“Collin, that’s enough; Move away from her, by force if you have to.”

  Almost instantly, Collin moves back, becoming a blur as he appears away from Adrienne with wide eyes and his gaze fixated on her, panting heavily.

  Adrienne growls with frustration, gring at Collin, then at him, while Gracelyn trembles on the ground, being still on her knees...

  “...Don’t just lie there, idiot,” Sincir tells her, “Now is your chance, and I doubt Adrienne will wait for long. Isn’t there something you wish to say to her?”

  Gracelyn raises her gaze, tears streaming down her face as she stares toward Adrienne. “I... I’m s-sorry... B-Babe... I-I’m s-sorry, o-okay!? About e-everything!”

  Adrienne clenches her fists, her expression hardening as she faces the other woman. “I don’t care... It’s too te to be sorry. Just give up already, so I can cum.”

  Gracelyn shudders, but in spite of her tears, her expression is still determinate. “N-no... I d-don’t want to see them making you cum... I-I sooner die...”

  Adrienne grimaces. “Beat it, Gracelyn! You’re obsessed! This can’t be called love, anymore!”

  “I don’t care! So what if I am obsessed with you?! You don’t need them! You don’t need anybody else!”

  “...I see you’ve learned nothing,” Adrienne murmurs, her expression darkening further, “Forget the game, I’ll find somebody to fuck me... I’ll walk like this toward the nearest public square and I’ll have them form a line-”

  “NO!” Gracelyn wails, “You whore, don’t you fucking dare! I’ll kill them all!”

  Seeing things are quickly growing out of control, Sincir decides to interfere. “Gracelyn... I don’t think this is the way to convince her. Think about it; She has something she wants very much right now, but you’re standing in her way.”

  Gracelyn throws him a quick, desperate gnce, before shifting her eyes toward Adrienne once more, who is already beginning to turn away. “N-no, don’t leave, I’m sorry for what I said; You know I speak without thinking sometimes, babe...”

  Adrienne pauses, her eyes cold as she stares down at the kneeling vampire.

  Gracelyn licks her lips nervously, then smiles. “I get it, you want to cum, right? You don’t need them for that...” she murmurs as she begins to crawl toward Adrienne, staring at her pleadingly, “Let me do it for you... I can give you a good time, if you let me...”

  Adrienne narrows her eyes. “No; Right now, I’d take anybody but you.”

  Gracelyn flinches, but she maintains her smile in pce as she approaches Adrienne’s boot and pces a soft kiss against it.

  Adrienne gres at her. “Bitch, what part of my no did you not understand?”

  Gracelyn kisses her boot again, meeting her eyes as she does so. “Please, babe... I’ll do whatever you want from now on... I’ll be the servant, and you can be the master, if that’s enough to make you stay...”

  Adrienne grimaces. “I swear I’ll fucking kick you...!”

  “That’s fine... Kick me as many times as you want, if it’ll make you’ll feel better... I’ll lick your boots while you do it... Would that be enough for you to forgive me...?”

  Adrienne presses her lips together, her expression wavering... But then she shakes her head. “Gracelyn, I’m not gay. I’ll never be... I want a fucking cock right now!”

  Gracelyn grimaces. “Fine... You... You can have boyfriends... In the future, and I’ll not interfere with them, you have my word. But I’m begging you, not tonight... I can’t take it anymore... I can’t stand to see anyone else touching you, right now...”

  Adrienne stares at her incredulously. “You’re insane... I’m just... I’m just some whore you’ve picked up on the side of the road... Why would you-”

  Gracelyn’s eyes widen; Then, suddenly, she scratches her nails against her own arm, hard enough to draw blood, causing Adrienne to step back with a shocked look on her face.

  “I’d ask... I’d ask who was it that made you feel this way, so that I could kill them...” Gracelyn says through clenched teeth, shifting her eyes to meet Adrienne’s gaze once more, “If I didn’t know... So painfully clear, that it was my own damn fault.”

