Chapter 1- I Have No Mouth

I look in the bathroom mirror and can feel my sanity points dropping.

People have called me a tomboy or said that I possess no feminine

qualities, but never has anyone told me that I'm ugly. Alright, it may be true

that I have short, disheveled hair - or rather bed hair - like a boy's, and my body is more athletic than attractive since I'm the ace of the track and field

club.

Also, my interests have been aligned with those of boys ever since my

grade school days. Furthermore, I'm only reading manga directed at a young

male audience, while my female classmates don't even want to peek at them.

Then, there is the fact that I get overly excited during hot-blooded special

effect shows and events, even though I'm already in my second year of high

school...

Now that I list everything one after the other, I feel depressed. But I'm not

ugly! In fact, several people already confessed to me during middle and high

school, even though they were all, without exception, cute female

underclassmen. In other words, I'm sure I'd be considered handsome.

The fact that I can only use an adjective exclusively utilized to refer to the

male half of the population to describe myself with, rather than say the word

'beautiful', somehow hurts more than it should.

I sigh, and the gurgling noise that comes out of my throat instead shakes

me awake from my self-loathing inner monologue.

I look into the mirror

again and nearly scream at the thing that returns my gaze. It's something that

would be blurred out by mosaic when shown on TV, but even that would be

an understatement.

Actually, why is this mirror framed in gold?

I don't remember my

bathroom having something this gaudy. Did my dad bring a souvenir from

one of his business trips again?

In fact, this doesn't look like my bathroom at

all! Everything here appears incredibly expensive all of a sudden.

The floor

and wall tiles are a beautiful black marble with white veins; I think I've seen

something similar on a TV show about a luxury resort.

The bathtub changed

into a free-standing cast tub made of solid bronze, with fittings of gold. How

did this happen overnight?

With this, I successfully avert my eyes from the main problem.

Now that I think about it, I can't remember last night too well.

I came back

from an inter-high marathon - of course, I placed first, who do you think I

am? - and was utterly exhausted, so I had dinner, took a bath and... hm?

I don't remember going to bed, but I did wake up in a bed just now. Well, I

guess I was so tired that I wasn't entirely conscious at the time. Maybe I slept

longer than a day? But why would my bathroom change in that time? It's not

like my parents are affluent enough to do a quick upgrade as a surprise to me.

For now, it would be best to find my parents and ask them; I can't make sense

of this situation on my own.

But when I walk into my bedroom, it has changed, too. I admit, I did

sleepwalk out of my bed into the en-suite bathroom and didn't take note of

my surroundings at the time since I'm unexpectedly the type to be weak in the

mornings.

Hey, it's cute, alright? I can't be perfect all around.

Really though, why do I have a canopy bed? And why does my entire room

look as gaudy as the bathroom? Actually, it would seem that the whole place

has expanded to more than five times its previous size, too.

The high-quality

red carpet dampens the sound of my steps as I walk past a dresser made of

mahogany and look up. A golden chandelier hangs from a ceiling twice as

tall as I remember.

I move around to the side of the giant canopy bed and look down at it.

There are signs that someone has slept here, but somehow I can't picture

myself in my current form lying tucked in under the sheets. After all, I'm only

vaguely humanoid, and as far as my appearance goes, it feels like I should be

leaving behind a trail of slime wherever I go...

"Chaos-sama, excuse me." A knock and a girl's voice coming from outside

derails my train of thoughts. The heavy-looking wooden door opens, and a

maid with short ash-gray hair enters without waiting for a response. She sees

me and her neutral and professional expression changes to a grimace of

horror for a split second before she quickly bows before me to hide it. When

she straightens her back and looks up again, her face appears strained, and

she's staring at a spot slightly right of where my face is.

Haaah... I'm ugly, aren't I?

Wait, did she just call me Chaos-sama? I'm not a chuunibyou who would

get happy at being called that, you know? At least I'm assuming that Chaos-sama refers to me since nobody else is in the room.

"I-I shall be cleaning y-your room. The queen is a-about to have breakfast

in the d-dining hall. P-please head there immediately." Stuttering while

avoiding eye contact, the maid speaks of the existence of a dining hall. This

isn't my home anymore, is it? And what does she mean by 'the queen'?

I stand frozen in place as the maid passes me by and I spot something that

shouldn't be there, coming out of a triangular hole at the base of her back: A

scaly tail. It's curved downwards and presses against her skirt in a posture I

would say signals fear - if she was a dog. But that's no dog tail and resembles

a lizard's.

