The Punishment of A Demon General

I lean over the cute and passed out Tui, who is dressed only in sticky white as I watch his chest rise and fall quietly. I move over to grab my lewd Demon God idol, the candle, and my clothes. Unfortunately I didn't take enough blood for more than one use, but at least I only need virgin blood now.

Mm. Ugh, he's so cute. I just want to pet him all day! I gently stroke between his fluffy ears, deeply digging my fingers into the muscles at the base of them while they twitch against my touch.

... You know, I feel like I'm forgetting something.

I take several moments, pondering on what I'm missing before suddenly realizing. Oh! Fluffy was kidnapped! How did I forget that?!

+I like how it's gone from 'Fluffy might be in trouble.' to 'Fluffy might have been kidnapped.' to 'Fluffy has definitely been kidnapped.' your brain is something else.+

(... Shush! Maybe thinking isn't my strong suit, but it isn't for you either!)

+Pffff... You finally admitted it.+

(Shut!)

I'm tempted to just jump out of the window, but... I guess I need to ask someone to help clean him up. He has a bit of cum in his hair and that stuff is terrible to get out of it when it's dried.

I clean myself up a bit with some towels located around the room, getting myself all bundled up once again. Mind you, it's a lot more difficult with my wings and tail now, but at the very least I should be able to conceal them for enough time to get out.

Binding my wings as tightly to my body as I can manage, my legs having stopped shaking in the meantime, I head out into the hallway. Um, 50/50 works! I choose to go right, and as it turns out it was the correct direction!

I slowly step down the stairs, hearing a bit of less 'lewd' commotion, and more... Intense? I dunno, I peer down the stairs, seeing some customers squirming with uncomfortable expressions on their faces, doing my best to ignore this, I continue down to the floor below.

I call out to the lady bartender, who is now looking out the window with a furrowed brow. "Did something happen? The puppy needs a cleanup so I figured I'd come... ask for that." I keep my hood as firmly over my head as I can manage, trying to ensure none of the paranoid glances are cast to the skin under it.

"Ah, there, there's been reports of a demon wandering around town, so we're allowing customers to stay here for now until it's been captured. Nobody wants to go out during a night a demon is prowling around." Her voice started out with a slight stutter, but she cleared it up pretty quickly, seems like she's trying to put on a brave face for the other workers.

I feel my body tense with her words. I'm glad I didn't consider coming down here without my cloak, that would have been really bad. I knew the puppy was just a weird case, I knew it! I definitely didn't have any hopes at all!

"Is that so?" I chew my lip a bit while thinking about my next words. It might be a bit suspicious if I try to go out on my own right now, but maybe...

"If you all can go up and take care of the puppy, er, Tui, I can head out and see if I can deal with it. I'm a sort of..." I pause a bit, considering for a moment before continuing, "Demon hunter, if you could call it that."

Demon hunters are a thing that exists, and technically it's the truth, I don't exactly not kill demons. "That's why I'm a tad bit scarred." I gesture around my hooded face as I speak.

My fake identity seems to slowly taking on a life of it's own the longer I lie about it, I went from a scarred hero to a scarred demon hunter, and meanwhile I'm just a demon under all of it. I feel like laughing over the irony of it all, but I elect not to make the strange mood in the building any worse.

"Oh my, no, I couldn't possibly ask that of you! Demons are terrifying..." Her words are met with a brief pause in her speaking. "If I can't stop you, though, it would be truly appreciated. The culprit seems to have white hair and icy blue skin, if that helps any." I freeze with her words, wait, what?

Did the heroine put out a hit squad on me or something? How could they have possibly...

"She was last seen jumping around across the roofs, a bunch of citizens were incredibly annoyed by something landing on their roofs so harshly and took it on themselves to investigate. A couple people had caught a glimpse of her as she hopped around." Busted. How am I supposed to save Fluffy now?!

Seriously though, do they take their roofs that seriously that they got up in arms for an investigation just because I hopped on a couple of them?!

