Cosmo stares at Verra, she looks clean and untouch, a far cry from the succubuses that hunted him for the past two and a half weeks, whose clothes look tattered and dirty.
Even though Verra looked seemingly unaffected by the succubus frenzy, the air was filled with bloodlust, far thicker than any of the succubuses he fought up until this point. He stood ready, arms outstretched and eyes focused as he was trying his best to not shake in fear, as if showing a moment of weakness would kill him.
Verra stretched out her arms and gave Cosmo a warm smile, a smile she always gives him whenever he comes home, a smile that was genuine and loving.
"I'm so sorry Cosmo…" She speaks, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry that they all acted that way, that… I could've done more to protect you…" Her voice quivers, as she cries. "I should've done more! I should've made it so you could feel safer, so that you didn't to feel the need to run away!" She shouts as her voice echoes through the night as her hands form into fists, body shaking with anger.
She takes a moment to breath, wiping away her tears and taking a deep breath before continuing to speak.
"So I will take responsibility…" Verra looks at Cosmo with loving eyes. "Let's run away together! Just the two of us!" She confesses.
"HEY!"
"You said we can bring him back to the village!"
"YOU SAID WE CAN SHARE!" Voices come out of the surrounding forest, forming into a loud protest.
But it all goes silent when Verra tilts her head at the forest.
"Shut. up." Quite, yet harsh, her voice like dripping venom. "It's because you all keep looking at him! Because you all kept touching him!" She clutches her stomach, as if trying to hold in her anger. "Looking and touching my Cosmo!" Slowly, some kind of light forms around her. "I SHOULD'VE KILLED ALL OF YOU!" Suddenly, a dark red energy explodes from her, cracking the ground as the air turns hot and swirls around her. "I SHOULD KILL ALL OF YOU!"
***
Mana, a strange energy of this world, no matter how many books he reads, he hasn't found a clear explanation on what it is. Some said it's the soul made physical and can be gained through years of training, some say one must be born with a certain affinity, allowing them to feel and control the flow of the world.
It was interesting enough for Cosmo to see if he could use it but every attempt to try and sense or even emit any kind of mana ended in disappointment. One day, when Cosmo was younger, he asked Sia and Verra about it, and they simply showed him. They formed orbs of mana within their hands, made shapes and even handed it to him, his eyes full of wonder as he saw something truly spectacular.
That was the reason why they were hunters of the village. Lesser succubui are already strong enough to survive the Wild Forest, but it's Sia and Verra that let them thrive.
With their use of mana, they could easily fight anything the Wild Forest could throw at them. From the biggest to the fastest, those two can face any kind of monster and come out on top, with the only match being each other.
The only saving grace from this encounter is the fact that Sia isn't here, if she was, he would've simply given up and accepted his fate, but he knows that out of all the succubuses in the village, she's the one that took the most suppression pills…
Even though Verra was emitting a massive amount of mana, Cosmo can see the instability of it, already mapping out weak points in her defenses. 'I can do this… I have to…' Cosmo thinks as he readies himself.
After a while, Verra calms down, the mana settling into a slight hum, she takes a deep breath and looks at Cosmo with loving eyes.
"Come Cosmo, let's run away together, away from the people that want to hurt you." Her eyes seem to glaze over, lost in a dream of her future with Cosmo. "You can read all the books you want, you'll never have to see another animal die. And I promise to get better at cooking so I can feed you your favorite rabbit stew every day!" She hugs herself and twirls on her toes, giggling. But when she looks at Cosmo, all she sees was him standing there, ready for a fight. "Oh Cosmo, please don't do this…"
But he leans forward, if she won't attack first, he will.
***
The attraction of a succubus is proportionate to how strong they feel their target is. That's why all the succubuses in the village couldn't help but… feel something for Cosmo, despite him feeling like something out of this world. As time went on, as he grew, that feeling only got stronger, after every herb picking, after every book he read, he shined more and more until it was almost blinding for them. At some point, they all came to a similar conclusion, that he was strong.
This fact is only enforce when Cosmo starts his attack, his hands moving in a blur with Verra struggling to dodge, she tries to grab him but he dodges and counters by grabbing her wrist, but she retreats with similar speed.
Verra heard from Alishi, that his touch was strange, how it felt like a succubus but… also different. With every dodge, she can feel the power from his palm, that getting touched by them could 'hurt' her.
She thought that if she shows the difference in strength between them, he would give up, but he's getting better, faster, making her dodge in complete earnest. It surprises her on how well Cosmo is fighting, each move flowing into the next as it increasingly gets difficult to dodge. She can see why the succubuses had a difficult time catching him. Every faint she threw was read and acted against, as if he's always ten steps ahead.
Cosmo reaches for her face and when Verra steps back, his other hand was already reaching for the leg that was still on the floor.
When he feels the heat of her inner thigh, he use his technique, but is met with a sudden burst of red light. Sensing the danger, he pulls his hand back and created distance between them.