No, wait a second... this maid has a tail!

She must be doing cosplay. Yep, let's leave it at that.

I leave my room and exit into a large hallway as gaudily decorated as

everything else I've seen so far. At this point, I'm convinced this isn't my

house, and that something happened to me tonight. I'm not at an age to drink

alcohol though, so that can't be what happened.

In either case, I'm supposed to head to the dining hall to meet this 'queen',

and since I'm feeling quite hungry, it's killing two birds with one stone.

Now, I only need to find this dining hall first. I realize that this must be a

giant mansion from how the hallway extends in both directions for a fair bit,

but something about the architecture is bothering me: There are windows in

the hallway, but there were none in my room. Typically you would construct

a building in a way which allows light to fall into the rooms you stay in most

of the time so that you don't have to use lamps.

When I look out the window, a sight both beautiful and terrifying greets

me. This mansion must be located on a hill, because a sprawling city extends

below me, just beyond a thick defensive wall, consisting of architecture

unlike any I've seen before. It possesses a dark beauty, with sloped roofs and

black tiles, dark gray walls and darkened windows.

Actually, what's with all these dark colors? I can't imagine that living in

this city can be anything but depressing.

The sky filled with black clouds seems to be looming right over me, as if

ready to unload a lightning storm on my head. Beyond the city's fortified

walls is a barren wasteland with black rock formations jutting out of the

ground, all seemingly pointing in the same direction.

That was the beautiful part. The terrifying part is the fact that none of itlooks familiar. This doesn't even look like Japan anymore!

Am I in one of those? Did I get transported to a different world in my

sleep? But if that were the case, why would my appearance change?

Wait, don't tell me I died in my sleep and reincarnated instead? Why would

I be fully grown, then? I mean I can walk and all, and I'm taller than that

maid with the tail, who looked reasonably adult-like. If I just reincarnated,

shouldn't I start out as a baby?

I don't have any knowledge or memories about this place at all, but if I'm at

the same age as I was in my previous life, I'll be facing a lot of difficulties.

At least I don't seem to have a problem with the language. And speaking of

which, I didn't pay attention to it earlier because I was too confused, but the

maid certainly didn't speak Japanese. Yes, somehow I can understand it as if

it's the most natural thing.

Let's go and see this queen first. Maybe she can explain this situation.

While walking along the hallway deep in thought, I come across a

staircase. Should I go up or down here? The maid never told me where the

dining room was and I have absolutely no knowledge about this place. I pick

downstairs with the reasoning that a dining room is usually on ground level,

though I have no idea if this doesn't just lead into the cellar. If it does, I'll be

looking pretty dumb.

But luckily for me, I come out onto another hallway with lots of doors on

one side and large windows on the other. Will it appear odd if I start opening

doors at random to find the right room? I'm sure it will...

Then again, since it's a dining hall, the door should be appropriately large,

right?

And as I think that, I come upon a double-winged door that looks like it

could lead to where I need to go. I push it open, the hinges creaking under the

heavy weight of the wood, and find a large hall with a long mahogany table

in the center. Countless chairs with tall backrests stand in perfect order, the

whole setup reminiscent of those seen in the meeting rooms of evil

organizations in movies.

At the very end of the table sits a woman in a sectioned frilly white dress

with golden trims, which reveals a massive cleavage. She has bluish-gray

skin, long flowing purple hair and a large pair of horns curved upwards

coming from her forehead. The white of her eyes is black, while the irises are

a bright yellow, giving her a piercing gaze even though the corners of hereyes are sloped downwards. It would give the impression that she's a gentle

woman if it wasn't for the fact that she doesn't look human.

That's definitely a demon, right?

"Good morning, Chaos-chan. It would seem you have gained a

consciousness." Her voice possesses an undeniable allure, paired with the

dignity of the rich and powerful. "You have come at the right time to partake

in breakfast. We have just gained a large stockpile of food yesterday."

Yes mama, I'm actually quite hungry.

For some reason I know that this is my mother; I can feel it the moment I

lay my eyes on her, even though I've never seen her before.

But why are our appearances so different? I'm something I don't even want

to begin to describe, but she's a real beauty. Do I take after my father or

something? That aside, her wording just now was strange and quite

interesting. 'Gained a consciousness' suggests that I didn't have one before

this morning. So does this mean I was just born? Then I guess I won't have

any troubles with lacking knowledge of this world.

