18.3 A Difficult Decision

'This is a lot to unpack.'

This was Amelia's thoughts on the situation she found herself in. Standing in the same room as Ezraphel who turned out to be some kind of demon(?) or succubus(?) from another dimension which apparently was based on an encyclopedia of monster girls.

Of all the fucking things…

Amelia had no reason to believe her but then again what would it matter if she didn't? Ezraphel's very presence literally almost brought Amelia to her knees and she's pretty sure if she were dealing with a demonic entity out of classic myth the experience would have been a lot more soul crushing, literally.

"Are you like a Succubus or a Demon?"

"I am a Lilim" she answered still preparing her meal and still in her true form "which is a type of succubus however we are more evolved."

"…right"

Quickly typing in the words she found the article and while the picture does bear some superficial resemblance to Ezraphel it was the biography itself that drew more comparisons to the other woman in the room. There were even a few named Lilims in the description however typing 'Ezraphel' into the wiki didn't come up with any results which was suspicious but then again she was told the information was incomplete.

Of the three identified Lilims only one of them was named and tapping the link name she was taken to another page where the first thing she saw was a picture.

"Who's Druella?"

"My older sister" Ezraphel sighed with a surprising amount of exasperation "can we please not talk about her?"

"Why not?"

"It's just…I am so sick and tired of Druella getting all the attention. It has been like that at home and now I find out that she's one of the key representatives of our entire world when people of this dimension happen upon its contents."

'Family is a touchy subject, got it'

"Sorry for bringing it up."

"No it's fine I was just…venting. You should read up on corruption and mamono in general."

Amelia supposed there was nothing else left to do but that and as she finished reading a few articles she couldn't help the nonplussed expression she sported. On the one hand this read like a generic fantasy hentai for men but on the other hand this was apparently based off a real world and she had a very real chance of becoming like this.

"You have a pensive expression" Ezraphel commented "are you finished?"

"Yeah" she paused "is this stuff really accurate?"

Because no matter what she's seen today Amelia just could not accept that there is a world out there based on hentai tropes.

"Of course not" Ezraphel shook her head "from my understanding those articles are based on the writings of a scholar who travels the world interviewing Mamono. He attempts to be objective however I have observed instances of bias, propaganda and dubious facts being presented. For instance if I were to act in the same manner the article describe Lilims then we would not be having a conversation like this, you would already be a mamono having sex with Liam and this place would already be a Demon Realm."

And wasn't that a scary thought?

"Okay…then why are we having a conversation?"

"First you must understand Amelia, no matter how I present myself the truth is that I am not human. I am a mamono and we have fundamentally different values to humans. What you see as amoral we see as completely normal. Things like rape, mental coercion and pedophilia are seen as a standard for our society. In the end so long as everyone is content in happiness and lust almost anything will be tolerated."

Amelia cringed and felt a bit green at her words.

"Before I came here I wouldn't have given a second thought to corrupting the world's population and turning the entire world into a Demon Realm. That would be the natural course of action for most mamono I know. This is not out of any malicious intent it is just our nature." She sighed "having lived on earth with Stanley for so long I would like to think myself a changed woman. He is a very stubborn man with many flaws however he has a moral code he refuses to let me compromise. I suppose he feels responsible for my actions considering he is the reason I am here in the first place."

"What!?"

What did Stan do to summon a succubus princess from another dimension?

'For fucks sake he didn't use some occult bullshit to summon a monster girl waifu or some shit did he!?'

She's pretty sure that was the plot of a few doujinshi and Stan was the biggest weeb she knew.

"Oh it was by no fault of his own I assure you" Ezraphel stated "rather I intruded upon his life when I created a spell that would transport me to the one who is most suited to becoming my husband."

Amelia blinked slowly as she took this in "what?"

"Yes" she winced "I did not account for the spell taking me to another dimension and I ended up literally falling into his backyard."

"That…" Amelia shook his head "so that part about Stan finding you passed out in his yard…"

"Is true, yes" she confirmed "the spell also drained me of most of my mana so I was also without my magic. Stanley despite having a clear aversion towards mamono ideals and practices took me in and housed me out of the kindness of his heart."

Amelia narrowed her eyes at that "sure he did."

