Chapter 45 – Morally Brutal

"Haaa...Haaaa...!" A rat is running for its eventual death. 

That is futile. 

"Whhhhyyyy....?!" This creature is seriously questioning its inevitable fate. 

Why? [Because Mori-nee had deemed it so.] If she deemed it that you will die today, it is the same as the gods themselves deciding your fate. 

So I follow the scum that somehow managed to escape from the rest of its scummy pack's fate. 

"Kumo, you're getting quite sloppy lately." I mutter under my breath. [Kumo, perverted Gabril, I leave the other three to you.] I diverged away from my comrades when I decided to give chase to this last rodent.

Before all of this though... 

•••

Itia POV

Just after Mori-nee had gave us her blessing, "Gabril, can you grant us your invisibility?" Kumo had requested to the pervert. 

Right now we are in the middle of an alleyway. We left quickly after Mori-nee said her final orders between us. And plus we need to be quick about this mission, that is her order. 

And so, "Sure. {"Bless these two with erasure of the mortals eye."}" The pervert had chanted.

[Alright.] I can feel my body losing its corporeal form and as I test it by leaving the alley, [Good.] No human can see me so I return back. 

"Let's go Kumo." There isn't a need to say to him that, but rather. "Will you use that form as well?" I haven't seen him use that for a while now so for a moment I thought—

But no, "Of course, Itia." He did use it. 

Just like magic two of Kumo's arms struggled and eventually broke off, first its two, then four, and finally— "Much better." His two previous arms split off in three halves and became six. 

Thin, lanky 'legs' of a spider just separated from his arms. [How weird—]

I was just about to say that but, "I think I like your two human arms better Kumo." Never mind. Gabril said my opinions about Kumo's form first, as this is definitely the first time she saw him like that. 

But elaborating further, "I for once agree with the pervert." I said, as I am petty and don't want only Gabril to say it. 

To this day I still can't get used to the transformation. It's not magic so he doesn't need to chant it so I always see it in places least expected and just the general form of it all is quite, [I forget at times that he's an arachne after all.] He rarely goes into that form even in combat after all. 

Looking at his multiple arms. "I agree." Explaining further. "As my current form was the result of Morus-sama's extensive reconstruction of my mangled body in the past, I consider my humanoid form to be a second birthing of some sort and with these remnants of my shameful past I honestly think of this to be inferior than my current self." Kumo finished explaining, looking at his 'legs' with disappointment.

"...But that is what Mori-nee intended." I say to him. "We all came from unfortunate circumstances, with Mori-nee giving us that second birthing in a less literal sense than you are." I look at Gabril and she nodded in agreement. 

[After all She saved my life when I was about to dried up from the sun.] I dunno much about Gabril but she surely has quite the past too as well. 

Anyways back to Kumo. "Your right Itia, this form does make me move faster than a human in certain circumstances. Speaking of humans..." He looked at the two of us. 

"Now that humans can't see us I can at least stretch myself and take a bit out in this form." As he said while pulling his back out and... 

Crack!

His six pairs of arms, or technically 'legs' pierces the wall as Kumo tries to climb up. 

"Jeez, Don't make too much of a ruckus Kumo." I scold him in a low voice so no one could hear us. 

"I apologize, haven't had practice for a while." By a while he probably means thousands of years or so sleeping inside Mori-nee.

Fortunately though, "Oh you can shout you guys, my spell also dispels any sound we make hehe~" Gabril brought some very good news.

So I could go all out. "Idiot don't be too hasty!" I jump from the wall to get to him quickly.

"We need to finish this as soon as possible for Morus-sama." He used that as an excuse to go even faster. 

"I know that!" I also use that excuse to get to the roof first as well. 

And so we race. 

But it seems that pervert forgot to tell us a crucial detail. "Hey you two! My spell only works on a radius! If you go too fast and I can't keep up then—!" She flapped her wings and catches up to us. 

""You should have told us that from the start!"" We scolded her afterwards. 

"You two were too hasty!" She responded back. Surprisingly.

After that clarification from Gabril we moved at a fast but steady pace on the roof. 

But also on the roof though,

•••

Kumo POV

"Itia, I need to confirm something." It is something I admittedly need to ask.

Looking at me with curiosity. "What is it Kumo?" Itia asked, seemingly confused as we go through the roofs.

[It hurts my pride tremendously but I need to know...] I breathe in for a moment before telling her. "Yes this might come as a shock to you but..." I tell her some things that has been bugging me for a while now. 

"...Exactly how can I achieve Morus-sama's wish for me?" It's about this. 

"I want you all to live a life outside of me! To not be a killing machine and have fun!" 

