapier at his throat in an instant. "I'll spill your blood, right on these grounds! Right now…Last chance."

"No." He closed his eyes, waiting for the rapier pressing on the blood vessels in his neck. Melisa pushed in, but there was an invisible wall stopping her from piercing his skin. Her arm flexed as she kept pushing, but deep down, she knew if she killed him, it would just be her and her father alone again. Swallowing her pride, she did the only sensible thing to do - stabbing Lao in the leg instead. She turned an ear to his scream as he fell to the ground, clutching his calf as blood pooled on his hands. "Idiot! You thought I would stand down right? That I would roll over like a kobold?" She stepped on Lao's chest, placing her rapier back at her chest. "Don't mistake this for love! I already have two people I love, and I don't need you intruding! I just like you being around…."

"In Chief God's name...my leg…." Lao was too busy losing blood pressure to listen to her manifesto, his vision starting to fade in and out.

"You stood your ground, and you have gotten better. So, I am letting you go to the New Order. I am following you of my own will, not yours. Father will be cared for on my discretions, not your fantasies. Now get up human. Oh, that's right, you can't morsel!" For good measure, she did the same to the other leg, getting another scream out of him before he went back to falling unconscious. "Ah….that's better." With the order of power restored, she through Lao on her back, carrying the dying man inside. "Father," she said in a softer quieter voice. "Wake up, we are taking a bit of a trip…"

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"We are almost there father," Melisa said, holding her father's hand while they checked in at the gates. As Melisa had snuck in numerous times before, she was already on the roster of travelers that passed through, courtesy of the human knight. "Where are we dear? This looks like your mother's village…" the father asked, holding on to Melisa's arm a bit tighter.

"No need to worry father, they can't hurt us anymore, much less here…" she walked him through the main walkway, walking through the next gate that led to the garden. Here, multiple maids went around tending to the demon realm plants that lived here. "You see? Besides the guard, there are many other mamono here that tend to the place. We will be safe…"

"Hello Queen Melisa." A Cu Sith maid came up to her, bowing. "Queen? When did you become a queen sweetie?" Her father confusingly looked at her. "I may have exaggerated my skills…and status."

"Master Geo has been expecting you. Is this your father? We can get him nice and comfy in his new room." Before he could object, he was whisked away, promising to see Melisa again before disappearing around the corner.

"Now then, time to tend to business…" Melisa continued walking, having carried a bloody human for the entire duration. The stairs were too long for her, so she decided to jump from level to level, parkouring up the spiral staircase until she had reached the very top of the floor. It was a circular layout with a hole in the middle for where someone could come up the stairs, with red velvet carpeting perfectly laid out everywhere. A flaming orange-colored path led to a throne, where a smug succubus sat, her arm resting on the rest as her fist went up to support her grinning head. Her wings were larger than a horse carriage, idly flapping fully spanned out. Her black dress did little to reveal the bulge that she had underneath, and stopped above her thigh high socks.

"Ugh, red…what is this a torture chamber?" Melisa asked, disgusted by the entire room.

"Is it not to your liking? I heard you painted the trees with your victim's blood." The omnibus put one leg over the other, seeming bored. "If that is true and not hyperbole."

"No, I lied about some things. I only came here because this one right here," she said, carrying Lao in front of the throne. "...wanted to join your ranks. And if I'm being honest, I need something else to do than to take care of my father."

"Like Add?"

"Shut your lips Geo, but yes. Now can you heal him with your cock or something? He has been bleeding the entire way here."

"Of course~" Geo held out her arms, Melisa tossing Lao to the omnibus sitting on the throne. "A simple spell will have him stable in no time. I presume you are going to go check on your father now?"

"No shit. What room are she and Addious in?"

"The 3rd floor should fancy your interest, but Add is quite busy with his husband at the mo-" Before she could warn her, Melisa had disappeared down the stairs, her cape flowing behind her. "Such an impatient person. Now then Lao, where exactly are you bleeding…." Her eyes scanned his body until he saw the patch of bloodstains on his leg sleeves. She used her sharp nails to tear through the fabric of his pants, seeing the holes Melisa's rapier made in his leg. "For fuck's sake…" She put his palms against his skin, white mana flowing from her. The skin started to rapidly close, the wound healing until what was left was only the blood that caked the outside of his legs. His breathing became audible once again, and his eyes opened. "Wake up Lao, your legs are healed…"

"This….is heresy." He promptly got out of her hold, his hand searching for a blade handle that wasn't there. "Your sword is under my lap, I didn't want to have to deal with a hole in my chest today. Now then, are we going to fight?" She had a disapproving look on her face, not wanting to harm him. He stood still in his defensive stance, his mind tumbling over itself to decide whether or not she was a threat to him. He felt no corruption in his body, but the wings that dwarfed even the largest knight's body. "Are you the omnibus?" he asked, settling on pacing back and forth as he kept his gaze locked on her.