Looking at Verra, he sees that she cladded herself with mana.
"Naughty boy, let's save that for later." Verra half jokes. She examines the area he touched. "Hmmm, to make my mana armor react like this… you really are strong!" She compliments as her hands begin to glow.
She charges forward and strikes Cosmo with a spear hand, Cosmo dodges and places his palm on her belly. Yet again, her mana armor reacts, sending a strange sensation through his hand this time.
Verra strikes again, letting herself open to every counter attack, head, back, shoulder, elbow. With every dodge, a counter, as Cosmo uses his technique on her.
He knows that the mana armor will block every attack so he plans on making her spread it thin enough that his touch could go through and he could tell it was working, he could feel the barrier getting weaker as it spread. Yet, a part of him feel that something was wrong.
During one of his counter attacks, just when his hand touch her mana, she vanishes from his sight and on instinct, he moves his right hand to protect the back of his neck.
What hit him was something otherworldly, even after he blocking the strike, it felt like his head was being ripped off. Gritting through the pain, he catches himself and dashes away.
When he faces Verra, he sees that her hands are now cladded in a dark red mana.
"Hmmm, I thought what you were doing was magic but… it was all physical, so I simply lowered how much my mana armor uses and put most of it into fighting now. Still, you really are strong, able to fight so many lesser succubuses with physical strength alone!"
As she finish speaking, she vanish and appear in front of him, Cosmo couldn't see coming but his body reacts by raising his right arm to parry. But once again, he feels that similar pain, causing him to recoil and dash away.
When he looks at his right hand, he sees a red mark spreading out, making his right arm feel numb with pain.
Verra giggles as she continues her assault.
***
'Why?'
'Because I'm going to die.' Cosmo response, dodging one strike as another hit his leg.
'Why?'
'Because she's too strong.' The mana mark spreads more pain, causing him to fail another parry, getting hit in the face.
'Why?'
'…to…survive…' Cosmo's left hand forms into a spear, finger locks in tight as he aims for one of her eyes. If her mana armor wasn't enforced, then he can punch through it. Once she's blinded, he can go for the other…
Deep in Cosmo's mind, he was already planning his counter attack in the midst of Verra's flurry. His body moving his to mitigate any damage, sacrificing his right arm to block any hits he couldn't dodge, his left hand primed and poised to strike.
'Why?' The voice asks again, but it wasn't scream, something felt different about it, familiar and distance
'Why?' It repeats, soft and weak.
The world then seem to stop, with Cosmo suddenly looking down at a dead man, blood gushing from his neck.
'Why?' The voice asks again.
Cosmo looks up, he finds himself staring at a the same man, alive and... much happier.
The man looks down at Cosmo and kneels down, matching his gaze, his mouth opens.
"You hungry?"
***
"I'm sorry…" Was all he could say, regret washes over him. Regret for all the pain, for all the killing, for denying his first moment of kindness, for not saying yes…
'Why?' the voice asks again.
"Because I don't want to kill her!"
'Why?"
"SHE'S MY AUNT, SHE FED ME, CHANGED MY DIAPER, MADE HER OWN GROSS VERSION OF MY FAVORITE FOOD" Memories of Bushvee village filled his mind, the time when they built a separate bathhouse for him, when they had a vote on whether or not to make him wear a skirt, when they added new books just for him. All the days they celebrated the day they found him, all the times they each said 'I love you.' He remembers it all...
The world suddenly shifts back, in front of him was Verra, a manic smile, her hands cladded in red mana, breaking him like some toy, yet, behind those bloodlust eyes, he can see regret.
As time quickens, her spear hand cuts through the air, aiming to break his left arm.
But then, Cosmo vanishes…
Verra was surprise and tries to look for Cosmo but feels somethin wrap around her waist. It's Cosmo, hugging her from behind.
"Thank you, for everything…" Cosmo spoke, his voice calm, his hug firm.
Verra can't help but feel that something was off, instincts telling her she's in danger. She tried to clad herself with her mana armor but can't draw any mana.
Cosmo tightens his grip, and this sends a sensation blasted through Verra, causing her to squeal.
"C-Cosmo, W-What a-a-are you d-d-d-d-d-d-" Again Verra squeals her hips bucking uncontrollably. The sensation is now intense enough to make her see white. She tries to tear herself away from Cosmo's grip but could find the strength to pry his arms.
"S-Sthap." Her words slur as she struggles to even think, let alone stand. Her body going through multiple highs and lows, ever increasing, pressure builds over and over again as her world is now nothing but stars and tears.
Cosmo gently lowers the still twitching Verra onto the floor. He stands brushing himself off before facing the forest.
"Alishi, Bree, Cinith, Duwi, Entis, Fel, Gigi, Huler, Isha, Joi, Kufer, Lef, MInny, Nelly, Oslow, Prav, Renn." Cosmo, bows "Thank you all for loving me." He straightens up and plants his feet, hands stretched out and ready, as a pink glow emits from his hands.