That is what Morus-sama had said. 

[Even now her words echo through my head.] Those words pierces through my very stubborn heart and made me reevaluate what I've been doing this whole time. 

I used to just thought of Morus-sama's words to be her own hubris and ideals; something we should follow but ultimately a lofty goal. 

But now, the lengths she went through to convince us to reform has made me realized just how important she thought of us, mere servants I thought of myself before. [So I need to change my ways to serve Morus-sama properly again.] Or else I could never look at her with a straight face ever again.

So now I need to face the dilemma inside my head, mainly, "Itia. How can I love outside of Morus-sama?" I need to become more like a 'person' to her rather than a servant executing her will. 

I was made—no, reborn to serve her. [Ever since she found me in that hideous form and reborn me anew, I swore to myself to serve her with all of my being.] And now, that I must find a life outside—

"What are you thinking too hard about Kumo?" Itia interrupted my thoughts.

Needless to say, "But Kumo, I never thought you would ever question Mori-nee..." Itia was quite shocked that I am questioning her about Morus-sama's words.

"I know, it is pitiful..." I am a servant of Morus-sama, I should be the one understanding her will the most. [And yet here I am, not wise enough how to do it even though she wept for us.] I can cleanly execute any orders that She gives me like the one right now. But her 'request' of us to change our ways is something I never experienced before. 

The way she looked at us with tears, her shaken lips, the way she embraced us. That amount of just, love and compassion she showed us has broken my foundation, my core, my way of loyalty to her. [I realized that I am living a life she doesn't desire me to go forth.] So I need to reform and be in a form she will desire, to be happy about, a life where I follow by her side, not from behind.

But the problem now is—

"I do not know how to change my ways to fit Morus-sama's ideal." Her image of us finding meaning outside and forming bonds and living a fulfilling life, one that let us do what we desire independent from her. 

That life is just alien to me. 

So that's why I asked Itia, who seems to have already figured this out on her own. Then her answer was, "I know Kumo, I know." One of resignation. "I don't know either." She explains further.

"It's different from all of us, the way I did mine may not work for you, and it shouldn't be..." Itia looks forward, with a calm but determined demeanor. "I believe that we just need to follow what ourselves would want to do to make us feel happy. Like right now; I am now Morus-sama's sister, and I decided that I want to treat her like my older sister, and not my master." She looks down in embarrassment. 

Itia looks at me again, "And that made me feel so happy, a different kind compared to before. Not just exclusive to Mori-nee but from Mary as well. I feel the same happiness from both of them." She looks down and smiles embarrassingly.

"So if you ask me, I think that what Mori-nee is telling us is to find a source of happiness other than her. Of course in a genuine manner of course and not forcing it, right per— I mean Gabril?" Itia was about to call her something demeaning again, but decided to be tactful this time. 

"Of course! I'm actually planning to hang out with a couple of the girls that Mori-sama got intimate with hehe~" Gabril chuckles with a blushed face. 

Itia on the other hand. "What intimate!?" Despite her real age, It seems that she still has some mentalities of someone of her appearance.

Though I didn't listen further and went into my thoughts once more, [So I should get a companion...?] If the two of them already had close relationships with Morus-sama's acquaintances I guess I should too?

"I think that human Leonon is the closest one I'm into though..." I murmur to myself.

To which my two companions heard, "Hey! Didn't we say not to be too hasty!?" It was Gabril that shouted at me first. 

And, "For once I agree with her, just like Mori-nee had said, we shouldn't be forced to change immediately!" Itia gave me a warning. 

"I guess so..." I couldn't really imagine myself getting along with that man much. 

[Fundamentally I am just confused Morus-sama...] With any order I could execute with haste, I can kill and assassinate at will and do the job of a butler all at once. But with this 'request.' [Something so esoteric that I have to think about it is probably my greatest challenge yet.] I can only kill and not have to think of what I kill. 

But... "I must make Morus-sama proud." It is her greatest order—I mean request yet. 

I look forward and stopped, "But first." I look at my two companions, and our jovial tone was silenced as we look down of the edge of this building. 

"Four scum detected, they are gathering as we speak." Itia reported. 

"Also, I sense an unusual presence not seen by anyone yet. It seems that it's involved within the plot as well." Gabril reported. 

I nodded and focused in on our targets. [I am so sorry Morus-sama, but the request you gave us will have to come later.] I apologize to her in advance as I look at my two companions and, "Let us finish this with haste." Her request is obviously more important than this order, and so we move quickly. 

Our first killing. "All of you caused Morus-sama so much suffering, you must die." I whisper under my breath, not even heard by my two companions.

