บท 138: Chapter 135: Team Sparring Battle and the Demon King’s Observations, Part 2

{Sue}

"Gaaugh! Enough of this!" Gabriella's floating head yelled in frustration. Her body swung her great sword in resistance that Jinma stepped back from to dodge, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you actually enjoying this?!"

"… A little bit, yeah," Jinma admitted, looking like he's holding back from saying something else.

"You look like you are dying to say something. Are you admitting defeat so soon?" Gabriella asked.

Jinma shook his head, "Nah, I was just thinking of how sexy your body was earlier, and how lucky Noire is to do whatever 'cruel and unusual' torture she did to you yesterday. I'd love to see it."

"Wha—?!" the headless Dark Knight balked, her floating head flushed red while the body instinctively covered her privates, even though she was already wearing armor, "Y-You … you shameless, disgusting man! You do realize I am an Undead, do you?! You're lusting over a corpse!"

Jinma shrugged, "Hey, from what I saw so far, it looked to be in good enough shape for me to not tell the difference, and I've seen my share of dead bodies. Plus, you're not just a 'corpse', you're Gabriella, right? Under better circumstances, I'd want to get to know you more, maybe treat you to a nice dinner … actually, can you still eat like that?"

{Yes, Jinma, Dullhans can still eat,} I mentally answered.

"Is that really something you should be asking right now?! And I bet you just want to see more of my body to do perverted things with, do you?!" Gabriella accused.

"I mean, you're not wrong, but I would want more than your body, I would want the whole package. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a greedy man when it comes to women, but I know when to back off if they're not interested," Jinma said before sighing in disappointment, "That's if we met under better circumstances, though, but unfortunately, I just don't see things working out between us."

"… I feel like I am being rejected before we even started going out, and I am not sure whether to be angrier on that or how conceited you are to think you had a chance to woo me," Gabriella admitted with a furrowed brow as she straightened up with pride, "I will have you know that I caught many eyes back in my earlier Knight days. Men would line up at my door to ask for my hand in marriage, and I turned down every single one of them."

{Huh, this must be back when she was still alive as a Human. Looking at the age in her status … she died about 5 years after Father took the throne. She's been around for a while.}

Jinma waved his hand dismissively, "Sure, whatever, whether that actually happened back then doesn't matter to me."

"Excuse me?!" Gabriella gawked.

"Under better circumstances, I probably could have given you a chance to redeem yourself and we can start off fresh," Jinma said before shrugging and shaking his head, "Unfortunately for you, you were kind of bitchy to me at first meeting and recent events have gotten me in a crappy mood. I haven't found a good time to properly vent out my frustrations before this."

{Ugh, my chest hurts knowing I'm the main reason for his bad mood. If I didn't have these damn responsibilities as the Demon King, I would treat you so much better than I have been up to now,} I thought, partially hoping my feelings would reach him, but I knew that was unlikely to happen with the way he is now.

"Despite my frustrations, I try to keep situations separate from each other, and even I think you don't deserve to have me vent on you," Jinma continued, "So, I'm going to give you a choice. One, you submit defeat now, and we can just drop it all right here. Two, you apologize for being a bitch to us and receive a less humiliating defeat. I'd prefer you combine these two for a good outcome. Then there's number three, that I make your defeat crueler and more unusual than whatever Noire did to torture you. These are your choices, Gabriella, so what will it be?"

"Well, of course, my choice will be … none of them, because I am going to take you down right—!"

"Wrong answer," Jinma interrupted before he flipped a finger to point up.

Then, appearing behind Gabriella's body were purplish-black tendrils that curled around her limbs, straightening them out to where she made an 'X' formation and got locked into place. She was completely trapped, and the grip on her greatsword got too loose before it fell and clanged on the ground. I wondered when he was going to put [Darkness Manipulation] to good use here.

"What?!" Gabriella balked.

"[Portal]," Jinma then chanted, opening a hole in space right in front of him before he reached inside with both hands. A second later, he pulled his hands back out of the [Portal], carrying Gabriella's disembodied head. He turned it around so the two of them could see each other.

"H-Huh?! What the?! How did you—?!"

"Wooow, so this is how heavy a lone head feels," Jinma interrupted again after closing his [Portal], then moved Gabriella's head vertically, horizontally, and in a circle, "My strength may make carrying you easier, but I can tell, a head's pretty weighty. Human necks are really something else to keep these sitting on our shoulders."

