Amelia crept around the pillars and piles of sacrifices as the two Epesh, more of those six-headed monstrosities, tickled each other with tentacles. She hid behind the pile of bodies and gripped her poleaxe as the clatter of Sabreman's explosives signalled the beginning. They exploded seconds later, two more. Two more explosions. She increased the density of her body and leapt toward them with a full swing of the axe to try to decapitate all six heads at once. But it got stuck in the creature's carapace. She leg go and opted to swing her right leg downward and increase its max in a sharp axe kick.
Her leg collapsed the creature's centre heads with the satisfying sound of a crunch and dark blood spurting everywhere. She spawned hands to slap away the other creature's attack while her target was still in shock. Akatsuki pin cushioned it with crossbow bolts while Sabreman approached with his poleaxe from the other side and brought the hammer down on its head.
Amelia, once on the ground over the collapsed ephesh and pummeled each head until it stopped moving. Then she jumped and brought down another axe kick on its body to crack open its shell. Ripped the crack open and yanked out organs, ate them. Dead. She spat on the creature. Strangely, something primal inside her was having a lot of fun. Sex, violence, hunger. She looked over at Akatsuki and could smell her flowery scent.
"You're not serious," the woman caught on right away, "is the blood driving you primal?"
Sabreman looked between the two, then rolled his eyes.
Ammy shook her head and returned to consuming more of the Ephesh, she'd leave the other one for the people who needed to pick it up. She looked around the room as Sabreman and Akatsuki had already fanned out. She licked the blood from her gauntlets and decided to take a moment to rest.
A minute later, Akatsuki returned with the dismembered fairy's body.
"Eat both of the Ephesh's stomachs, tell me what happens," she said quietly.
Ammy didn't want to say she didn't know, and shoved her hand back in, sorted through the organs knitted to the creature and plucked out something that looked like an expanded human stomach.
"Is the fairy dead? We don't have creatures like that... but if it's magical, maybe it can be brought back to life."
"Fairies lost first, the first race to be wiped out, or we thought were wiped out, was them. The demons targeted fairies and other gentle creatures, which our history has forgotten in the cookpot of conflict," Akatsuki said with a hint of anger, "Now we can fight back. We have you. We can crush Ephem and slit her throat and have you drink her blood. Consume her putrid flesh, eat the stomach, then eat the fairy. I want to know how far your strengthened ability to devour goes."
Amelia dislocated her jaw and swallowed the large stomach whole. Sabreman had plucked most of the bolts from the other Ephesh and cracked its torso for her to pry it open. Swallow a few tentacles, pluck organs and more tentacles out of the way, then swallow the other stomach.
Faecourt Ability Gained: Vengeful reckoning. x1
Expend 25% of mana to amp status against demonic forces.
Additional skill
Once Ammy told Akatsuki of what she'd gained, she insisted she consume the rest of it, which increased the number of uses to five. But something felt strange the second it was done. Her chest burned and she suddenly felt shortness of breath.
Sabreman's face lit up with alarm as Akatsuki looked at him and gestured rapidly, "What's happening, you're the medic!"
Amelia sat down as her stomach swelled.
"I-it's not possible," he said, "Wh-what has Tolmyr done!?"
"What is happening to me!?" she panted for breath as panic set in.
"Y-you're pregnant with the fairy you just ate, it's coming back to life."
What the fuck...? No, no, no, no, no. This isn't happening. What the fuck is going on? Please, this can't be happening.
A blinding light came from her stomach—
"Carbyne," Akatsuki gripped her shoulder, "Stay with me, hold my hand, alright?"
She gripped Akatsuki's hand.
"Good," she whispered as gently as she could, "I need you to listen to what Sabreman has to say."
"There's a story-"
"Just fucking tell me the point!"
"It's born through light," he said, "It won't come out the normal way humans are born, it's going to just appear like magic. Just stay calm, and focus on maintaining control."
"O-okay."
"I'm here, Carbyne." Akatsuki squeezed her hand and rubbed her now swollen belly, "I'm here."
Amelia inhaled, exhaled between her lips before she managed to breathe through her nostrils again. She held Akatsuki's hand and allowed whatever was taking root within her to continue. Please be done, please be done, please be done. A blinding light came from her midriff. She shut her eyes. When the glares were gone, her body felt lighter.
She opened her eyes to see a fairy dancing through the air. It smiled at her and beat its wings to spread a glittering halo of fairy dust all over the room.
Akatsuki had a look of wonder on her face while Sabreman shook his head. The fairy's golden locks of hair and ocean eyes fixed on Amelia, "Thank you, Nullshader."
"N--"
"I thought so," Akatsuki said, "Nullshade is a fairy court type spell."
The fairy nodded, "And the champion chosen is... well suited to her purpose. If a bit too degenerate."
"What's your name?" Akatsuki asked meekly.
The fairy crossed her arms, "Now is not the time," she said, "Clear the dungeons, and I will resurrect the fae courts to assist Salem. Only once Ephem is pushed back over the dragonspine mountains can real change begin. There is hope, daughter of Kell."
And she was gone.
"I need a break," Amelia said, she was happy she maintained her stats and abilities. But that. She shook her head; that was too much.
Akatsuki grabbed Amelia's arm, "Come."
Back in the previous chamber, Gideon and Sabreman led a squad into the sacrificial chamber to clean it up. Akatsuki set up a tent in the corner, far away from everyone else, where she brushed Amelia's hair and gave her a massage. The killer's rough hands gently took care of her arms, then her back and her legs. Surprisingly, nothing lewd.
"Thanks, Akatsuki."
"Mhm."
She continued, finished with a fond squeeze of Amelia's shoulder before she settled herself beside Ammy, "Fairies?"
"Tolmyr is known for many things, I never imagined he'd make a contract with faes and mix it with divine magic," she said, "I wonder what else he's done to bring you here."
Amelia sat up and took a moment to admire her. The deathly gleam in her eyes was gone... this was vulnerability, her family had something to do with fairies or maybe just her. "Can we win?"
"Yes," Akatsuki said confidently, "You'll see it for us if we don't make it. No choice."
She nodded, "Can I have a...?"
"When we're done with the job," she said, "For now, you can nap. I'll sleep by you. An ant beside the tent will wake me."
Two hours later, Amelia stirred awake, sat up, and Akatsuki pressed her down and kissed her. Then let her go; the two got dressed and left the tent. Gideon and Sabreman were chatting at a table where Gideon raised a mug to the two of them.
"Rum, come drink. It'll bring out the violence in ya."
They sat around the table, and Gideon made some hand gestures to his soldiers to clear a space for them to speak privately. "Is it true, the fairy?"
"Yes." Akatsuki said, "This has to stay under wraps."
"Won't it inspire hope?"
"Hope is as dangerous as despair," Gideon said, "A soldier's pragmatism ensures we don't do at ease. Never hope for miracles even if she's got big tits and gold in her hair, and kill without feeling because we're all dead and scraping off our fingertips to climb out of the pit."
She nodded, "I understand."
"Good," he said, "Gunnar's on his way, you've got two more mining areas to clear. The pit's secure, we'll be moving another post in there to keep watch while we get operations running again, the next area after the sacrificial chamber is infested with Ephesh and goblins working together. We suspect a demon general is somewhere below."
"We'll hit them with raids," Sabreman said, "Run in, kill, cut, explode everything we can and get out."
"See that you do," Gideon said.