"I'll see what I can do. Female demons can be especially tricky with the odds of them being a succubus, but I've faced off against them in battle before." Usually sex battles, but it can sometimes be a lot of hair pulling and stiletto heel stabs. Jokes on them, though, I bring an actual knife.

I nod to her and head to the door, trying to open it. Locked. I attempt to turn the handle harder to unlock it, but the bartender girl comes over with a key and unlocks it for me before the handle can snap. Handy!

"Good luck out there, if you can't beat them and need a safe place to stay, feel free to come back here any time. It's the least we could do since you saved our baby Tui." My heart is kind of conflicted with her words, she's simultaneously sending me out, telling me good luck on killing myself and also saying I'm welcome back.

Non-demons are really unpleasant to be around...

I step outside, the darkness now only vaguely lit up by the moonlight as the sign for 'Virgins Blood' had been turned off. Wandering towards the deeper shadows of the alley, I begin to undress myself of my clothes, leaving my skin bare to the chill of the night, having had to take off my dress as well so it won't interfere with my wings.

I spread them out a few times, giving their full breadth of span a couple flaps while I jump. It's best to make sure I haven't made any mistakes in reproducing the wings before I'm way up in the sky.

+Have you made that mistake before?+

(Yes.)

+Did you live?+

(You... I am standing right here.)

+I know, I just wanted to see you look at me like I'm an idiot again, it's hot.+

(Ugh.)

After a couple experimental flaps, I hop onto one of the roofs, using it as a platform to get a running start, taking off with a couple powerful flaps, gaining as much air as I can as quick as possible. Honestly, the most exhausting thing about flying is just getting up into the sky first, after that maintaining height is really easy.

It takes me about half a minute to collect enough height to reach the level of the tallest building in town, I begin to glide over there first, spreading my wings to catch as much air as possible.

You know, now that I think about it... If I'm flying won't the heroine be able to use her gravity magic on me if she spots me? I cringe slightly, expecting it to happen at any moment as I jinx it, but nothing seems to happen.

I sigh in relief, grabbing a hand onto the edge of the building before hoisting myself onto the roof. Flying is always so darn fast, I really missed not having wings! I mill about on the roof for several moments, looking around the city while I think.

...

So, I'm gonna be completely honest, I have no idea where I lost Fluffy. Do I really have to scour this entire town for the slightest glimpse?! What if she's not even outside anymore? I spent so long with the puppy, which was worth it by the way, that I have no idea how long it's been!

I pace even faster on the roof, my annoyance growing as I fail to come up with a single acceptable plan to find her, my heart sinking as I find myself more and more hopeless.

Aaaah, fine, I'll just have to trust the heroine to deal with her. I'm so done with this place! I jump on their roofs a couple times and they're all up in arms ready to kill me! Annoyance dominating my expression, I move to the edge of the building, wondering where to go while I examine the dark horizon.

I really should have asked someone for directions to the demon lands before I left. I shake my head a few times, clearing 'should've's from my thoughts. I'll just get away from the heroine first and think about the rest later, no dead-weight luggage this time.

I take a couple steps back before I sprint and leap off the roof once again, gliding towards the edge of town in a random direction, flapping my wings occasionally to maintain height while I finally make my great escape. I watch the slightly tear blurred lights fly past below me as the wind whips my face, making my eyes water.

I really wish I had goggles or something... And that I wasn't flying with a cloak and dress wrapped around my waist. And that it wasn't so windy. And that I didn't have to carry this dumb idol and candle... I grumble incessantly the entire flight, hastily landing somewhere about a mile out of the edge of town with a sigh of relief.

I'm tempted to fly all the way there but succubi are wasted on cross-country, we're natural sprinters more than anything. Very dangerous over short distances.

+Okay, you just straight up stole and paraphrased that quote, you hero weeb.+

(It's 100% original!)

