Tio

Tio, the black dragon, collapsed on the ground. The large body trembled with every large breath she took. Her previously glazed eyes were now wide open with clarity as she let out the scream in some wide-area telepathic method. The rear part of the dragon twitched which caused another... Moan(?) to escape.

"My backside~ Aah, my poor backside~ It's too big~ Take it out~" When the painful and oddly impassioned scream reached Alex's ears, his body stiffened and a dark shadow covered his eyes. Even Shea glanced back here to see just what the hell was going on.

"Dragonman..." Listening to Alex's small whisper, the dragon's body stiffened and she let out a defeated sigh.

"How could I make such a blunder... Indeed, I am a proud member of the dragonman race. There are a number of reasons why I ended up here. I will explain all, so may I please ask that you remove that object from my anus? I am nearly out of mana. And if I was to return to my original form as is... suffice to say my backside would end up in a most... unsightly state."

Alex didn't reply after detecting her hurried response in her pained and slightly different tone. The imaginary shadow covering his face deepened, and Alex was weirdly quiet and was acting uncannily.

Not hearing a response, Tio continued speaking urgently, "Like I said, please take that thing out of me... My mana is nearly depleted... Hey, stop that! Don't keep pounding it in! The stimulation~ The stimulation will~"

That's right. Alex started pounding on the stick half-driven inside her ass. The burning voice of Tio, the dragonmen princess, a member of such a proud race begging for mercy in such a voice... A strange feeling welled up within him. He didn't want to explore it in himself deeply, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Aah n-not sho hard~ I did not mean, ah~ To attack you, please stop~ Stop!~"

"Don't wanna."

"Wha~ Sto-Stop. I was controlled by that person. Please~ I'm begging you. If I turn back right now, I'll really die."

Shea, who was fighting the monsters suddenly felt a chill and unconsciously covered her butt.

Anyways, sensing the urgency, Alex knew she wouldn't last long and her mana would deplete itself. He reluctantly grabbed the spike with both hands, and started pulling it out. It was pretty deep, so it was hard to remove it in one go. Wait, why was he reluctant?

"This~ Aahn! S-Slower. I am unaccustomed to such~ Haahnh~ So rough. Yaah~ Something~ Something strange is coming!"

Alex ignored the now-a-little happy moans of the dragon and finally pulled out the rod after wiggling it around a bit.

"Ahiiiiiiiiiiiii...! A-Amazing. I asked you to be gentle, and yet you showed not even an iota of mercy... This is the first time I've ever..." A few seconds after her incoherent rambling, the dragon's body was wrapped in a cocoon of mana and gradually started to shrink. When she'd shrunk to about human size, the cocoon of mana dissipated.

Looking at her, Alex fought a fierce battle inside him to stop a grin from creeping up on his face. Just what has he awakened in himself?

***

Mikhael was very incensed right now. With an army of tens of thousands, keeping Horaud busy was an easy task. It was supposed to at least, but where did those people even more fiendish than the monsters come from?

Usually, he would move with his entire squad no matter where he went. However, this time, to not intimidate Shimizu and the fact that his fiancee was already working in the Orcus Labyrinth, he was assigned here alone. After Horaud was taken over, he was to join Cattleya in the labyrinth with all of the monsters.

Now, it all went to shit. Shimizu was quickly taken out by the white-haired man and the monsters were butchered like meat. Even if they could win using numbers, their party could still easily run away using the strange artifact they were using earlier. It was an artifact that existed in the heroes' previous world and still seemed functional after taking a breath attack of the dragon.

That was out of expectations and the information of the demons. If someone as dangerous as them was really on the side of the humans, it could be catastrophic. He needed to report it.

He wanted to cry tears of blood thinking of Cattleya, who was still stuck in Horaud. There was almost no chance that she would survive the onslaught of such powerful people. She was such a kind and caring partner. He rubbed his eyes but nevertheless, continued.

Reporting this to the demon army was more important. The telepathy artifact couldn't be used again and the barrier of Horaud still held firm. He couldn't advance and only retreat.

He engraved revenge in his heart. He would surely return one day to kill them, and that's all he could do.

Unfortunately for his heart-

"Where do you think you are going?" A cold voice sounded out just behind him. His spine tingled and his body trembled.

Turning around on the back of the undeveloped dragon, or rather just a slightly mature wyvern, he fronted the emotionless face of Yue. She flew at the same speed as the wyvern with seeming ease.

Peering into her blood-red eyes that held not one iota of compassion or mercy for him.

It was at this moment, he knew.

The fight is inevitable.

***

In the Great Orcus Labyrinth

The 90th floor

Shizuku quietly mouthed instructions to Endou. A moment later, he turned invisible, and his presence dispersed.

Staring at the demon woman with swarthy skin and pointed ears tapered to fine points; and then her childhood friend Kouki, who kept denying the demon without stalling for time, not paying attention to the well-being of the party but his morals.

She knew too.

The fight is inevitable.