•••

"...Damn it! Why did they say I can only blow one load on them!" I kick the nearby wall in frustration to my pulsating dick. 

[She was the best fuck I've experienced this so far!] I gritted my teeth as I fixed my pants to at least hide my bulge. 

"She had such a tight cunt for a damn whore!" And she was not one of those little kids that the orphanages couldn't take care of either. 

"If someone at the age of my daughter was already that much of a veteran, then she must have been trained quite early at that!" I've fucked enough prostitutes to know that in-house girls like her that were trained at a young age took time and resources to invest for that brothel to have raised her. Which means that she truly was a once in a lifetime fuck with size of my coin purse. 

"But at least my dick was the last one she had before kicking the bucket." I smile at that happy ending. 

[Don't mess with my patrons.] They are very powerful people that would soon take over this city.

"Haha, now I kinda want to fuck exotic girls like her now~" With skin like finely oiled brass, her dead grey eyes and equally grey hair. It was my first time feeling that soft skin that I just wanna bite into violently. 

"Well I guess I should be satisfied, the rewards for this are some nice demis after all." Maybe later down the line I should ask for a brass-skinned girl like her. It's gonna be expensive but I'm prepared to experience that again. 

"Well I guess I'll just ask Pucki-sama to get me some orphanage girls for now." Normally I don't do girls below the belt but that girl really changed my perspective. 

"My colleagues might look at me weird for a while but telling them that they were just demis should be fine." After all. [Demis are just beast in human form anyway.] I grab onto my pocket and bring out my lucky charm. 

"I knew I was right, beasts cannot be taking the roles of humans after all." And this circle thing just confirms it. [All my troubles is because those demis are acting like they are people! They are taking me for a fool...] There was always a demi involved when I get into trouble, because of their ears they always hear and tell the guards what I've been doing. 

"Beasts will not be involved with humans any longer!" I hold tightly onto circle, the symbol of the rightful god in this world Kurumi-sama!

"I know from the start I was right but your words have all but confirmed it! Thank you, Kurumi-sama, I do this for your sake." I kiss the little halo and return it to my pocket. 

"Now where was I...ah!" Ah right, the meeting place, it should be around.... 

"Here!" I turn to the corner and see the place where all five of us would meet up. "Finally, I can get my pay...ment." Then I felt something strange of it all. 

[Goddammit someone's watching me!] I knew it! I knew they would find me!

Because of my eternal suffering from the demis, I have gained a good ability to sense danger, even though I was enjoying the time of my life back at that brothel I can still feel a slight spine tickling sensation in that place, even more so when I was leaving.

I'm feeling that now but a thousand times worst, like a hand strangling my spine. 

"I-I need to—" Just as I was turning back. 

"Ha—" By my side. "I'll get the three of them, Gabril should go behind the one hiding over there, but first—" He turns towards me. "We should eliminate this one first." Immediately I run away, as fast as I can to get away from that thing. 

He looks like a handsome man at first glance, until you look down and realized the area where his arms should be was replaced by narrow sticks of legs like that of a spider.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" What the fuck was that!? [He just suddenly appeared beside me?!?!] Everything happened so suddenly that it is just now that I was wondering what the fuck just happened. 

"Either way like hell I would die in that place!" No matter what it is, I was certain in one thing alone. 

"Damn you demis! It's all your fault!"

...Even now, he still blames his faults on others. That's the kind of man he is. 

•••

Kumo POV

"I'll chase after him."  Itia immediately said.

I was surprised to see him immediately run like that, most often a weak man trembles before me, but it seems that human has a strong sense of survival. 

[Though it's just like a rat being chased down.] It won't survive for long. "Sure, we'll handle things from here." Especially if it's someone like Itia being the cat. 

"This'll be annoying since I can't be discovered while chasing him but that is but a minor inconvenience." She said in annoyance as she jumps up to the roof. "I'll probably not join up to you two later." Itia's final words before leaving us behind. 

"...Jeez, couldn't she have made that less obvious?" It was Gabril that said something first. "Her face says it all."

"Yeah." It almost made me chuckle just how obvious her intentions are. [Well I guess we can't let her beat us then.] I look at the targets and... 

"Gabril, you heard what that human said right?" I ask. 

"Of course, it's very important information." That man's delusional babble actually gave us some valuable information. 

"Now, let's go!" I shouted as me and Gabril do our work. 

•••

"W-what is happening..." I want to run right now but if I do I would get killed right away. 

So now matter how much I want to run away from that thing, I just can't. 

"P-please don't see me..." It just seems like he is focusing on the pawns for now. 