I'm having difficulties choosing where to sit, but my mother gestures to the

seat right next to her, so I make my way there. Just when I sit down, she rings

a small bell, and several maids enter from doors hidden in alcoves. They push

in carts carrying silver trays with corresponding covers.

Every single girl looks inhuman. Some have horns, wings or tails; others

are no different from humans except for their skin tones, which include blue,

green and gray.

A petite and very slender maid with a pair of black bat wings in place of

her arms pushes a cart next to me. Her short reddish-brown hair is in a bob,

and where a human's ears would peek out from normally, two huge and

pointy ears covered in fur cover the sides of her head. Her eyes, including the

irises and sclera, are entirely black, she has a small pointed nose and a

slightly protruding pucker. She looks like a bat-girl.

Another maid, one with long brown hair, large horizontal pupils, and a

wide mouth, picks up a big covered tray with webbed hands that feature

bulbous fingertips. Her skin has a greenish hue with a wet sheen, and there

are black markings on her face and the back of her hands. I'm not entirely

sure, but I'd say that this is a frog girl.

She places the tray in front of me, and I eagerly await her opening it - then

I remember that there's a little problem.

I have no mouth, and I must eat.

Before I can turn around and ask my mother how I'm supposed to consume

any food, the cover is lifted before me. What greets me is a small plume of

steam and underneath it the face of a man. The eyes are rolled back in their

sockets, and the skin is the pinkish color of steamed but still rare meat.

It's a severed head.

And as if to add insult to injury, the bat maid lifts the head's skullcap with

her single claw, to reveal the brain within, before the frog girl places a large

spoon next to me.

I have no mouth, and I must scream!

After the shock of seeing a human head and its contents being presented to

me on a silver platter, all my wonder at seeing the inhuman maids has been

blown away. I have to say, all this looks incredibly life-like, almost like

they're all real. Wings for arms, webbed hands, and now a severed human

head with a steamed brain inside. Not like I know the real thing's appearance.

It's one of those, right? A cake shaped like a human head, one of those

novelty birthday cakes that you can order online.

"Please enjoy your meal, Maou-sama." When she speaks up, I finally

notice the presence of the giant maid standing behind my mother. She looks

like a normal human compared to all the other people here, so she didn't even

enter my vision before. Easily standing at a head taller than me, she towers

above everyone else and has the physique of a man rather than a woman, with

broad shoulders and thick arms. The only reason I can identify her as female

is that her face looks quite ladylike, though a stranger to smiles.

Wait, Maou-sama? Leaving aside the fact that it's clearly a Japanese

expression, which is being mixed with this completely foreign language that

I'm able to understand somehow, this makes it clear that my mother is the

demon queen.

No no no, there's something wrong with this situation!

The pattern for these reincarnation stories is that I'll be reborn as the fated

hero or something, and live the life of a protagonist in a harem manga. This is

just a crazy dream brought on from a mixture of exhaustion due to the

marathon yesterday, and having read too many of those trending

reincarnation web novels, isn't it? Time to wake up by pinching myself.

If only I had fingers to do so with.

I do have an overall humanoid appearance, with all the extremities you would find on a human. But my arms and legs are composed of countless

tentacles, ending in tentacle fingers which don't have nails at their ends.

Furthermore, the face I've seen in the mirror is one even a mother couldn't

love.

Unless that mother is the demon queen of course...

Rather than ugly, it's just that my face is something I can't even begin to

describe. At the very least I can say that it lacks eyes, a nose, and a mouth. I

have no idea how I'm even seeing, hearing or smelling anything right now.

"Chaos-chan, you must be wondering how you can eat without a mouth,

right?" The demon queen asks in an understanding tone. Before her is a plate

with the same content, but rather than a man's, it's a woman's head. From my

angle, I can only tell that it's still wearing large ornamental ear-rings.

Actually, those ears seem kind of long and pointy. Is that an elf?

"You could change your appearance, but I will teach you the basics first.

Here, mama will show you how you eat as you are now." And without further

ado, the demon queen lifts the elf's head and hugs it to her cleavage. In the

next moment, the head begins to disappear into her body.

What? A magic trick?

"Ah, quite delicious." She makes a satisfied expression when the head has

wholly submerged into her body.

Wait just a second! Please give me a step by step breakdown. Else it'll end

like one of those situations where people get some important body part stuck

in some awkward place because of unclear instructions.

