Filio, now transformed into a Succubus, was being stared at by the townspeople with eyes of terror.
"W-what the hell is that!?" "That woman did this to us!?"
"A kid's floating!?""Is it one of them!?""S-somebody help meeee!"
Only the people near Filio had awakened. The succubus probably didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble either. Perhaps thinking they would be killed by Filio and Melruria, they struggled desperately even as they were swallowed by the mass of flesh.
Damn it, are they trying to make Filio's wounds worse? Lily was frozen in place. As expected, she couldn't hide her shock at the true nature of the Succubus.
"I-I won't kill!"
Filio shouted that, but Melruria, floating in the air, immediately cut in with teasing words.
"Yeah right~, you ain't gonna kill right away, right~? Gonna nice and slow-like suck the humans dry o' their energy first, then kill 'em, right?"
"Do not lump me together with the likes of you!!"
"Same thing. What's different about it?"
"Y-you and I are......"
Filio bit her lip. The expressions of the townspeople made her painfully aware of how she was seen.
"Hiiiih!?" "I've got a family......!" "Don't kill me don't kill me don't kill me"
"N-no, I......I came to save you......"
Filio tried to put on a refreshing smile. She wanted to make everyone smile, but the corners of her lips twisted awkwardly. Perhaps it looked like a terrifying expression, because the townspeople were trembling with fear, their teeth chattering.
"Ah......"
The light faded from the eyes of Filio, who had tried to be that light. Melruria smiled with genuine delight.
"I get it, I get it~. We're demonic beings, right~? Even if we pretend to be human, once they know we're succubi they just use us when it's convenient, they're scared of us, and in the end they abandon us, right? How was it for you, big sis?"
"............Ngh."
"Ahaha! You don't gotta say it, I get it! Can't forgive it, right~? You hate 'em, right~? Just let all that anger out~!"
"That's not......"
"C'mon, it's fine. Let's just rampage all you want~"
Melruria smiled sweetly, as if waiting for her companion to awaken. Even if Filio rejected it here, sooner or later she would torment her wounds until she fell into demonic nature.
As I gripped my sword tightly, Melruria restrained me with her eyes.
"You come slashin' at me in a rage, everybody turns to mummies, kay?"
"I'm not particularly angry."
"Ahaha! You reek of anger, y'know~? Don't lick a Succubus lightly, kay?"
Melruria sneered, as if to say she could see right through my emotions. I hadn't thought I was angry myself. No, I think I was angry. So angry that my emotions had broken down, and I had gone numb. What am I... angry about?
The townspeople who had noticed my presence looked at me as if clinging to hope.
"You're human, right!?""P-please, help!""Do something about this!?!?"
It seemed they thought help had come, seeing me dressed as an adventurer. Certainly, I had neither wings nor a tail. But something was different. Filio and I were no different. In my past life, we had both tried to become convenient heroes. Though she still was one now.
If I had remained a Hero, would I have been sought for a dazzling light?
Melruria laughed as if amused.
"Sooo, what're you gonna do, big bro~? Gonna give up~?"
I silently tossed away my sword.
"Whoa! He's really givin' up! How pathetic~!"
In front of the mocking Melruria, I took off my armor, took off my clothes, and took off my pants. The people around me stirred, but I even stripped off my underwear. As expected, Melruria's face went serious.
"......The hell's big bro doin'?"
"I'm getting buck naked, that's what."
Being completely naked isn't strange. After all, this is the honorable2, legendary full nudity that defeated the Demon King. If the world were different, it wouldn't be odd for the Naked Hero to be passed down in legend. There might even have been a statue of the Floppy Hero displayed on the main street of the royal capital. Well, only I know that fact.
As if the world had stopped, the atmosphere in the room froze. Lily, her cheeks slightly flushed, stared at my groin and carelessly let slip, "......So that's what goes in."
That line was dangerous; combined with the erotic Miasma, it hit my groin. A certain part of me swelled upward with a great surge.
"That guy's hard!?""He got naked and he's excited!?""Is his head rotten!?"
The townspeople scolded me loudly. What do you mean, you've got plenty of energy, I shouted back.
