A Demure Sin: Savvy Weaknesses

One flesh. One blood. The most indigenous and primordial relationship humans could have: a mother and her child. The blissful spiritual equality connection onto them by reason to embrace the disgusting side effects of motherhood. Demonstrating that all the fuss about maternal instinct. Giving labour, giving a life a new form. Breastfeeding; eco-friendly products… demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge. The statement, however, was indubitable, because even if an all-powerful Devil were to try to deceive the mother into thinking that she was disgusting when she was not, she would have to exist for the Devil to deceive her.

Nonetheless…

…the mother had been long since existed, hence the deceiving ploy was no longer the Devil relied on. It was imitating wile instead—the Devil imitating herself into the mother and her child before the authentic one.

"It's time for the son to return into his mother… become one flesh and blood."

Sweating… a lot of anxious cold sweating over the edgy callous of deviant art before the very eyes of the innocent natives. Not even the impenetrable barrier could hold back the ineffable sentiment over the extreme contingency, for their eyes were capable enough of perceiving the scum of this heinous world. Proficient indeed their eyes were, but the level of tolerance was inept. As well as a defense mechanism that arose as a result of their low tolerance for intolerable scenes—their eyes were shut down. 

Mostly caused by that one phrase of full of enigmatic statements coming from the mouth of the twisted child.

Thus their visions ended up blank and black, yet there existed something called the voice colors and the scent textures. They couldn't close their ears nor hold their breath, leaving their mind to decrypt the situation entirely relying on olfaction and resonance in the air.

"UGHH—GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The scent of blood. A scream full of torment. Only a vague experience they could acquire, giving the one-horned Devil, their devilish savior, a chance to witness its full process. A process of reverse labour because the child yearned for his mother's womb.

But as any labour process, the path devoid of pain was delusional,

"This… reunify… this… pain…" 

The twisted child was mumbling weakly, trying to gasp for air after a whole quarter of an hour counted for screeching and shrieking in anguish, for his humeri were already crushed into ivory white powders wrapped in bloody skin and red flesh. Insufferable pain he should now feel, more so after the intestines tentacles of his so-called mother snaring flat both his upper arms, bending its joints in an unnatural direction and making them shrink into his shoulders.

"All this… pain… better be worth it… hahaha…"

Despite the suffering he must have gone through, that smirk of his… startled even for someone who incidentally perhaps had at least once witnessed such scenes in her life… considering her born nature and the habitat she grew up with. Mainly because she never actually expected to encounter such an abomination creature in the human world.

Nevertheless, she for now could only wait and stand still on which she placed her bare feet… in front of the people she struggled to protect and who were terrified right now.

Lucky for them, the scream they heard was the first and the last. No more ear-piercing screech, no more frightening voice that could haunt them even with eyes closed. It was a good luck indeed… but not yet a good sign. Because the horror of this reverse labour had just begun. Maybe it was less horror for those who closed their eyes, and let their olfaction to fantasize for them. But for someone who had to keep her blink count low every minute… the following process maybe would stick deep for a while inside her head.

No more a shriek babbling, but a retching mumbling now out of the twisted child's mouth…

…well, even if he wanted to scream his lungs out, he simply couldn't, for the airway within the throat had been hijacked by one long pliable intestine, penetrating its way through the tiny mouth of that twisted child, all the way down into his gut, thus preventing any vibration occurred from the larynx. That one particular intestine did not serve a purpose but as a bionic straw sucking dry and digesting any bits and pieces of the entrails, giblets, and any kind of gastric secretions inside the body of that twisted child. Coupled with external effort yet those another intestine that embraced his whole tiny torso, creating this lethal squeeze. Such a forceful move was able not only to halt his breathing and blood flow, but also annihilate the rib cage completely, resulting in this peculiar strong cracking sound that vibrated the entire air. Once his rib cage was nothing but a white powder dissolved in the crimson liquid, those intestines began to flatten his stomach completely, pushing out the leftover contents in it that were missed by the intestine straw, creating a strong crimson discharge through it.

The endgame result of this so-called reverse labour was to deform the body of that twisted child to such an extent that his body would fit into the disfigured uterus of his monstrous mother. From the tip of the hair to the bottom of the feet… the entire body of that twisted child ultimately returned home to its very first home, to where he was first created with the help of a humble fluid. A womb of a mother. 

And thus, the reverse labour had come to an end, lulling a false sense of safety for one who had beheld such a scene. Even the native inhabitants began to dare opening their eyes after moments of quietude… even when the source of havoc was still there, floating above a pool of stagnant crimson substance. Slowly yet surely, their eyes could catch a glimpse of the monster that was caused such an ambiance, without any child figure being present on the spot. Slowly yet surely, the sense of curiosity began to take over, as long as the one-horned Devil's back was still within their sight, knowing well they were still inside her protective barrier.