"Why did this happen?" It all started when my boss—I mean master, Pucki, was enraged. 

He wanted to get the high quality demis that The Succubus Nest refuses to give to him, even with the threat of religion. So he sent in his men to 'clean house' so to say, but strangely the result was that they ran off to the streets bare naked. 

Being made a fool of Pucki once again investigated the brothel and realized that the black-haired elf, named Morus, was involved. Even more enraged that not only the demis he desired were refused of him, but also the demi he desired most of all was going against him. 

So he used that, something very illegal to smuggle into the kingdom. He only used it once before in the past by a very foolish noble that paid a high price for it, but now he was using it again. 

With me being the eyes so that nothing goes awry, and eliminate the pawns quickly before the authorities could investigate further. 

[Shit...now the plan is in ruins.] My original plan was to meet them here with no people around and hand them their rewards. But now— "I guess I have now choice but to eliminate them all before they could confess." And so, I look on, as I see that...thing gagging the mouths of the pawns so they wouldn't scream and proceeding to practically torture them.

[Still, I need to report them of this.] That a man with the features of a spider has taken out the pawns. "I heard of them before, but I thought they were extinct in this region for being too hideous." Too dangerous for even other demis, they were said to have disappeared thousands of years ago. [Though I never would have thought that they'd look this handsome though.] He may be an exception. But if I saw him in the streets without those arms I would have fallen for him, but now my fear is more important than that now. 

"But here they are." And now, that thing has gone close to the pawns.

[This is my chance...!] I can activate it now and he'll be inside its blast radius! 

"I-if I could kill him then..." I might have enough money to finally end this life. 

"Alright—" I have put my hands in my mouth because I was so happy, and now—

"I'm sorry, but I want to—" I wanna say my condolences to the handsome thing that'll be harmed in the center of my selfish desire. 

It's time to click it. "Be f—" 

Or not. 

"No you don't~"

A hand forcefully grabbed my wrist and pulled it back. "I can't let you do that dear." Her sweet voice resonates in my ear. With her large breast hitting my back, the hand holding my wrist is not big or hairy at all. It's white and smooth. 

I look behind to who suddenly passed my senses and without me noticing at all. 

And it's a beautiful face. She has pink hair with purple eyes, almost like an angel. As we look at each other in the eye, she was the first one to speak. 

"You were from the tiger tribe weren't you?" I flinched.

"How did you know?!" Tigers shouldn't even exist in this region!

"I travel around and happen to see some of your kind. I wouldn't have missed the pattern on your skin otherwise." She said nonchalantly, "More importantly." She looks at the part where I'm most sensitive of. 

"What happened to your ears?" I could almost predict that she would ask this when she knew who I was.

"Tsk, it was cut off okay?!" I'm still quite sensitive about it. "It's not like I wanted to..." I feel the area where my ear used to be. 

[Originally it was large and triangular like a tiger or a cat in this region. But Pucki hated it and wanted  them cut off.] And because of the situation of the time, I couldn't disobey his orders. 

It seems that my feelings were on my face as she patted my head. Then whispered to my ear. "Morus-sama can help you regrow them back." I look at her and was about to say something before, "Hey Gabril, have you apprehended her?" He looked at me after finishing up with the pawns.

It's almost like he knew I was here all along.

"Yup, sure did~" And completely unlike his grave tone, she cheerfully responded to him. 

"Good." After throwing the last one down, he slowly approaches us. 

[I'm gonna die I'm gonna die!] My mind races to that conclusion. 

If he gets to me, I would end up like the rest of the pawns, and after interrogating me I would be getting rid of; or worst yet letting me live and getting killed afterwards by Pucki's men and with this thing on my neck—

[I'll bring you with me!] Immediately I push my arm up to my eye and—"No you don't." With his right pairs of legs tangling my arm and with his left pairs he...

•••

Gabril POV

"Aaaarrghhhh...!!!!"

I watch in pity as the tiger skinned girl falls to her knees and screams out loud to the massive amounts of blood bleeding out. 

"You don't have to do that Kumo." Of course I scolded him for not knowing a woman's heart. 

"Are you a dunce? Look carefully." In his hand, just a split second ago, is the eye of what once was the eye of that tiger girl. 

I don't want to look at such a revolting thing but for this task I unfortunately have to, but. "I already saw that when it was still a part of her eye you know." In that eye is what seems to be a magic circle written over by some truly barbaric means. 

"But we must investigate this so there is no choice but to separate the evidence from the rest that is useless." By useless he's referring to—

"Don't be such a meanie to her Kumo!" I scolded him

[You can never understand a woman's heart!] And so I sat down and hugged the poor girl that Kumo was bullying. 