"Shut uuuup!! I'm gonna save you while rubbing my hard dick on you!!!"
The townspeople stopped shouting at once. Every one of them looked more terrified than when they had seen Filio's true form. Well, of course. Even I wouldn't want to be saved by a muscular, erect man rubbing his d**k against me. It's scary. That's exactly why I said it.
"Who cares what someone looks like when they're saving you, huh!"
Filio, who had been looking down through my naked commotion, raised her face for the first time. Not with her usual refreshing smile, but with a childlike, honest expression.
"Doesn't matter who or where or what they're feeling, wanting to save someone ain't wrong!"
I do think there are limits. I want people to reflect on themselves, and I also think they shouldn't demand too much responsibility from those with power. But that's who she is. Carrying a deep wound, bearing the heavy responsibility of Edelscheid, bearing the fate of a succubus, and still deciding to make everyone smile. She surely won't change. So I want her not to look down. She can stay as she is. If she's suffering from anger or sadness, I'll make it easier for her to breathe.
"What's wrong with gettin' saved by Erect D**k Man, huh!"
I took the opportunity to thrust my hips back and forth while erect. Thrust, thrust, thrust.
"Erect D**k Man is HERE!! Erect D**k Man is HERE, dammit!!!"
Perhaps he finally felt compelled to speak up, because a young man, pale-faced, said, "U-um, even so... that's kinda bad, I think..."
Right?! I think it's bad too! When your life is in danger, the Erect P**s Man feels like a different kind of danger!
"Then ask that Succubus over there!"
"Huh? That Succubus... can?"
"She's one who lives for sex and yet awakened to light... a righteous hor**y Succubus!!"
"A righteous hor**y Succubus!?!?"
The townspeople were in confusion. They argued among themselves: does a righteous perverted Succubus really exist? Isn't that a contradiction? But pure Succubus erotica does have demand. Is that even relevant right now? And so on, in the height of confusion.
Filio was no longer looking down. Her face was bright red, and her mouth was opening and closing. I said to the townspeople, "A righteous hor**y Succubus! Erect D**k Man, who do you wanna be saved by!"
"""The righteous hor**y Succubus!"""
"What the hell! So everyone's hor**y, huh!"
"""We're hor**y!"""
So am I! Everyone, everyone is perverted! See, the mood has changed, hasn't it? I turned a smile toward Filio.
Her face bright red, but with a refreshing smile, she pressed close to me with a swoop.
(A righteous hor**y Succubus? Haruya, what are you saying?)
Scary.......I'll keep the swelling in my groin under control.......
But maybe she got properly, clearly angry for the first time.
Melruria, who had been watching our exchange, sighed with a bored look.
"Haaah... too baaad3, you're going with the humans, huh..."
"Don't try to recruit my precious comrade."
"......Sooo, you're gonna fight me? In my own turf?"
Melruria wore a thin smile and turned cold eyes on me.
"That's why you seriously underestimate my comrades."
I had given her plenty of time too. There was a sharp clap of both hands.
"Holy seal, Great Anti-Demon Wall of Light!!"
When Lily placed both hands on the ground, an immense magic circle expanded centered on her. The immense magic circle spread across the entire large room. Lily and the townspeople who had been swallowed by the mass of flesh were wrapped in a warm membrane of light.
Melruria twisted her face in annoyance at the anti-demon light that would be effective against a succubus.
"Tch......so you're a proper priestess after all!"
It was good that I had Lily save her Faith. However, she was clearly pushing herself, and sweat was running down her forehead.
"Lord Haruya! Lady Filio! I will devote myself to defense!"
Her eyes told me to hurry, and I sensed she couldn't maintain it for long. I kicked up the sword lying on the ground and grabbed its hilt with a snap.
"Well then, time for some demon hunting, I guess."
"Fourth Key, Holy Garment."
A garment of magic power softly wrapped around my whole body. Wrapped in a pale, warm light, Filio, squinting, said, "You can't be planning to fight buck naked? Here, wear this."
"Full nudity is honorable demon-lord-slaying gear, you know."
"Like hell it is."
"Filio, though... you're going to fight looking like that?"