  Seeing Gracelyn’d blood running down her arm, Adrienne’s eyes widen.

  “And I know that I’m not deserving... But please, Adrienne, allow me a chance to prove I’ve loved you... That I still do, and that I will continue to do so, forever.”

  Adrienne swallows. “You’ve had plenty of chances, Gracelyn... But Gods, seeing you being this pathetic is driving me insane... Beg for me, bitch. Make me believe you really want me to you use to get myself off.”

  Gracelyn smiles, biting her lower lip as she leans down once more and pces yet another soft kiss against Adrienne’s boot. “Please...” she murmurs, and then again, kissing it once for each word, “Please... Please use me for your pleasure instead of them, babe, I’m begging you...”

  “Okay, that’s enough... I can see you really want it. But first, take my boots off.”

  Gracely hesitates only for a brief moment before grabbing the top of Adrienne’s left boot with her teeth, pulling it down as the former barmaid raises her leg... After they repeat the process with Adrienne’s right boot, she smiles.

  “I could get used to this... Now put that tongue to work, babe... I can’t wait another second...”

  Gracelyn stares up at Adrienne and bites her lip, slowly rising while pcing small, gentle kisses against her inner thigh...

  Sincir clears his throat. “I hate to interrupt, but...”

  Once both girls turn to stare at him, Sincir casts an ice spell, creating an ice whip in his grip.

  “...Forcing yourself on her just because you could, whenever you felt like it, wasn’t very nice, Gracelyn. For your third and st crime... I’ll stop hitting once you make her cum, or if you give up on the game.”

  Adrienne stares at the whip with an uncertain look on her face, but Gracelyn simply nods.

  “I didn’t realize she hated it enough to call it rape... You don’t need to hold back, I deserve this much.”

  Adrienne seems about to protest, but Gracelyn is already turning back toward her, and once she wraps lips around the former barmaid’s sex, she moans.

  Sincir strikes for the first time, and Gracelyn screams, though she doesn’t stop licking even as she recoils from the pain violently.

  The whipping reminds him of Sunnazoth... This is exactly the type of thing she’d get off to.

  The coldness of the magical weapon against his hand, the way Gracelyn jumps after every hit, now openly crying as she struggles to continue licking in spite of the pain... He has to admit there is some amount of twisted beauty to it, and it is hard not to become excited watching her doing her best to pleasure Adrienne through her punishment.

  Unfortunately, he has memories of being on the other end of the experience a couple too many times in the past to truly enjoy putting someone who is not into pain through the experience... And although Gracelyn agreed to this, she did so because he drove her to her breaking point earlier...

  Still, Sincir doesn’t hold back, striking almost as often as his arm allows him to, and Gracelyn’s despair quickly begins to grow once Adrienne doesn’t cum even after a couple of minutes have gone by... She probably thought she could put up with the pain, but from experience, Sincir knows that being whipped is much worse than what most people expect.

  Honestly, he is impressed she has sted for this long... Well, from what happened tonight, he had a feeling she wo-

  “STOP! I CAME, SO DON’T HURT HER ANYMORE!”

  Varzath blinks and reflexively holds his arm once Adrienne suddenly jumps on top of Gracelyn, hugging her and shielding her bloodied back from him.

  As a matter of fact, he knows she hasn’t come yet... But seeing the both of them on their knees, crying while hugging each other, he simply unsummons his whip and sighs.

  “I-I f-forgive h-her! I-I f-forgive her, so...!”

  Meeting Collin’s gaze, Sincir scratches his head and shakes his head.

  He guesses they aren’t cumming tonight...

  Fuck, he didn’t intend for things to become so serious, but one thing led to another...

  Approaching the crying girls, Sincir crouches near Adrienne, pcing his hand over her shoulder and causing her to shift her reddened eyes to meet his; Her anger is obvious in her expression.