+Plagiarism! I shall have you arrested!+

... Honestly, I'm surprised I made it out. I had this tingling uncomfortable feeling at the back of my neck the entire time I was flying, feeling like someone was watching me. Haven't seen anyone, though, so I guess I'm in the clear!

With this thought, I move to press on before immediately falling flat on my face. My instinct screams that it's the heroine, however, I can move as much as I want, it just feels like...

Oh, shit, I'm sinking into the ground! I begin aggressively flapping my wings, pulling my arms and legs out with a muddy pop, a painful feeling erupting from the pit of my stomach as I'm suddenly launched away by a heavy strike to my side.

I tumble across the ground with a yelp, barely able to catch myself from skidding any further, with a claw into the ground, my wings spread out to halt my speed. My eyes dart around, trying to catch a glimpse of my foe, finding nothing besides a large rock that had connected with me lying where I once was.

I flap a couple times to carry myself off the ground, ignoring the painful sensation on my side, not wanting to get caught off guard again. Once is a coincidence, twice is a threat.

Did an earth mage follow me from the outskirts of town? I was moving incredibly fast though, there's no way a normal human could keep up with me! One of the beast-folk, maybe?

My eyes continue to scan through the darkness, my adrenaline firing on all cylinders as I attempt to pull myself further and further into the sky with my wings, preparing to dodge more attacks.

An eerie wind blows across the short plains I had landed myself in, bringing a chill up my spine. I waste a bit of magic shooting a couple charms blindly, hoping to hit anything with it, but no dice.

Fuck it, if it's an earth mage, all I have to do is get far enough away from the ground. I begin aggressively flapping my wings, gaining as much height as I can, a couple of projectiles immediately whizzing past the sides of my frame the instant I stop focusing on looking around, but thankfully not connecting.

When I've finally managed enough height, I do my best to hover in place, checking my side which got extraordinarily battered by that heavy rock.

I think I've decided to just fly there instead. Ow.

+Will Ilvia be able to escape her attacker? Find out next time on-+

(You already made this joke.)

+It's a good one, though!+

(How about I arrest YOU for plagiarism instead?)

+I'm the heroine, I'm immune from the law!+

(Suure...)

+No, seriously, I'm immune from most laws. I can go out and murder someone without repercussions.+

(... What? Really?)

+Yeah, there are a couple hero slash heroine specific laws, but in general we have immunity.+

(That seems like an extraordinarily terrible decision.)

+Yeah, I think it was made by a hero who basically held the entire government hostage to pass it. Nobody has really had the guts to get it repealed since. People generally forget about the law until they want to apply it to a hero, and the hero they want to apply it to is usually some sort of psycho who they wouldn't want to mess with.+

(Why not just... Change the laws after that hero dies?)

+Fear, I guess? We're extraordinarily overpowered, in some cases one of us could just end the entire world if we wanted.+

(That's... Why do they keep summoning you, then?)

+Fear. No hero has managed to defeat whatever the 'Demon God' is, so that means demons will keep being made, and so will Demon Lords.+

(So humans with the capability to end the world at their fingertips... After so many years have never once succeeded defeating the Demon God? What hope do you have, then?)

+Eh, I'm fine with keeping the Demon God if he exists, it's just demons I need to bring in line.+

(What?)

+I mean, I wouldn't have been summoned if he didn't keep doing shit like this, so I guess I kind of feel like I owe him?+

(That... That seems like a really deranged way of putting it.)

+Eh, I'm just being honest.+

Author's Note:

20k Views and 300 Favorites!

Thank you all so much for stopping by, even if it's just for a little bit, and even if it's just for the smut. (You probably won't be reading this if you're just looking at the smut, but I'll just beam appreciative energy at you anyway.

This chapter was a little bit of an attempt at adding tension. I'll be continuing it next time, but if you have any issues or appreciations of it, I would appreciate any ideas/opinions in the comments below.

It's funny that I was originally expecting like 2-3 readers max when there's so many people seemingly reading this now, sometimes things just don't go the way you expect it.