"But I do not like this." From her chest, the bare skull of the elf pops out

and falls into her palm, along with the earrings. She places the leftovers on

the tray, and a maid immediately collects it, while another one brings the next

dish.

This one contains a pair of small and delicate hands placed like wings, over

which a light brown sauce is spread out.

I bring my attention back down to the head in front of me. Maou-sama, if

you have me eat heads, at least give me that of a beautiful elf, too. Well, I

have to admit that this one would be quite handsome if it weren't for the fact

that he looks like he was in terrible agony right up to the moment of his

death.

Still, no harm in trying out eating a human head, right? After all, this is a

dream... right?

Papa, mama, I'm sorry. Your daughter has become a cannibal. Then again,

I'm not a human right now, so that doesn't count as cannibalism, or does it?

In either case, it was a sensation unlike any I've felt before. Having a man

inside me for the first time was a little scary at the beginning, but it started to

feel really good soon after. When I pulled him out after his essence melted

into me, it felt really hot inside.

"For my cute child, I left only the best parts. That was the head of some

foolish human king or prince, who dared to challenge me at the gates of my

very home yesterday." When the Maou-sama notices my satisfaction - despite

the fact that I have no face, and therefore, no facial expressions - she

comments with a smile.

Thank you Maou-mama!

Pfft- wait, what?!

I would do a spit take if only I had a mouth.

It would appear that I just ate human royalty. So what was that elf's head?

Don't tell me it belonged to the elven queen or something like that?

"Although I have to admit, the elven queen was unlike anything I have

tasted before. Next time I shall leave some for you." She continues.

Argh! Don't answer as if you read my mind!

Eating their leaders will only draw the wrath of the humans and elves.

Well, considering we're quite obviously the demon folk, they must already

see us as their bitter enemies.

I have so many questions popping up in my head, but for now, I'll just go

with the flow. I mean, this is a dream, and I'll wake up soon, right?

Right! I've never had such a lucid dream! Everything feels so real!

Yes, I still believe this is all just a dream from which I'll wake up any

second now. I'm just an average high school student - one not even especially

good at my studies, with my only redeeming feature being that I'm great at

running. So if someone were to tell me that this is my new reality, I think I'd

break down crying.

"Now that you had your first conscious meal, shall I teach you how to take

on a form that will cost fewer maids their sanity?" The demon queen suggests

when I finish absorbing the stuffed and baked human torso into my body.

By taking on another form, I assume our kind can shapeshift. In other

words, we must be doppelgangers, or however the fantasy race that can copy other people's looks and abilities are called in works of fiction.

"There are two ways for a Crawling Chaos to change forms." She begins to

explain.

Crawling Chaos? It feels like I've heard something similar before. I think it

was the title of a certain crowbar-wielding girl with a very long ahoge.

"The first is through consumption. Our food will get dissolved inside us,

and the information contained in the flesh will enable us to replicate their

original bodies perfectly." And my beautiful mother's shape changes into the

equally beautiful elven queen she ate earlier. I look at where her huge

cleavage was only moments ago and notice the lack thereof. So elves have

such pitiful appearances in this world? Or was this particular individual still

just a child?

Wait, doesn't this pattern lead to her expecting me to change into the

human king next?

"Now you try it. Transform into the one you just consumed."

I knew it!

But I can't betray her expectant expression, especially when she looks like

a cute elf. I stand up and focus my mind, go into myself and draw on

whatever I can grasp, finally taking hold of a strangely clear image before my

eyes. It's that of the male human's body before it was chopped up and made

into my meal. And it's naked.

Wait a secBut it's already too late. I return to my exterior senses and look down at my

hands. They are human ones. Then I look further down and see a thing

dangling between my legs.

Oh, my!

"Great, you did it." The demon queen is back in her previous appearance.

She looks me up and down, her eyes stopping at my groin for a split second

longer than anywhere else. "Now, the other method is a little more difficult

and requires some imagination, as not all the information is as readily

available as it is with something we consume."

With this, her body changes into a copy of mine. In other words, she's now

a handsome but muscular man, wearing a revealing dress. Before the image

burns itself into my retinas, she quickly morphs back into her previous self.

"I do not have any interest in the male form unless it is absolutely

necessary." Her expression shows that she didn't like doing that, and I agree doubly in that matter. You shouldn't transform into a man when you're

wearing a form-fitting dress like that. "Then, please do it."