  “Listen... I know you think I might’ve gone too far here, but with how things turned out, she needed this much to forgive herself and move on... And you may call it obsession, if you want, but this is how much she loved you... Just, in the future, try and solve your issues through talking before it gets this bad, okay?”

  Rising before she can answer, Sincir beckons Collin, heading for the door.

  He still doesn’t know what her deal is, but the bck-haired woman also follows them out of the room, her expression slightly dazed.

  Once outside, Sincir stares at the sky and takes a deep breath...

  “...Damn it, I’m so fucking horny!”

  Looking down, he finds both vampires staring at him with a weird look on their faces.

  “What?”

  The woman shakes her head. “You could’ve taken care of that a couple of times back there... Why didn’t you?”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “And have Gracelyn hate me for the rest of eternity...? If my objective was simply to punish or hurt her, then sure, I’d have had Collin and me take turns fucking Adrienne in front of her... But the reason I came here tonight was because Adrienne asked me for help fixing their retionship, not because I wanted to punish Gracelyn. It just so happens things turned out this way... Trust me, I’d have gone for a foursome, if I thought I could do it and still help Adrienne.”

  After a moment of staring at him thoughtfully, she nods. “I must admit, it was an impressive dispy... You mentioned a girlfriend waiting for you?”

  Sincir blinks. “Yes?”

  She smiles. “Shame... I’ll suppose I’ll see you around, Sincir.”

  As the woman disappears in a blur of movement, Sincir throws Collin a look.

  The vampire grimaces at him.

  “...C’mon, I didn’t even say anything! You can’t bme this one on me!”

  He sighs. “I know... Malia always does whatever she wants. She is three-hundred, in case you were curious.”

  Sincir whistles. “Damn... Would you be mad if I asked you to give her my address and a message?”

  Collin gres at him. “Do you want me to walk you home or not? I thought we had things to discuss.”

  Sincir chuckles...

  As it happens, his house isn’t all that far from Adrienne’s, and the te time makes for a calm walk.

  “How do you feel?” he asks Collin, once they’ve walked for a couple of minutes in silence.

  “...You weren’t kidding about the not cumming part.”

  “Sorry... I didn’t know Gracelyn was going to be so difficult... I had pnned something more light and fun for the four of us.”

  Collin throws him a look. “So, even you can fail.”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “I’m not sure I’d call what happened today a failure, but sure, I’ve failed plenty of times before.”

  Collin smiles. “Good.”

  “...You’re kind of a dumbass sometimes, did you know that?”

  “I don’t want to hear that from you, of all people. Would it kill you not to smell like a brothel, for once?”

  Sincir sighs. “Okay, I get it, you’re horny and grumpy; For the record, so am I.”

  “...Next time I see them, I don’t think I’ll be able to meet their gaze.”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow at him. “Really? You’re the one who should be mad for being dragged into their domestic issues... It’s not like you chose your position as second in command, right?”

  “...I didn’t refuse it, either. Somebody had to keep them in check, or the Council would’ve sent their mages after us, already.”

  “Your master...?”

  “...Would’ve simply left.”

  Sincir nods. “Good job keeping everything together so far. I know it’s not easy to keep a bunch of monsters in check... Even if you’re the strongest of them.”

  Collin throws him a look. “From experience?”

  Sincir smiles. “Maybe... Speaking of monsters, how goes our cultist stakeout?”

  Collin sighs. “It doesn’t. My people weren’t able to spot anything yet... Are you sure they’re hiding in there?”

  “Pretty sure. Everything points to it, and I found something today which makes me even more certain... Those crystals, I remember seeing some at a firepce during our first meeting at Inquiry. Did you ever touch them?”

  “Sure. Is this about the fact they’re made of Life Force, rather than mana?”

  Sincir sighs. “I figured you would’ve been able to feel it as well. Can they feed you?”

  Collin frowns. “No. As far as I know, we need to drink living blood to survive, as well as Life Force... But I could feel the crystal’s pull when I touched it.”

  “Meaning, you could’ve absorbed its energy?”