And in that moment, when their false sense of security was done playing around, they knew right away that the next thing they should cover should be their ears. Because that monstrous mother was just floating in there not without a reason,

A high-pitched screech that certainly no human was capable of, all of a sudden, was piercing anyone's eardrums who had a gut to not cover one's ears. This squeaky shriek, however, did not come by itself, but also followed not long after by a tense pressure in the air, producing alteration flow in the atmosphere in an extreme way… resulting in a gust explosion that came from that grotesque figure, for that thing apparently began to shift into seemingly an ideal form,

The amalgamation between two separate beings that once shared the same flesh and blood… the reunite of the ancient creation between a mother and her child, was then ended by a sudden shock wave blown by those large wings, forcing Erynew to cover her eyes with her arms to protect it from the sudden strong pressure that might harm her eyes in some way.

"T-that thing… it's growing legs, huh?!"

Widening her eyes out of shock, Erynew was capable of telling the divergence as time went on. Not only a major, but also discerned other minor changes on that horrid body of a monster. Brittle wrinkles began to manifest on its darkened face where those white soulless eyes stuck out as if wanting to fall. Its long hair began to fall, leaving nothing but a few translucent keratinous filaments on it. All calories stored inside the flesh were burned dry, leaving only that one brown barren skin that covered its thin body exposing the rib cage protruding to the skin surface. And its height seemed to increase twice from the initial size, and the membrane wings became wider in such a way that able to shelter its whole body when the wings spread.

"My son has now returned home, becoming one blood with me… as well as my mother." rows of oversized sharp teeth were seen as that thing spoke. Voicing a dual voice containing both the mother's and the son's, as a blend combination of them both and giving birth to that vulgar being. An appalling version of an old hag whose human woman traits became more prominent after acquiring that ideal form, "It's been a while since I used this body."

Words of reactions were nil, only visual articulation. Neither the native inhabitants nor the one-horned Devil expressed their own thoughts towards such an abnormal phenomenon before their very eyes. Words were simply reluctant to come out from their mouths, for they busied themselves to gape in dread. Whereas the Devil seemed too vigilant to care about her flabbergast, for she sensed something strong but unpleasant atmosphere around that monstrous being. Her form may become more tolerable that human's brain was able to comprehend now. No more peculiar entity who was floating without a lower body where her intestines were dangling from a hollowed gut, dripping a lot of giblets and dropping crimson fluid.

'This energy…'

But as any blending or fusion process came to a result, Erynew's keen perception was able to distinguish the difference before and after the mother and her child merged together as one being… specifically the huge gap difference of magical potential once Lord Redo had.

'…it's the same as that human Redo has. The abundance magical energy that disperses from the body—thick and gloomy. But it's more controlled and stable, and appears fiercer. This is bad. If I don't make a move immediately… this village will—!'

The situation right now really did not provide any form of kindness to those who were involved in it. The unavailability of space for thought even as simple as taking a breath was being convoluted by a sudden strike. Coming in a blitz of an eye; after reaching for the sword of Wolframs, the winged figure without anyone's notice, was only an inch from the place where Erynew stood. Hence disconnected anything that happened inside her thoughts… strategy and tricks, the ways to end this fight as soon as possible… all of those were shattered promptly.

Standing roughly twice her height before her very eyes, the winged figure was raising the sword high toward the sky, prepared to do a massive opening attack. A downward slash toward the Devil's body with intended to slit her into half.

Unlike any previous attack, this time genuinely startled the one-horned Devil to the point she had difficulty dodging. She didn't see it coming, hence only relied on her quick reflex by jumping aside. Even after she managed to move from the lethal zone, the shock wave caused by a single swing of that sword, not only it was strong enough to blow the dust and dirt away but her light body as well. Thrown nearly tens of feet from the starting point… flinging uncontrollably in the air as she lost her balance just to regain it using her hand.

The power of that monstrous being was beyond her estimation. The determining factor of her miscalculation fortunately had been recognized. It was that became her main focus right now. Focusing all of her visual sense onto the most stand out thing that was being grasped by the monstrous winged entity. The Sword of Wolframs. Even the dumbest person could tell that its size was, somehow, significantly greater than before. It was even more surprising, how an entity who barely had any muscle on her body was able to carry and swing such a huge sword, moreover producing a powerful blast merely from a sheer swing.

"Oh, you noticed it." the typical dual voice was then heard again. Showing her overgrown irregular-sized teeth as she spoke, knowing well that the one-horned Devil had been staring at one specific object within her grasp, "This is the true form of Wolframs. Don't ever think it's the same as the blade wield by that filthy human. That blade was nothing more than a very sharp steel." she continued, menacingly smirked right at the Devil face, "It's not a blade you can stop simply using your dirty fingers."

"A weapon that consumes its wielder's energy, I see…" said Erynew, stating her conclusion from that winged being's explanation and from the past battle she went through, and after being perceived by all of her senses, resulting in crucial information concerning her opponent's capability.