I guess I'll try and morph into my actual appearance. While I'm obviously

familiar with the female body, I can't visualize any other than my own to the

degree that I could replicate it from memory. I can't do it with a single look

like Maou-mama just did. The image of my own body is quite clear, but I

make the same mistake as before.

Now I stand in front of a bunch of strangers in my original appearance,

wearing nothing but my birthday suit.

"That is incredible. I expected you to copy one of the maids or me, but you

created an appearance from imagination alone." Looking at me in prideful

astonishment, Maou-mama praises me.

"Thank you, eheheh..." I answer with a shy smile.

Wait, I have a mouth! I can talk! And I just spoke in this language that isn't

Japanese, even though I wasn't able to get a basic grasp of English in school.

Am I a genius?

"Oh my, you already learned how to speak?" Widening her eyes, she looks

amazed.

Crap. Does this mean I shouldn't be able to speak yet? Am I an idiot?

"You are so gifted! Then we shall commence with your training right

away." It appears that it didn't cause reason for concern or even suspicion,

and I internally breathe a sigh of relief.

Training? Will I have to wear a heavy turtle shell on my back and do all

kinds of activities with it? Or maybe learn to focus my inner energy to walk

up trees and conjure a ball of lightning from my palm?

"But first, I shall personally give you a tour of the palace." With a radiant

smile, Maou-mama claps her hands together in front of her voluptuous chest.

Why does she seem to be looking forward to it so much?

Then I notice the giant maid looming over her with an icy glare. That's an

expression of disapproval if I've ever seen one. But the target of that glare is

wholly unaware of it or is just ignoring it. Don't tell me she's using me as an

excuse to skirt her court duties?

"Come with me." Gesturing for me to follow her, Maou-mama goes ahead

and walks towards the door I entered the hall through. The other maids stay

behind and begin to clean up after our breakfast, but the giant one follows us.

"Oh, that is Rewera. She is the head maid." Noticing that she is coming along without being invited specifically, the demon queen explains. "She is

very dependable."

For some reason, I can't help but imagine that the maid in question is

thinking something along the lines of 'unlike you' in regards to my mother.

Nothing of the sort is showing on her mask-like face, though.

I'm reluctant to go on a tour through the entire palace while naked,

especially while I'm in my human form. I gathered from the fact that Maoumama didn't change her outfit while morphing into different appearances that

real clothes can't be created from our bodies. But I guess body paint

simulating a skintight bodysuit would work.

Thus, I visualize my school's sports uniform, which consists of a formfitting white shirt and blue school bloomers. It should be much better this

way, but in reality, I'm still naked.

Wait, isn't this actually worse?

Am I some kind of pervert? Everyone knows that I'm naked since I did this

transformation in plain sight. Well at least I had the presence of mind not to

include my name tag, or it would really look like I'm going for the image of

someone working at a questionable establishment.

Though somehow I can't help but feel strangely excited at the thought that

I'm actually naked right now... I'm a pervert, aren't I?

"Are those clothes? That is quite curious." Maou-mama looks me up and

down with a finger on her chin. She doesn't seem to be bothered by the

knowledge that I'm naked, and I feel like an idiot for over-thinking this.

Then again, this transformation is a stroke of genius, if I may say so

myself. I removed some features of the human anatomy, such as the

important bits on my chest and those down below. From my point of view, I

can say that it's a great disguise, though I don't know about anyone else

looking at it.

"The part of the palace we are in right now is the main complex. There is

the audience hall, dining hall and living space for the regent's family. In this

case, you and me." As we walk down the corridor, we begin our tour. The

windows to our left, just like the floor above this one, grant a great view on

the dark beauty of the city below and the surrounding wasteland.

"The Maid Corps live in the left wing. There are exactly ninety-nine maids

with various combat capabilities stationed in the palace. Rewera here is the

one hundredth, but she is special." Maou-mama explains, as we walk down a flight of stairs and come upon a large hall from which two corridors branch

off to the left and right.

Maid Corps? Combat capabilities? In other words, combat maids? And

there are a hundred of them! I think I like it here already and can't wait to

meet them all. From the ones I saw in the dining hall, they all must be real

cuties or beauties, even though - or maybe especially because - they aren't

humans.

"The right wing houses the court officials. There are not many of them,

since the maids take care of most of their jobs, too." Continuing with the tour,

Maou-mama leads me down the curved stairs into the large foyer. "That is the

gate to the courtyard, but we shall continue inside."