"Get your filthy hands off my head you piece of Demongenerate scum! [Levitation]!" the Dark Knight cried before trying to get her head off Jinma's grasp. When Gabriella tried going straight up, she even managed to lift him off the ground. This suddenly brought an expression to Jinma's face that I haven't seen of him yet.

{He's … terrified? But why would … ah! His fear of heights!} I remembered.

One kind of the personal information a person with [Size Up] can find on a target is their greatest fears. I'll admit that I've been aware of Jinma's fear of heights since I first saw him, as well as his fear of, by the description's quote, 'His mother when angry.' Neither of these things affected how much I admire and respect Jinma, though, as I'm aware that everyone has at least one great fear they could never get over. Even I, the Demon King, have at least one great fear that would never go away, no matter how much I want it to. I hoped I could open up this fear to Jinma when we get close enough.

Despite the fear on his face, Jinma tried shaking it off and got his expression back to being firm. "Oh, no you don't!" he rebuked before more tendrils from his [Darkness Manipulation] appeared and locked around his ankles directly from below. The Brawler was then slowly pulled back down to the ground and got locked to it.

"I said let me go, you creep! Unhand me!" Gabriella yelled.

"Oh … you're not going anywhere," Jinma responded, his tone low but heavy with fury. Even his [Hide Magic] skill was cracking and leaking his mana because of this anger. Gabriella took notice of his drastic change and went silent.

{Oh dear, Jinma may have gotten angry at Gabriella for giving him that scare. I better make a mental note of this so I could avoid the same mistake,} I thought.

"You received your due punishment from Noire for pissing her off. Now … you get mine for the same thing," he said.

"H-Hey, um … if this is about me calling you all those demeaning things, I am sorry, okay?" Gabriella asked with a shake in her voice, her face growing even paler than normal, "I-I admit I was in a bad mood! We can talk this out, right?! Is the apology option still open?!"

"You made your choice, so it's time to take your responsibility properly," Jinma said before two more tendrils from his [Darkness Manipulation] appeared on both sides of Gabriella's face, but these were different as they tips were split off into smaller ones, wriggling as if they were alive. They almost remind me of the Wrigglers, monsters that are notorious for defiling many females, no matter the kin.

"U-Um … w-what are you going to do with those?" Gabriella asked, seeing such tendrils in her periphery.

"I was hoping to try this on my masochist of a slave, Erizora, first, but the current circumstances has me wanting to try it sooner than expected. [Lubricate]," Jinma chanted before the two tendrils became coated with a glossy, viscous fluid, making their likeness to the Wrigglers more similar, but with an ominous touch thanks to the color from the [Darkness Manipulation] skill.

"Hee?! W-When did you remove my armor?! Wait! Stop! Aah! W-What are you doing to my body?! S-So cold and slimy! Stop it! Stop it, please! Aaah!" Gabriella cried in panic.

I looked back to the Dark Knight's restrained body, and sure enough, all of its black armor was removed and fell to the ground, revealing her under-armor, which two more lubricated tendrils slipped inside and started slithering all over her body. One could even see how the tendrils moved and pulsed under the material, as if they were alive. It was apparent enough to make out that they were coiling around her tits as well as sliding under her crotch. The Dark Knight's under armor was quickly getting wet with the mana-made lubricant, her body was trembling with anxiety and fear, as if she was being assaulted in a Wriggler's attack.

"Holy shit …" Tyvera muttered under her breath as she and the rest of the audience stared at Gabriella's pathetic state with varying expressions.

"I have read something like this in a few books, but to think I would see it before my eyes now, of all times," Noire said while her fan covered the bottom half of her reddened face, and just out of curiosity, I used my [Mind Reading] skill on her thoughts, <My word, I could learn a thing or two from Jinma in erotic torture methods, and just look at how much he is enjoying Gabriella's suffering! I am going to have some nice material to relieve some 'stress' before tomorrow's dungeon crawl, for sure.>

{If the 'books' Noire mentioned are the same ones that I've read, if it was Jinma doing that to me … my god, I really am an 'M', aren't I?}

"My gods, is this the 'tentacle play' Master mentioned a while back? If that were me right now … Gabriella's so lucky," Erizora said, her face beet red and drooling. Everyone else was just too shocked at the development to even play the straight man to her masochist comment. Even Umeiyon and Beelzebub stopped their magic battle to watch the show put on by their teammates.