"Hmph, less you forget I sensed something that indicated she wants to bring us harm, and when I look..." As Kumo was investigating the eyeball. 

"Here you go dear, {Heal!}" I casted my spell to stop the blood from flowing too much out of her empty eye sockets. 

"There there." I gently patted her head to calm her down. [Sigh, I knew I couldn't get used to this immediately.] Even though I pledged my eternal allegiance to Morus-sama, I was once an archangel of Kurumi after all. So this work isn't exactly fit for me. 

"If you would cooperate with us, I'm sure her kindness would solve any problem that you might had." I told her as I see her face. [But I must do this for her and...]

"Plus your too cute for you to end like this." That's my honest thoughts. [Even without an eye she's still a stunner.] She's very wild and exotic and have some incredibly apt curvature on her, so she'll serve us well. 

"B-but, I-I can't...." She struggles her words but from her actions I can see that she is touching something on her neck. 

"A collar?" Upon closer look. "What's this primitive magic?" I immediately look at the writing of it and it just seems to be some sort of activation magic where a third party could automatically just trigger the magic at any time they like. 

"How could something like this even bother you?" I touch the thing and I cast, {Magic Drain} on the collar itself. "Done." I say to her as I safely remove the collar on her neck. 

[There's not even any sort of anti-magic barrier casted on it if someone outside could interfere with the writing.] This would have been a total failure in any magic school of the past. 

"W-what...?" She looks on into her now vacant neck in wonder. 

While Kumo, "Good job Gabril." saw and praised me for it. 

"Thanks, this isn't something worthy of praise." Which irritated me because something of this level is like praising an adult how to read, it's condescending. 

"Well anyways, what did you find?" I ask of Kumo in turn. 

"Well it seems to be a similar type of magic as the collar on her neck." Kumo looks at the eyeball once more. "There's a miniature magic circle that was written on her eye. It would seem to be that if you press the eye, a magic would activate; most likely the explosion in their crotch area." He added. "But the interesting part is that the ink the magic circle was written on is the blood of what Morus-sama calls the 'manasite'" He said. 

I nodded at every word Kumo said, and now. "What shall we do with these humans?" I ask him. 

"Well." He looks at the four humans and one tiger girl we capture. "At first we would have to eliminate them after our interrogation. But now we just have to safely bring them to that human named Soumis' place." 

"I see! It's my turn now then~" Since I was the only one that went into The Succubus Nest it's now my turn in this mission! 

"Come Kumo, just follow me and we'll get there in no—" I cheerfully ask before stopping as he, "Gabril, I will have to meet you later, as I have one more thing to do." Kumo said coldly while looking at a distance. 

"But how will you—" Get there? I was gonna ask, before he bows for me and, "I apologize Gabril, but I'll make sure I get there."

With determination like that, "Okay." I couldn't help but lose. "I'll meet you up later okay?" I turn around one last time to see him smiling before turning around and we both go our separate ways. 

With the four rats tied up in threads made by Kumo, [He didn't actually kill them...] My wondering thought as I calmly walk the streets of this city while avoiding attention. 

"Is your eye socket still hurting?" I ask the tiger girl with her new eye patch that I made using Kuno's spare threads and my cloth, and with a shake sideways, that means it's mostly fine now. 

[I wonder why that Kumo of all people was so adamant in meeting that human?] I wasn't so dumb as to not notice that a sixth person joined the fray in watching us from afar while we were in combat. But the way Kumo was acting I find strange as he could have as easily taken care of the matter rather than wasting his time. [Maybe they knew each other?] I thought of a silly question.  

"No, no..." I talk to myself which the tiger girl looked at me strangely for, so I shut up. [Kumo probably hasn't even known a single human yet.] I mean he was struggling this exact same thing earlier right? 

Chaaruzu_Corner

Heya guys and gals! It's done! Yeah this episode a bit darker than what I usually write, and also the reason I think this one took a long time cuz it ain't focusing on Morus at all. Just the three of them lol. But yeah originally I was just supposed to do a simple plot and stuff with some action, but I think you guys already know why my track record for action scenes is so yeah there's just a lot of perspectives to go on of, some with stuff you don't agree on but that's just people lol. And next chapter's gonna be a bit more, subversive, than I originally thought. So I'm pretty excited for that. 

Also, unlike my other ahem, break in the past, I think this one was quite beneficial because in between this and last chapter I managed to flesh out the lore of the elves, vampires, and dwarves in this story. I'm particularly excited with the elves so stay tuned for that. Well anyways arigatou and goodbye!