  After a moment of hesitation, Collin nods. “However, it wasn’t pure, like a human’s. It felt like trying to feed from a fire elemental...”

  “Was it a fire crystal, from a fire elemental?”

  “...Yes.”

  Sincir nods. “So they do work as I assumed they would... I see.”

  “What are you thinking?” Collin asks.

  According to what Sincir heard about these crystals, they recharge on their own if left alone... Which is why he always assumed they were made of mana. However, his knowledge regarding Life Force tells him that it can’t be generate outside of a living creature, which means these crystals must somehow be alive, even after their host’s death... In other words, they must contain a Soul inside of them.

  A human’s? An animal’s? Something else entirely?

  Perhaps even a bunch of them, extracted from the creature’s killed by the nest monster hosting the crystal... The crystal growing rger could indicate the amount of Souls it has trapped inside of it.

  ...Well, assuming they’re released once the crystal is destroyed, and that they’re not suffering in the meantime, being trapped in one of these crystals is still a much better fate than being killed by a demon and sent to Hell.

  Speaking of which, a strong enough demon could probably feed on them, but not an incubus.

  He knows that because albeit faintly, pnts have Life Force in them, and he has heard of demons feeding of them on occasion... Drying entire forests to satiety their hunger... But those were demons who could feed from a mere touch. Since it is impossible to make a pnt feel pleasure, incubi cannot feed from them, and Sincir assumes these crystal would work the same way.

  Using them for summoning a demon would be another matter entirely, however. If pced properly pced within a summoning circle... Would they work as sacrifices?

  Sincir bets they would. But then, what would happen to the Souls trapped inside of them?

  ...Sent straight to Hell? Even if they’re not human?

  No, that doesn’t make sense. The Souls collected from a Human Pne come from two main sources: Cultist, who sell their Souls for the benefit of a contract with a demon, and those who are killed while being feed on by a demon.

  A sacrifice used to create a summoning circle doesn't have their Soul sent to Hell, or they’ve been winning the war already, with how many of them these cultists kill every year.

  It is simir to how Heaven would already have won the war if every human who walked through a church’s door ended up reborn in Heaven for it... Praying is not enough, they need to actually have contact with an angel and create a contract.

  Which is to say, the church needs their followers for money and Faith, which they then use to summon angels and create contracts, while demons need cultists to kill people and summon them... Or, at least, that’s how it used to work.

  Because if these stones allow for the summoning of demons without the necessity of human sacrifice... Well, it’s not like they are all that easy to collect, but even a small tip in the scale now could mean disaster for the armies of Heaven, a thousand years in the future...

  The good news is, he might be able to use the crystals to summon his own people from the other side without killing entire vilges... The bad news is, he is about a hundred years te to the party, and if these cultists’ hiding spot is anything to go by, they’re very much aware of what these crystals can do.

  “...I’m thinking we might have a bigger problem on our hands then I initially assumed.”

  Collin sighs. “With how much you’ve impressed Malia today, I might be able to assign more people to finding them.”

  Sincir nods. “Thank you. Let’s hope it’ll be enough...”

  Sincir isn’t going to pretend he isn’t concerned about the future. Does the entirety of Hell knows about the crystals? Is Itera the only Mortal Pne affect by these nests? Who created them, and why...?

  Only questions, and no answers. He’ll need to have a long talk with these people, once he finally manages to catch one of them, preferably their leader...

  Sincir is still deep in thought by they the time arrive in front of the house’s door, and Collin clears his throat.

  “I’ll pass by, or send someone once we have news to share.”

  Seeing his uncomfortable expression, Sincir chuckles. “You know, you’ve been such a good boy so far...”

  Collin grimaces.

  “...That I think it’s time I tell you a little more about myself.”

  Collin blinks.

  Sincir smiles at him. “What? Was there something else you were thinking about?”

  “...Perish the thought.”

  Sincir is still ughing once he finishes deactivating its runes and opening the door, beckoning Collin to follow him inside.