"Now, let's see what happens when these go into your ears and throat, shall we?" Jinma asked, controlling the lubricated tendrils near Gabriella's head to close in on his targets. Just as the smaller tendrils at the tips touched her ears …

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I give up! I give up! I surrender! I submit defeat! JUST PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GODS MAKE IT STOOOOOP! UWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"

Gabriella, the Dullahan Dark Knight, was bawling her eyes out as she cried with great fear in her voice, begging to be spared like she was about to die. To be honest, for an Undead, I didn't think she could still produce tears, but there are first times for everything, I guess.

"Gabriella has made her surrender! Jinma Kotori, stop whatever you're doing to her! Now!" Konjiro demanded, practically in a panic.

The purplish-black tendrils stopped their movement over Gabriella's head and disarmed body as Jinma sighed, calming down his fury, "I guess I bullied you enough … for now. The next time you try anything, though, I won't stop until you're beyond broken, and there will be no one to save you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yuush …" Gabriella answered shakily, her tears and snot falling from her disembodied head.

Jinma then put the Dark Knight's head under his arm and turned to his wife, "Ume, finish things off on your end. I think we've shown enough to everyone."

"What?! You dare underestimate—BAUGHLGLGLGLGL!" Beelzebub exclaimed before a large pillar of water interrupted, blasting her back until she hit the wall surrounding Noire's training grounds.

When the water died down, the Flyran was practically embedded against the wall. This was the first time she had taken damage in this spar, but surprisingly, only a quarter of her HP was drained. She does have quite a bit of SP. DEF to help reduce damage from magic attacks, and if that was Ume's [Water Blast], it was quite powerful for a basic spell.

Beelzebub then struggled to get herself out of the wall, "Grk! Cheap … shot, but I am not—GAKAKAKAKAKAK!" Before she could get another word in, Ume silently cast one of [Storm Magic]'s more powerful offensive spells, [Zap Bolt], and electrocuted her. Considering the Flyran was also soaked from the Dragoness' previous spell, she became more conductive to the lightning strike, increasing the damage taken. That spell had already brought the Lord of the Flies well below three-quarters of her total HP when it was done. Only one good strike would be enough to bring her gauge to zero and be put into a FAINTED status at worst. This is thanks to Palocaesy's Immortals' Monument projecting a field that would save anyone inside it from death by non-lethal damage. A stab in the vitals or beheading them would be too much for the enchanted stone to handle, though.

Just as Beelzebub was trying to regain mental clarity, Umeiyon was rushing in while winding up her scaly fist for a punch. The Dragoness' [Sadistic Smile] was activated, her reptilian eyes intensified as they were seeking blood. While the safety field put up the Immortals' Monument would normally prevent death from a punch to the face, if we're talking about a Dragon delivering the blow, I doubted the haughty Flyran would be sturdy enough to live and tell the tale.

As if the Lord of the Flies was meeting death, she went immediately pale, "Okay okay! I give! I surrender! You are superior! I lost! Just please do not—"

A great blast that crushed the stone wall silenced her, and for a moment, I thought I felt a rush of wind blowing from that direction. The force of the Dragoness' punch was just that great, probably at the same level, if not more than my own if I were in her place.

While it looked like Umeiyon punched through Beelzebub's skull, upon closer inspection, she only punched past the Flyran, putting a clean hole into the wall right next to her head. The Lord of the Flies' face was frozen mid-scream out of pure fear.

With the dust settling down, the Dragoness softened her [Sadistic Smile] into a cuter, more innocent one, "I win."

Unable to say a word, Beelzebub foamed at the mouth before her whole body slackened. Her eyes went pure white, and from how the liquids of a different color trickled down the legs of her already soaked body, I think she even wetted herself. Amazingly, the Flyran's status went FAINTED even though her HP wasn't at zero.

Jinma had to hold in his laughter after seeing Umeiyon's display. "Nice going, Ume! I couldn't have scared her better, myself! You see that, Gabrielle? That's my wife over … oh, well, damn, looks like you're out cold too," he said after holding up the Dark Knight's head.