Filio had remained in her succubus form. She made no move to put away her wings or tail, staying as she was.
"Well, I am... a righteous hor**y Succubus, after all."
Her refreshing smile was unchanged, and I felt for the first time that I could accept her smile. I swung my sword on the spot. Cutting the wind, cutting the demon, and swinging as if to slice even space itself. Perhaps my practice swings revealed that I hadn't been serious until now, because Melruria's face turned wary.
"Huh? ...So you were hiding your power to fight me, huh."
An ominous wind blew from Melruria. The dirt on her clothes and hair vanished, and distorted horns, wings, and a tail sprouted, more twisted than Filio's. It seemed she was coming at us seriously too.
Well then. There is no convenient hero anywhere. But demonic being, I will show you the true strength of the Hero (me). Know that before the light that illuminates the world, evil is scattered without mercy.
I pointed the tip of my sword squarely at the succubus Melruria.
"It's discipline time, brat1! Even if you bawl your eyes out begging for your life, I ain't letting you off, got it!?"
For the great sin of tormenting my companion's wounds, you'll pay in full.
Trivia:
1. Haruya notes that in a past life both he and Filio tried to become convenient heroes, hinting that Filio's current devotion to being everyone's light may be a repetition of a pattern she has not yet escaped.
2. Melruria's taunt that demons are used, feared, and finally abandoned suggests she once suffered the same treatment, quietly explaining her insistence that Filio will inevitably fall.
3. Lily's careless remark about Haruya's anatomy accidentally fuels the erotic Miasma, showing that even the reserved shrine maiden is affected by the demonic atmosphere.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A slang term for a cheeky, precocious young female character, often used in a teasing or degrading way. It has no clean English equivalent and carries a playful, provocative nuance.
2 ↩ A formal phrase meaning "of honorable lineage" or "time-honored," used here ironically to describe Haruya's nakedness as a legendary tradition.
3 ↩ A drawn-out, playful way of saying "what a shame" or "too bad," used by Melruria to mock the situation rather than express real regret.
Notes:
• Filio - Given name of Filio Valceid. A noble-born scout-class adventurer who disguises herself as a man. She has radiant golden hair, clear sea-blue eyes, and a boyish, handsome appearance with distinctly feminine loveliness. Despite her light blouse-and-trousers outfit, her large chest is conspicuous. Cheerful, persistent, and idealistic, she believes those with power have a duty to help others and make everyone smile. Skilled in scouting, detection, trap avoidance, and lockpicking, she owns a falcon named Persha. She prioritizes civilians' lives, rewards others generously, and refuses to let talent go to waste. A trusted companion from Haruya's past life, she often pushes his party to accept unpaid quests as a duty to do good.
• Melruria - Succubus and former human. Created the Dungeon-devouring Labyrinth and lures victims into flesh masses as food. Cheerful, teasing, and cruel; uses a weak Miasma that induces lust. Appears as a young girl and hides her true nature.
• Lily - A servant-type companion to Haruya who addresses him with formal deference. She is also described as an innkeeper at an adventurer's lodge and a devout follower of the Great Goddess faith, serving as a priestess of the Goddess Flora. Polite, composed, and professional, she is attentive to Haruya's needs and practical about travel funds, never complaining about unpaid quests. She observes Haruya's duel and recognizes when he is holding back, using a promised reward to snap him out of his deliberate losing act. Skilled in sleep magic, she has a sweet, deferential demeanor and a teasing streak. Though strict and proper on the surface, she deliberately seduces Haruya through the wall at night.
• Haruya - Solo adventurer in the trading city of Gran Neal, formerly the Holy Hero who defeated the Demon King Chronova. Maintains a bronze-rank adventurer status deliberately to avoid responsibility and attention. Slim-built young man in plain breast armor with a longsword and a large hip pouch of adventuring tools. Harbors a singular life goal of losing his virginity at a high-class brothel and building a harem, a dream he loudly declared at guild registration, earning him infamy among female adventurers while being well-liked by male adventurers for his candid lewd talk. Secretly a returnee from death who deliberately destroyed his hero-route reputation.