  Considering the te night, Sincir is not surprised to find an empty living room waiting for him, though he is, however, extremely surprise to notice flickers of light coming from their back yard, accompanied by the noise of sword swings.

  He grimaces.

  Just what in the fuck does she think she is doing...?

  Seeing that Collin is still standing behind him awkwardly, Sincir sighs. “Sorry, but I’ll have to take care of something before we talk... You can wait for me upstairs. Second door on the left; Esme should answer if you knock.”

  Collin hesitates, then nods. “Tell Miss Eleanor I said hi.”

  “Oh, and tell Esme something for me once you see her: ‘Sincir is sorry for being te, so he brought you a gift.’”

  Collin cocks his head. “Did you buy something for her while you were out with Adrienne?”

  Sincir manages not to ugh, but it is a close call. “Yes... I’ll give it to her ter. Now go, and use those exact words, or she won’t understand what I mean.”

  Collin throws him a weird look, but he does nod and heads toward the stairs...

  ...Now, for dealing with the troublemaker.

  Once Collin is out of view, Sincir heads straight toward their back yard.

  As expected, he finds Eleanor in the middle of her usual solo training, dancing near a ntern which highlights the sweat covering her fair skin and the fire gleaming behind her piercing blue eyes each time she steps forward and strikes.

  It is a sight to behold, as always.

  “...From the moment Father asked me to bring you with, I knew it was going to be a pain in the ass after another.”

  “You could’ve left me behind! You should’ve!” Eleanor retorts immediately, not bothering to look at him as she does so.

  Casting a wind spell, Sincir has one of the wooden training swords nearby flying toward his grip, then steps forward and swings it at Eleanor, who widens her eyes, reflexively managing to parry it; He doesn’t stop there, however, immediately following his swing with a kick aimed at her midsection which sends her tumbling back.

  “So slow... As the one who trained you, I’m ashamed, love.”

  He doesn’t wait for her to recover before charging at her again, and Eleanor’s eyes widen once more as she sees the approaching sword, rolling out of its way.

  “I’ve been thinking over what we talked about st night...”

  Eleanor menages to rise right on time to catch his next blow, following her parry with a thrust Sincir easily sidesteps, before shoving his shoulder against her stomach and causing her to fall again, harder this time.

  “...And I’m sorry I’ve given you the wrong impression about me during these past five years, love.”

  Panting heavily, Eleanor is still on her knees as Sincir kicks her hand, sending her sword flying away.

  “I’m one of the bad guys... And I thought you knew that.”

  Ignoring the shocked look on her face, he grabs her hair and presses his wooden sword against her neck, causing her to freeze, widened eyes locked against his.

  “...Human lives are worth little to me,” he whispers, approaching his face from hers as he does so, “They’re fleeting, and pointless, just like your resistance against becoming mine... And if I said I’d draw entire rivers of blood to bring my people over, what would do, love? Beg me not to...? Get on your knees and kiss my shoes?”

  Eleanor faces his gaze directly. “I’d kill you,” she growls through clenched teeth.

  Sincir snorts. “Maybe after another thousand years or so of training...”

  Straightening himself, he shoves her down, stepping over her back and pinning her to ground once she tries to rise.

  “Say, while we wait, would you like me to walk you around wearing a colr, or finally make true on all of those talks we had about basement locking...? I promise I’ll allow you some time to train, though I can’t say the same about giving you clothes to wear.”

  Eleanor clenches her teeth, attempting to rise in spite of his foot...

  As a reward for her efforts, Sincir hooks his sword against her short, tight top, using a wind spell to cut it in order to reveal the bandages bellow.

  He clicks his tongue. “So much for seeing them bouncing around while you chase after me.... Cursed things, I should forbid you from wearing them.”

  Eleanor stops. Being still on her knees, she turns to stare at him...

  Sincir rises an eyebrow. “What now?”

  ...Her eyes begins to glow, burning hot white.