"I know what you are thinking" Ezraphel smiled "but Stanley did not fall to temptation despite my best efforts."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, in fact he actively had to fend me off with those insipid 'airsoft' weapons of his" she air quoted with thinly veiled disdain at the devices "it wasn't until the middle of my second month staying with him that he let me even service him with my mouth and several weeks after before we properly began having sex."

So not only was Stan hosting an otherworldly monster woman who may just be the most beautiful creature in the world but was actively being sexually pursued by her and he managed to hold out on having sex with her for an entire month and a half?

'That's actually pretty impressive' she then groaned at the mental acknowledgement 'ugh, what the hell?'

"Stanley was very adamant that I be on my 'best behavior' when I go out in public and has spent a considerable amount of time teaching me how I should conduct myself."

'That sounded so wrong' having a man tell a woman how she should 'behave' in public 'but all things considered maybe this is a good thing?'

Out of everyone she knew Stan the least so she could not comment on his true intentions with Ezraphel. All she can do was give him the benefit of the doubt and take Ezraphel at her word about him wanting her to not succumb to her apparent old tendencies and corrupt everyone.

With that said however…

"How did I even get corrupted then" and she gave Ezraphel an accusatory look or tried to as best she could "you said I got infected by milk?"

How does that even work? Does that mean everyone else is corrupted? Amelia sure as hell wasn't the only one to drink milk last night.

"That milk was special and was for my Stanley's consumption only."

"Why would you even leave something like that in the refrigerator without a note or something to say no one should drink it?"

If she can do magic then surely she could have made it invisible or something right?

At this Ezraphel faltered a bit "ah well, you see-ahem, I had a lapse in judgment and left it in the refrigerator without casting a spell to shield it from notice."

"…so what you're saying is…it was an accident?"

"That is correct yes."

Amelia stared and for the first time a new emotion entered her mind at the sight of her.

"You realize that literally anyone could have drank that stuff right?"

"Yeah" Ezraphel dragged out with a wince before clasping her hand "please don't tell Stanley."

"Stan doesn't know?"

"Of course he doesn't. I can't begin to imagine how furious he would be if he found out I corrupted one of his friends and through a silly mistake at that!"

Amelia had to blink at the abject fear and worry that suddenly overcame the Lilim. Ezraphel bit her lip as her eyes shifted to and fro as if checking that Stan wasn't there listening to them.

'At least I know Stan wasn't involved in this' she shook her head.

It doesn't change the fact that this was still a colossal fuck up on Ezraphel's part.

"Have you made a decision yet?" the woman asked.

"Huh? Oh right, that" Amelia muttered.

Having read up on mamono, a bit of their culture and the corruption process Amelia can say for certain that

"I'm not sure."

On the one hand the smart thing to do would be to keep her humanity and forget about the whole being corrupted thing. It was also the 'right' thing to do since she would be rejecting a literal demon's temptation and keeping her humanity. If she thought about it if Ezraphel being a succubus is real then wouldn't that mean God and heaven is real too?

Her gaze flitted to Ezraphel and she bit her lip "hey…"

"Yes?"

"Is there a God?"

Ezraphel blinked in mild surprise.

'Shit why did I have to blurt it out like that!?'

"I'm sorry what I mean is-"

"No-no I understand the question" Ezraphel placated "as to an answer, your world's Christian religion bears a striking parallel to the primary religion of humans in my world."

"Really?"

"The Holy Order of the Chief God"

"Chief God?"

She's seen that name mentioned in the wiki before usually in conjunction with the decidedly anti-mamono organization known as the Order.

"There are several Gods in my world that are worshipped by both humans and mamono. I suppose the Chief God would be my world's parallel to your Christian 'God.' As for their existence" she gave an apologetic frown "I have yet to detect even a spark of divinity since my arrival here."

For some reason Amelia felt a pit in her stomach at that "so there is no God then."

"I would not say that. The world is a big place and the few times I've deigned to search for a God's presence my area of search has been rather confined."

"Does it make a difference where?"

"It does actually. Contrary to what you may believe the Gods are not absolute beings and neither is their presence. Even in my world there are many people in many places who worship them but rarely would they actually contain a God's divine presence."

"Have you ever met a God before?"

"I have not however I have met several mamono and humans blessed by Gods."