"Yes. I have both parts, and can alter my sex as I wish." Her body started morphing, her hips and chest equalizing out. her legs and arms grew, showing more muscle than before in her feminine form. "Now, I am a man, albeit a man in a dress. You don't mind a bit of incidental crossdressing do you?"

"What is the New Order?"

"Getting right to the thick of it I see. Fine, but…" An immense pressure fell on Lao's back as he was forced down, different forces pushing against his will until he was sitting with his legs crossed. "What did you do!?"

"Watching you pacing makes me think you are planning something, so now you're sitting." He got up and hopped down in front of Lao, his wings folding as he took the same position right in front of him. "Now then, long ago I was just another powerful incubi, but I didn't want the same things as my peers. I wanted peace and community….and sex."

"That does not clear anything up." Lao's arm flexed as he tried to move himself but to no avail.

"Please don't resist, you have my word I won't do anything. Resuming my story, I tested my idea by trying to go through the traditional methods of getting a wife. Going to the parents, and asking for consent. Needless to say, I….ended up having to corrupt the village to escape." Lao's eyes narrowed at him, his trust lowering. "I know, and I still regret it as well. There is nothing like being genuinely loved by a human with no lust influencing. I still miss her smile..." a tear welled up in his eye, but he quickly wiped it away.

"I decided that I must do something so that others wouldn't have to suffer on either side of my fate. So, I created a legion that promotes communication, rather than colonialism."

"But that is what the Demon Lord says as well."

"It is. You have no idea how stubborn the Chief God's followers are however. When was the last time you have given a monster the chance to make her case?"

"I….." Now it was the omnibus' judge, his lively eyes staring at Lao. "Have you or anyone around you thought to give a monster a chance? I will not sit here and advocate for everyone, but surely there must be some that won't harm you and take you as an unwilling wife." Lao shook his head, his only run-in with mamono being the elves that had tried to kidnap him.

"So you've had a negative experience...what about Melisa? Has she done anything to….alright, besides harming you, has she been negative?"

"Well...no, she took the time to train me out of spite...respect?"

Geo smiled at him. "Well then that would be one, right? Just as there are good and bad humans, there are varying mamono. Some fit your Order's view, but you would find most tend to act as if they were monster girls at all."

It didn't sound right to Lao to think of them in that light, but any argument he tried to form against it all led back to his religion's teachings.

"What if I told you I had a middle ground, where everyone is good and bad and nobody is different? Humans are punished for the same acts as Monsters, and Monsters are praised for the same advancements as Humans? Where it is possible to gather people from either side, without causing a skirmish?" The omnibus placed a hand on his shoulder, his nails grazing his skin. "If you join our group, I prove it to you, once and for all. No collusion, no magic. No one has to be hurt or die."

"....I need to talk to Melisa about this," he blurted out. If he wasn't held down by Geo's power, he would have shrugged off the shoulder that firmly held him. It was like his mother telling him that they aren't mad after he broke a chair in the middle of training his body. He knew the omnibus meant it, but his soul still wanted to run off into the woods until the danger was gone. "Of course, all the time you need. If you end up unconvinced, you are free to leave. However, I am glad you wanted to find out for yourself either way." Geo got up and went back to his throne, the pressure on Lao's body finally relinquishing. He could breathe freely again, jumping up to make sure nothing about him has changed. "Feel free to see yourself out, and to come back if you are looking for more guidance.

Lao's steps were the only thing he heard after he left the range of the omnibus, going down the spiral steps to look for the third floor. The stairs were open near the very top, allowing him to see the entire interior of the massive structure. It was impeccable, tinted color windows depicting acts of bonding much like the ones in his church would show the Chief God. Winged mamono would go around, keeping them polished to let light flow through in the best way.

After reaching the highest floor under the top was reached, the view was lost, leading to hallways and rooms, viewable from the glass the surrounded the staircase on each level. It went on for minutes, leading Lao to wonder how long Melisa had spent scaling it up.

With some help from a maid, he found his way to the third level and the room that Melisa was currently in. As he went to go open the door, he heard sounds that he had never heard before...it sounded like…

"Moaning?" he whispered under his breath. It was officially too much of a jump for him, as he backed away from the door and ran from the heresy. An unstoppable blush formed on his face as he cursed himself over and over, running until he was out of the building and away from the lewd actions. He could only change so much in a short time, after all.