Sure enough, Gabriella's eyes were full black, almost like they were hollow, while dried streaks of her tears and snot remained on her face. I guess this is what a Dullahan looks like when their eyes roll back, but her state was just unsettling to look at. With her body released from his tendrils and lying on the ground like a rag doll, the Dark Knight's status turned up FAINTED. Perhaps watching Umeiyon's performance had also shocked her enough to go out cold, especially after the stress she went through from almost getting defiled by Jinma's tentacle play.

"Um … I guess both participants are out cold," Konjiro said tentatively before he gestured a hand to Jinma's side of the training grounds, "The winner of this spar is Jinma Kotori and Umeiyon … though, after that display, can we even call this a spar at this point?"

"It was certainly a show, and a marvelous one, indeed!" Noire exclaimed before giggling and clapping her hands loudly, "Take our unconscious guests inside and get them cleaned up while they rest, please!"

At Noire's command, a number of maids arrived at the scene and took Gabriella's and Beelzebub's knocked-out bodies inside the cottage. Jinma passed the former's disembodied head over to one of them to take inside as well.

Umeiyon then approached her husband with a skip in her step, "Well, I'm not really tired after that, but I certainly blew off enough steam to loosen up a little. What about you, Jin?"

Jinma nodded, "Yeah, I still feel like I haven't gotten it all out, but I do feel a little better than I was when we got here."

With a seductive smile, the Dragoness trailed the tip of her claw down Jinma's chest, "Mmm, you did seem quite pent up back there, and you looked like you wanted to continue that little 'play' of yours with Gabriella. I might have to help you take a load off if you're still tense later."

"You'll be sleeping with me tonight, right? I'll look forward to seeing what you'll deliver," Jinma said while pulling Umeiyon in by the waist, bringing their bodies up close in contact.

"I won't disappoint," Umeiyon said before the two share a kiss.

{Aaah, to flirt and kiss after a victory in battle … I want to do that with Jinma too,} I thought, envious of the spouses' display of affection, {That would make some of the more 'strenuous' jobs as the Demon King all the sweeter and worthwhile. Even just having him praise me while patting my head would put me into bliss.}

I then fantasized such a scenario. We would be on my luxurious Demon King-sized bed after my long day of royal duties, my head would lay on Jinma's lap while he ran his fingers through my hair, telling me, "You worked hard today, Sue, you're such a good girl," among other things. He would spoil me rotten while I fully let down my guard around him, letting him do whatever he wished to me. I couldn't just let this spoil treatment go one way, of course. With the relationship we would have, it was expected of me to return the favor practically tenfold.

Before I fell deeper into my fantasies, I shook myself back into reality, {I probably shouldn't get ahead myself in these fantasies. They will only be possible if Jinma accepts me after I reveal myself to him. Considering how different the Humans from his home are from those in Padimon, let alone us Demons, there's no way that's going to happen with how things are right now. I gotta work hard to patch things up between us and get back on his good side, but how?}

I crossed my arms and looked up in thought, {Jinma said he's going to Korangar to see me, the Demon King, right? I'm sure he'll have tons of questions to ask when he arrives. Is there anything I could answer for him now as I am? I should probably ask him and see what he wants to know. I'm sure he'll be more comfortable being in the kingdom the less he is in the dark about certain things.

{Also, Jinma's probably still riled up after holding himself back from killing me earlier if his feelings after this 'spar' were anything to go by. Fighting seems to have helped vent some of his steam, though … at least that's one thing we certainly have in common, among other things. It's such a relief for me knowing I erased an annoying threat with my own hands and feet. Though I'd prefer him not killing me to feel better, would letting him get a hit or two on me help?}

While I admit it's not the ideal way of solving problems for most people, it could help some of them get any frustrating feelings they have for each other out in the open. I've seen that happen several times between friends, family members, and even some enemies in manga, and they all ended up getting closer while strengthening their bonds after a fight. {It couldn't hurt to give it a shot, right?

{I should find time to bring these up to Jinma before the end of the day. I think the sooner I get this done, the less awkward the situation we'll be in when we take on the dungeon together,} I decided while nodding to myself.

"Well, I do not know about everyone else, but that match had gotten me quite excited," Noire then said, snapping me out of my thoughts as all our attention was directed to her. With a smile fitting of a noble lady, she approached Jinma and Umeiyon, who were still in each other's embrace, in the arena.

"Do pardon me for interrupting your lovey-dovey time, Mei, but I need to borrow your husband for a spell. It is about time I show off my own battle prowess."