"Oh" logically whether or not there was a God really shouldn't affect her much. She wasn't a religious person and neither were her friends or family but at the same time…

"I suspect it is more than curiosity that made you ask that question" Ezraphel spoke leadingly.

"I was just wondering if by becoming a monster-"

"Mamono" Ezraphel cut off.

"Huh?"

"We are not monsters Amelia. That particular chapter of our culture is dead and buried. It has been for over a thousand years and we as a species have evolved beyond being barbaric, bloodthirsty and grotesque creatures of violence."

She spoke with such conviction Amelia couldn't help but nod "right sorry! What I'm saying is I didn't want to like commit sacrilege(?) I guess by giving up my soul and condemning myself to not going to heaven or whatever when I die" she finished lamely.

"Amelia" Ezraphel approached and put a hand on her shoulder then with a look of solemn understanding said "that is the biggest load of horse shit I have ever heard."

The reaction to Ezraphel's words was a look on Amelia's face that was downright comical as well a "huh?"

Ezraphel sighed and addressed the other woman as an adult would a misguided child "Amelia, mamono have souls and when we die we are given an afterlife. Some can even be reborn through the blessing of the God of Death. I have seen this happen many times."

"Seriously?"

"Yes and as for your 'humanity'" she shook her head "what makes you yourself is not determined by what you are but by who you are. I won't say that monsterization won't change you since the human mind can be particularly susceptible during the process however I will personally ensure that your mind is protected during your transformation…should you accept of course."

Generally the average person liked to think that they are fundamentally good or at the very least that they weren't 'bad.' Throw a hypothetical situation at them which involves making a tough decision and more often than not they would justify their choices as being: morally correct, for the greater good, the lesser of two evils or pragmatic. Of course it was easy to say that when its 'hypothetical' but what if it suddenly became real?

Oh sure anyone can say that they wouldn't participate in a scam, do drugs or commit a crime but end up doing it anyway for a variety of reasons. How many celebrities decry drug use, scams and crimes yet go and do all those things behind closed doors? But that's the fault of the human condition and it is one that Amelia was not exempt from. Otherwise why would she be considering a deal with a devil despite common sense and traditional conventions stating that it would always be a terrible choice?

Amelia took a deep breath "if I agree to do this what do I get out of it and what's the catch?"

"Catch?"

"The wiki is filled with a bunch of male wish fulfillment bullshit for horny virgin boys" she spat "I want to hear it from you. What exactly does becoming a Mamono mean? And don't spare any details Ez, I need to know for real."

Ezraphel looked her in the eye briefly before nodding "mamono are creatures of love and lust. Should you become one you will become supernaturally beautiful able to charm most men and women. Your physical capabilities will exceed that of any human even the weakest species of mamono can easily subdue the strongest baseline human. Depending on the type of mamono you become you may have access to special abilities inherent to the species or magic and have an extended lifespan upwards of a century."

Amelia licked her lips "okay, and the drawbacks?"

"Your body would need to feed on spirit energy specifically in male semen to properly sustain itself. You will have an instinctual need to have sex and procreate. You already have a husband-to-be so that should not be a problem. After having sex with Liam following your transformation the two of you will be bound to each other. You will dedicate your entire being to Liam and he will forever remain loyal to you. With each consecutive union you will pass on your corrupted mana onto him until eventually he will transform into your ideal mate, an Incubus like my Stanley."

"Stan's a-of course he is" how else could he go from a greasy troll to a Chad Manlet in a matter of months?

'Shame on me for thinking that lazy fucker would actually put in the work to achieve an appearance like that.'

Amelia shook her head she was getting sidetracked. After weighing the pros and cons of becoming a mamono there wasn't much of the latter. Sure subsisting on semen would have given her pause before but the recent times when she's actually consumed the thing have been amazing experiences. And if sex was going to be as good as how it felt recently then Amelia could get on board with that. Combined with all the aforementioned benefits and Amelia was hard pressed to find a reason to not accept.

Really there was only one thing stopping her.

"Would I get to choose what I become?"

She only asked because she read Lilims have the ability to turn a human into almost any mamono which would be more convenient than doing it by random and hoping for the best. The last thing she wanted was to become a centaur or something like that.

"Of course."

Amelia took a deep breath "okay then, let's do this"