Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Body
She laughed, "You sure are bold, mister. Insensitively asking a maiden about secrets regarding her body," she wrapped her arms around her body, childish facade disintegrating, revealing a slyful mature sensuality exuding out of her despite being within the body of an adolescent female. Not that I'm attracted to underage girls or anything. But you gotta admit, she knows her stuff - being able to arouse me, even with limited assets.
"I'm not in the mood for any bush-beating. And I would really appreciate it if you just tell me the terms of the deal in order to leave the girl's body. You see, she's actually the daughter of the friend you helped me rescue."
"Is that so?" her eyes turned cold, "You could probably stand as my equal in your top form, perhaps even greater, but at your current state right now, you're even less than an ant to me. Give me a reason why I shouldn't crush you like the insolent insect you are?"
"Audacious! You dare threaten my host?" Ellariel snarled.
"Silence, angel. This doesn't concern you. You've lost the right to converse with me the moment you submitted to that mortal."
Ellariel grinded her teeth in rage, her words caught up in her throat.
I shuddered at Adelrinthia's dreadful remark. I already had my suspicions that she'd been concealing her true nature since the moment I we met. I just never expected her to turn to be so vicious.
Based on Ellariel's reaction, there's a good chance that Adelrinthia might not be bluffing about her ability to destroy us. Should I take my chances and fight? Should I grovel and beg for my life? Multiple possibilities streaked through my mind as I try to come out with an irrefutable answer. I recalled the moment I met her and our interactions to help filter out my choices. I turned to Adelrinthia. She patiently waited for my answer, fixing her gaze on me with amused eyes. That moment, the answer came to me.
With a nervous smile, I spoke, "Because I said pretty please?"
I heard Ellariel choked on her saliva upon hearing my lame excuse. But before she could mocked the quality of my answer, Adelrinthia suddenly burst into a hearty laughter.
"Hahaha!" she wiped her tears, "You're indeed interesting, I will allow you to live and return the body of this female mortal to you."
"For real?" my expression lit up. Not because I like mortal female bodies. Well, actually I do, but that's not the point.
"For real. But not for free," she grinned. I freaking knew it. No such thing as a free lunch.
"The price?"
"Your body."
"You want me to pay... with my body?" I blinked.
"No way! His body is mine" Ellariel spat.
I shielded my body with my arms, "I knew it, both of you only wanted me for my body. I bet you don't even care what's inside!" Now I get how girls feel. Ellariel made a disgusted grunt and Adelrinthia chuckled, but I could see that her eyes remained serious. Doesn't look like a joke after all. I sighed in frustration, imagining another set of voice aside from Ellariel's and my own. In my world, it's called being insane.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to refu-"
Her expression turned grim for a split-second, quickly shifting to neutral. Something's definitely up. I can smell it. Whenever someone refuses your offer despite being in a lower position to bargain, the emotion that should first appear is usually anger. The fact that she even winced in the first place means that there are probably consequences for not being able to inhabit my body. In other words, there's a reason why she displayed her powers to scare me. She's desperate. And I wanted to know why. I restrained myself from grinning wickedly and proceeded to fish out more information in hopes of gaining leverage. I'm a little crazy that way.
"-refrain from making a hasty decision before knowing more about the terms of the contract."
She let out a light breath, but then faked an aloof reaction, "It can't be helped, I guess. No contract could ever be completed without the mutual understanding of the terms from both parties. Here are my terms, let me use your body as my vessel. I can choose whenever I want to act as the main ego. Of course, I wouldn't be so audacious as the Angels to suppress your consciousness completely. I will let you have control from time to time. In return, your life and the mortal girl's."
"Absolutely not-"
For a moment she went stiff.
"-as restrictive as I thought it would be."
Her body loosen up a little. Gotcha.
"Do you mind if I request a little change in the terms?"
She hesitated for a while before answering, "Speak."
"I will allow you to reside within me. But I retain full control of my body. You can't surface unless I say so."
"You would refuse my generous offer?" her tone became dangerous.
"I haven't refused anything yet," I said calmly.
"Enough games, mortal. You will accept my terms or perish." The ground tremored, causing the trees to sway slightly. The hair on my back stood up in response to her power.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone