"Listen to me," Syndra said through gritted teeth. "I need you to give me enough energy to teleport us out of here." She bent down and lifted the child onto her shoulders.
The baby remained silent.
"Please, we need to-"
’No.’
Syndra’s eye twitched.
"Why not?"
’I want to know more about them.’
"Like I said, we can tell you more!"
’No, I don’t want to hear words about them. I want to see them.’
Syndra clenched her fists.
"This curiosity you’re feeling is perfectly natural, okay? You’re a baby. Of course you’re curious." She pointed toward the approaching Incubi. "But they aren’t going to talk to you. They aren’t going to answer your questions, alright? Listen, the way we treat you is very different from the way they would treat you. You understand that, right?"
The Incubi were getting closer.
"They will kill you, and they will kill me. You don’t want to die on your first outing, do you? On your first day!"
’Hm...’
"Well?"
’What do you mean by die? What happens when we die? Where do we go?’
"We don’t have time for this, Asmodeus!" Syndra shouted as something tore through the air.
Boom!
The Succubus jumped sideways just in time to evade the blazing sphere that exploded right on the spot she had been standing.
Heat washed over her face, as well as the baby’s.
"Tsk." Syndra clicked her tongue. "We need to go, now."
’Asmodeus...’ The baby scratched his chin while the Succubus he was riding moved left and right to dodge the numerous projectiles thrown her way. ’Is that my name?’
Syndra did not want to answer. She did not want to converse with the child. In fact, she was starting to hate the brat.
But the only reason she could move right now was that he was supplying her with energy, though not enough for her teleportation magic, and the only way to get enough energy for that magic was through him.
"Yes!" The Succubus answered with a shout. "Nyl and I joked one day about what your name would be if you were born a boy, and she settled on Asmodeus! It was a joke, but hey."
A massive chunk of rock flew past her head and shattered against the ground.
’I see.’ Asmodeus nodded.
He turned around to stare at the attacking Incubi while Syndra started running away.
Huge rocks, blazing spheres, blades of wind, and even lightning bolts were thrown at the Succubus.
’Wow.’
Asmodeus was entranced by the projectiles’ diversity of shape and shade.
Syndra darted between them, barely managing not to get hit.
It was only too late when she realized.
’They aren’t trying to hit me,’ Syndra thought. ’They’re aiming their attacks to slow me down!’
A flaming whip slammed into the ground to her left while an explosion on her right sent dirt and ash flying at her.
"Are you enjoying this or something?" The Succubus shouted, momentarily losing her cool. "Our lives are in danger, and you want us to stay here... Are you enjoying this, Asmodeus?"
The child stared at her for a moment before turning back towards the Incubi, who were now close enough that he could see their individual faces.
’I don’t feel like I’m in danger.’ Asmodeus thought to himself. ’You shouldn’t either.’
A scorching ball landed a couple of steps in front of Syndra, forcing her to stop at once and turn around.
"Tsk."
She took a deep breath. ’If danger is what he wants, then he can have it.’
Even if Asmodeus changes his mind at the last second, Syndra’s magic will save them.
’As long as he changes his mind.’
The Incubi were all smiles as the Succubus came to a stop.
They quickly circled around so as to keep her from running any further.
’That’s fine. My magic works whether I am surrounded or not.’
The Incubi smiled, but they couldn’t hide their hatred and perversions completely.
"Well, well, well!"
One of them laughed.
"What’s a Succubus doing here?"
"Looks like we caught a lost bitch."
Syndra’s stomach tightened.
Five or six, she could manage. Twenty-five Incubi, though? AND without being at her full strength due to his draining?
They were clearly only mid-level Incubi, which made it even worse.
"You look so tense, little Succubus."
"Are you worried or something? No reason to be scared."
"Yes, we’ll enjoy ourselves before getting to the dirty part."
"Yeah," Another laughed. "Just like our King will enjoy himself upon finding your bitch of a Queen.’
"Before he cuts her head off and fucks her corpse, that is."
They exploded in laughter, and Syndra couldn’t do a thing but grit her teeth in frustration. Individually, she could crush them. But together...
"Maybe we’ll keep you alive long enough to take you to the King."
"Though I doubt the King would enjoy a random Succubus whore!"
The Incubi laughed, until one of them noticed what was sitting on her shoulders.
"Wait." He squinted. "What the hell is that?"
The others quickly frowned as well, and a silent moment passed.
"Hahahaha!"
One Incubus burst out laughing.
"Is that a baby?!"
Another stared in disbelief.
"She actually gave birth out here?!"
"What the fuck?"
"Look at it!"
Syndra instinctively grabbed Asmodeus’s legs, and the Incubi laughed even harder.
"You’ve got to be kidding me!"
"She just gave birth!"
"Should we kill the mother first?"
"No!"
Another Incubus stepped forward.
"Make her watch."
Syndra gulped, but remained silent still. Just how long does it take for a baby to get scared?!
"We’ll tear the little bastard apart right in front of her."
"Make him scream."
"Make her scream louder."
Their hyena-like sneers echoed inside Syndra’s head like fingernails scraping on a chalkboard.
One of the Incubi standing behind Syndra got closer and, before she could notice him,
"Let’s start with the baby then!" He shouted and leapt forward!
"No!" Syndra shouted as she turned around, but the baby escaped from her grasp!
Only when she turned did she see that the baby hadn’t been stolen from her. Instead, Asmodeus had leapt at the approaching Incubus of his own accord!
"Wha...?"
The Incubus stumbled and fell as the naked baby hung onto his head and face.
"Wait..." The rest of the Incubi frowned as Asmodeus stood on the fallen Incubus’ chest. "That baby..."
"That’s..." One by one, they started to notice. "Not a Succubus."
"It’s a male... What the fuck?"
The laughter had ceased at once.
"He’s a fucking male."
"He’s..."
The Incubi looked at one another, and their previous sarcastic joy was replaced by wrath.
"That Succubus stole him."
"He’s one of us!"
"One of ours!"
’Huh?’ Syndra blinked. ’Oh, shit.’
"The bitch stole one of our babies!"
"You whore!"
"Doing this to impress your bitch of a queen?"
Of course, the Incubi had no idea who had sired that child. Incubi weren’t known for taking care of their children anyway, but when it came to standing against Succubi, Incubi knew to stick up for their own in times of war.
"Kill her!"
"Don’t let her escape!"
"She won’t get away with this!"
Syndra swiftly reached for Asmodeus and placed him back onto her shoulders. ’Have you had enough yet? Can you give me back my mana so we can leave this goddamn place?’
’They think I’m one of them.’
"So?"
’So that means I’m safe, no?’
Syndra’s mind went blank for a moment.
’This fucking brat...!’