CHAPTER 39: MAKING THE DEMON PRINCESS ANGRY IS THE WORST MISTAKE YOU CAN MAKE

SLAM!

The apartment door bursts open in an instant.

Eliss stands in the doorway, her eyes burning with rage as she glares at Miori — though Aoshi, of course, can’t tell that the anger is directed only at her. The guilt rising in him becomes unbearable in an instant — the exact feeling of a husband caught in bed with his mistress.

Miori narrows her eyes nervously, meeting Eliss’s stare. Then she lets a smug little smile curl on her lips and presses her bare breasts even harder into Aoshi’s back, rubbing them along his skin.

«Get away from him, you filthy whore,» Eliss hisses, pointing a finger straight at Miori.

«Or else?» Miori snaps back, her tone defiant.

«P-Please, girls, calm down!» Aoshi cuts in, hesitant, pushing Miori’s hands away from inside his underwear. Panic hits him hard — he has no clue what the hell he’s supposed to do, trapped with no way out, knowing anything he does will only make things worse. And yet he can’t just sit there pretending everything’s fine while the two of them tear into each other — especially knowing one of them isn’t an ordinary girl, and fully aware of what she’s capable of if she loses her temper.

«You’ve got some nerve showing up here after what you did to Aoshi!» Eliss snaps, her finger still pointed at Miori like a loaded gun.

«W-Wait, about that whole thing...» Aoshi tries again. «It was all a huge misunderstanding... Miori treated me that way because Renji forced her to, not because she actually wanted to! Just like I don’t hold anything against her, you shouldn’t either.»

This time, Eliss’s killing glare lands squarely on him.

«That’s not what I’m talking about... I’m talking about how she ordered Renji to beat you half to death just so she’d have an excuse to get close to you!»

«W-What did you... what did you do?!» Aoshi bursts out, his voice shaking with anger and nerves as he looks up at Miori, who in the meantime has already fastened her bra and buttoned her shirt again.

«Y-You’re not seriously going to believe something that ridiculous, are you?!» Miori whimpers, shocked, her eyes glossy with tears.

How the hell did that brat find out?! Did that idiot Renji really let himself get tricked by her and spill everything? If he did... I swear I’m going to ruin that moron!

«Stop this pathetic act, Miori. You’re embarrassing yourself,» Eliss commands, her voice icy. «Your little lapdog told me everything, so step away from him — I don’t want my beloved Aoshi stained by your filthy blood.»

«Y-You’re threatening me?! You dare threaten me?!» Miori snaps.

Aoshi, on the other hand, freezes in terror — a dark realization rising inside him from Eliss’s words.

Eliss said she got this information from Renji, which means she probably used her succubus mind-manipulation on him... even though I have no idea how she figured out Renji was the one who beat me in the first place.And yet... Miori just told him she hasn’t heard from Renji in days. Could it be...?

«Eliss...» Aoshi murmurs, shaken. «How long ago did Renji tell you these things?»

«Four nights ago. That idiot showed up at the Moonlight thinking he could take me to bed — pathetic.» Eliss scoffs, shrugging. «He volunteered the information himself. He bragged about being the one who beat you up — probably wanted to look cool and put you down, but he miscalculated, poor thing.»

At those words, Miori’s eyes widen — she’s reached the same, unmistakable conclusion as Aoshi.

«I-I can’t believe it...» Miori stammers. «Eliss, y-you... you killed Renji?!»

She’s horrified, terrified — collapsing to her knees, her whole body trembling from head to toe. And even though the idea of Renji being dead means absolutely nothing to her, that dramatic, exaggerated reaction isn’t entirely an act.

W-What the fuck is this psychopath?! And how the hell did she kill Renji? He might’ve been an idiot, but he was definitely stronger than this little brat. Was she armed? Or did she get someone else to do it? One thing’s certain — I’ve got a lunatic in front of me who could very well be carrying a weapon, considering she just threatened to kill me. I can’t afford a single wrong move, and I definitely can’t stray too far from Aoshi — I doubt she’d attack me while I’m this close to him, or she’d risk hurting him.

Miori crawls on her knees toward Aoshi, curling up behind him.

«Aoshi... please, do something... I’m scared! I don’t want to die...» she sobs, trying to win his sympathy.

«No one is going to die.» Aoshi replies, his voice firm but filled with a fury toward Miori even stronger than what he felt when she dumped him the first time.

I-I can’t believe everything she told me was just a pile of bullshit... the story about Renji blackmailing her and beating her, how she was "forced" to leave me that way, how she still loved me... fuck, I’m the biggest idiot in the universe. If it weren’t for Eliss, I would’ve fallen for her trap all over again. I’m pathetic... But why is she doing this? Why act this way? I don’t understand... and I don’t want to believe she’s doing it just for pure, sadistic pleasure — I’m certain not even the most evil demon in Eliss’s world would go this far.