"You know more than you let on, huh? Well, no wonder you will become the biggest threat for us." the winged being answered, but then unexpectedly began to lift the gloomy sword, "But a Devil is not supposed to get involved in human affairs. Go back to hell in peace!" without the necessity to get closer to the devil, the winged being abruptly swayed the sword and spread its murky mist forward in a large area.

Erynew quickly realized the nature of such a mist and what it would do. Instead of blocking it, she chose to dodge once more… because she didn't want to get caught in a big explosion. Luckily for her, the surrounding environment on which she stood before was quite desolate, hence allowed to avoid the explosion without the burden of any casualty except for the environmental damage,

"Oh right. I completely forgot about your troublesome reflex." because too focused on Erynew's movement the winged being ignored all the possibilities that may strike at any given moment… such as the glowing tendrils that came from beneath her feet, snared the sword and devoured its magical energy. It caught her by surprise as a result of her carelessness.

The main weakness of a weapon that gained all of its energy from the wielder was it sometimes its magical flow could leak. When such a weapon constantly received magical energy from its wielder without any real energy output in between would create any form of leak from it. This energy leak could be seen naked eye, depending on who wielded the weapon—could it be gloomy mist or strong energy pressure. Many magic practitioners noticed this flaw, hence instead of finding a way to remove or reduce the magical leak, they used it as an exoskeleton, or so they called it. Basically an extra armor protection… on condition if the wielder used the full complete set of said weapon.

Erynew definitely had knowledge about it, and she knew her glowing tendrils would become a perfect counter for it. A sword that continuously received magical energy from its wielder, and that magical energy would be a perfect dish for her glowing tendrils. Release the sword, or die while grasping the sword… either way, it was a way for her to eliminate that threatening sword,

"It's useless, you know." the winged being calmly showed her utterance on this sudden attack. While it was impossible for her to move the sword because the sheer strength of the snare was so strong that the cracks on the sword would only become worse if this continued, instead of reducing her energy flow, increasing the energy flow that she did. The gloomy-looking mist that covered the edge and fuller of the sword gradually thickened, and as the process went on, solid energy was formed around the sharp metal. The final result was a small explosion and that solid energy became its ignitor, and the obliteration of the glowing tendrils became inevitable… allowing the sword to free.

Erynew's sudden attack failed, and broke apart. Shockingly enough however, not a single shocked expression was drawn on her face. The tranquility was still with her apparently, as if she already knew her attack would go wrong. Consequently, 'watch and learn' was only her best bet for now. Not only watching for the information, but she also discretely preparing for something else,

"You don't seem surprised at all, eh." the winged being sniggered at Erynew's calm expression, "Wolframs is not only empowering itself using its wielder energy, but also capable of launching the energy as ray projectile… creating a massive explosion on impact."

"Is that so?" Erynew coldly responded, "I didn't ask though, but thanks for the insight nonetheless."

Listening to such a cold remark, sketching an irritated smile across the wrinkled face of the winged being, "You and your kin… are always high on arrogance. Well no matter… because I will be the one blowing up that arrogance off your face." declaring such an impactful word, building up the level of her confidence even more. Pointing the sword towards the one-horned Devil, and gathering the dense, thick and solid energy from her body to recharge the sword for another explosion. This time however, hundreds of times bigger and stronger.

Erynew took a ready stance… frowning her eyes, focusing her sight mainly on the sword and preparing her feet to commit a quick step into a safe place and look for a gap. All the procedures were the same; watch, dodge, and wait for a little opportunity to perform a counterattack. Everything should be fine as long as she followed those procedures, up until the winged being shockingly noticed the flaw within it… or more like noticed the flaw in her current state.

"Oh, by the way, your barrier seems weakened, yes?" one simple question that came from the twisted smile of the abomination could unexpectedly make the Devil's eyes widen.

With everything going to happen, it happened so fast. It wasn't something that ordinary eyes could catch… especially from the inhabitants of Kasala village… their point of view, the only thing that they could comprehend was a great explosion before their very eyes, blinding anyone's eyes that hadn't got enough time to react to the blinding flash and smoke. Coupled with a deafening sound of an extremely loud air pressure that could burst their eardrums. They were able to feel the tectonic vibration throughout their feet… being pushed by a sheer explosive wave.

Fortunately, the miracle did pick on their side that day. Despite a massive explosion detonated only a few inches from where they were gathered, the casualties were zero. Because all of the worst scenarios were absorbed by one single body that was vigorously standing in front of them despite the wounds she might have received. 

Moments of silence struck the native inhabitants as their words were choked up by an inexplicable shock when they knew who the figure that held off such an explosion was… their devilish savior, the one-horned Devil herself.

"My explosion finally hit you… mwahahahahaha!" from across the green field, a maniacal laugh was then shattered the mourning silence. An insane laugh that seemed wouldn't ease for now… a laugh when someone had succeeded in deceiving the opponent and exploiting the opponent's weakness in a dirty way, "Humans. Those humans you try to protect… a weakness that disgusts me… I'll use them to end you."