Gesturing towards the huge steel gate in a somewhat dismissive manner,

she directs me around the stairs and into the corridor that leads back into the

depths of the palace.

I look around to take in all the foreign sights. Judging by the lengths of the

hallways and the tall ceiling, I can tell that this place is enormous. I'm sure I

would become lost if I were alone, but that just makes it so much more of a

miracle that I found the dining hall where I was supposed to go on my first

try.

We walk down several flights of stairs, and the windows disappear entirely.

This place must be underground, most likely part of the dungeons. Don't tell

me training involves me fighting against some captured humans or something

like that? But I can't find it in me to ask where exactly I'm being taken. Not

like I can just refuse even if it's somewhere I don't want to go. It feels like I

can't oppose my mother.

"This path leads into the dungeon, but it is no longer in use." Pointing

down a dark hallway to our left, Maou-mama explains as we pass it. "And to

this side is a large wine cellar. There are vintages from over a century ago

stored over there."

Over a century? While I don't know much about wine, I'm aware of the fact

that it gets more expensive the older it is. Usually, that's when it's decades

old. Just how much would a bottle of wine from a hundred years ago be

worth? Then again, maybe it's quite normal in this world, especially for

demons, which always have the setting that they're really long-lived

compared to humans.

Finally, we come upon a heavy metal door at the end of a hallway. Pushing it open effortlessly with a single hand, the demon queen leads me into a small

antechamber directly connected to a large circular room with exposed stone

walls. The circular portion is elevated by two steps, which somehow makes

me think that it's missing another door right there.

When I walk up these two steps and look around, I find that there are cuts

and claw marks all over the walls. Either a fierce battle with steel weapons

took place here, or a thrashing beast with sharp claws was confined in this

room. Considering this looks like a small underground ring where people are

forced to fight to their death against monsters, both explanations seem very

likely.

"Come up here." Maou-mama's voice sounds gentle as she gestures for me

to join her in the center of the room. I somehow can't help but think that I can

trust her, even though I have absolutely no basis for that thought.

When I walk up the two steps and look down, I realize that there are

markings on the ground which remind me of something I've seen hundreds of

times in fantasy games: This is a magic circle. So this must be a teleportation

circle or something like that.

"Concentrate. If you do not, you may get torn to pieces." I hear from next

to me when I reach my destination and begin to look around the room.

I understand, mama. I just need to concen- what?!

In the next moment, before I can turn to Maou-mama and see what kind of

expression she has on her face, the magic circle begins to glow with blue

light, and I feel an unseen force tugging at every fiber of my being. Then my

surroundings disappear and are replaced by a stream of violently flashing

lights, inside which my body is thrown around helplessly. So this is how a

wet cloth inside a washing machine must feel.

It feels like I'm being torn apart!

Riiip.

That sound just now doesn't bode well.

Wait, that came from my body! I just lost my arms! Come back to meee!!!

Ah, they disappeared into the light.

Waaah, it feels like I'm being pulled apart by my waist!

Ah, my lower body is gone, too.

Now I'm floating in space, only a limbless torso with a head. And

somehow, I don't feel any pain. Did I die? Is this the end of my dream?

Yes, I still believe this is only a strange dream, and I'll wake up either when my alarm clock rings, or when I die in here. Like in that movie about a group

diving into a person's dreams. Though in that one they didn't wake up when

they died, they just went deeper and became trapped somewhere for a long

time.

Well, that was only a movie, and this here is reali- no wait, it's not.

With a splat, I impact a solid surface face-first. My previously pristine

seventeen-year-old Japanese high school girl face changes into something

that needs to be hidden with mosaic - again.

The fact that I'm still alive is a testament to the fact that a Crawling Chaos

doesn't have to worry about injuries or even loss of limbs. I just consolidated

into a solid form almost immediately after getting splattered. That's mighty

convenient, especially when considering that I can't feel any discomfort in

this form, which is what makes people wake up from dreams most of the

time.

I guess I'll be stuck here for a while longer.

I try morphing into a humanoid form using the mass I have, but since I lost

half my body, only a loli version of myself comes out. And I'm in a white tshirt and sports bloomers, which are practically nothing more than body

paint. If I were a character in a thin book, a van would drive up next and a

sweaty, balding otaI shake my head to banish the thought.

Standing up on my two short legs, I look around. I already suspected it, but

that magic circle was a teleportation circle. But below my feet, there's only

dirt and dead leaves. I'm in a forest, and I'm alone.

Um, mama?