«I’ll repeat myself one last time — get away from Aoshi,» Eliss threatens.

But from Miori, there isn’t the slightest sign of obeying.

«All right. Since you have no intention of stepping away from him on your own, then I’ll come take you by force,» Eliss growls, marching toward them with heavy steps, her finger still fixed on Miori.

With every step Eliss takes, Miori’s body trembles harder — she curls up even tighter behind Aoshi.But the moment Eliss gets close enough— «Got you!» —Miori’s trembling stops instantly, replaced by a grin stretching across her face.

SLAM!

Miori shoots forward with her leg — a violent stomp aimed straight at Eliss’s ankle.

A faint sound of pain, anger, and irritation slips from Eliss’s mouth. The blow throws her off balance and forces her to step back a few paces, under Miori’s stunned gaze, while she grabs her calf, wincing.

H-How is that possible?! A hit like that should’ve shattered her ankle, and yet nothing. In fact, the recoil I felt was like kicking a brick wall! Who the hell is this girl?!

Eliss moves toward Miori again, limping only slightly despite the force of the blow she took — a strike strong enough to cripple even a large, sturdy man.

«Eliss, please, don’t...» Aoshi begs, trying with all his strength to put himself between them, but with the pain wracking his body he can barely lift his torso off the futon.

«On the brink of death, Renji begged me with tears in his eyes to make you suffer as much as possible — I can’t just ignore a dead man’s last wishes,» Eliss smirks, reaching her hand toward the back of Miori’s neck.

Words that leave Aoshi stunned.

Did Renji really say something like that? Did he really hate Miori that much? What the hell did she put him through if, instead of asking Eliss to spare him, his dying wish was pure hatred toward her...?

«Keep your hands off me, bitch!» Miori snaps — with a quick swing of her forearm she tries to intercept Eliss’s hand just as it’s about to grab her by the hair. But once again, her attempts to defend herself prove useless against the immovable, unstoppable Eliss, who takes the second blow — this time aimed at her wrist — without even flinching.

«Eliss, please, stop!» Aoshi shouts, uselessly, standing just a step away as Eliss seizes Miori by the hair and yanks her, ripping a scream of pain from her throat.Then Eliss brings her index finger close to Miori’s face, right in front of her right eye — the tip of her nail hovering a breath away from her blue iris.

«You have such beautiful eyes, you know? They look like sapphires,» Eliss smirks — a smile so sadistic and vicious it freezes Miori’s blood. «They’re so pretty I might just keep them as a souvenir.»

«Y-You’re insane!» Miori screams, completely losing it. She grabs both of Eliss’s arms, squeezing them hard. Then she throws herself backward with all her strength, dragging Eliss with her and slamming both knees into her chest — using her legs like a spring to hurl Eliss backward, sending her crashing violently against the apartment wall.

A sequence of blows executed with such power and precision that no one should be able to withstand them — Miori unleashes them with the clear intent to immobilize Eliss, maybe even permanently. First the double knee strike to the diaphragm, cutting off her breath, and then the violent slam against the wall, strong enough to ruin a person’s spine for good. Illegal techniques in every combat sport Miori has ever practiced, and yet, nowhere near enough to damage the body of a succubus.

«You’re pretty good — not bad at all. Definitely more entertaining than that dimwit ex-boyfriend of yours,» Eliss smirks as she gets back up like nothing happened — only a faint discomfort in her chest that disappears in an instant.

«H-How are you still standing?! This is impossible — none of this makes any sense... no one in the world could get up that easily after taking hits like those!» Miori stammers, horrified, backing away step by step.

«Instead of wondering how I’m still standing, you should focus on how you plan to stay standing after this. At this distance, there’s no way for you to escape!»

Eliss points her index finger at Miori — barely three meters separating them.

«Goodbye, bitch.»

But an instant before the sinister purple glow ignites at the tip of Eliss’s finger—

«Eliss, don’t do it, please...!»

Aoshi throws himself at her feet, wrapping his arms tightly around her legs.

«W-What are you doing, Aoshi?! Let me go!» Eliss snaps.

«NO!» he fires back, firm and unshakable.

Raelor said physical contact with me throws her powers out of control — which means she shouldn’t be able to use magic for a while now.

Of course, Eliss doesn’t need magic to hurt Miori — her terrifying physical strength alone is more than enough — but as long as I stay glued to her, she won’t be able to move either, because she would never, ever risk hurting me!

Then Aoshi turns toward Miori.

«What are you doing standing there?! Get out of here! NOW!»

«Y-Yes...!» Miori stammers, more terrified than ever. After a moment of hesitation — just long enough to force her body to obey again after fear had paralyzed it — she sprints out of the apartment, running with every bit of breath she has left despite the pronounced limp in her still-aching calf.

Finally, a deep silence settles over the room.