It wasn't long before Keyaruga and his three lovely companions returned to their twinned rooms. Although they were generously fed, none left the meeting with any sort of cheerfulness. The Hero of Healing quietly ground his teeth near the window. Freia sat in a chair, staring at her new lyre, anxiously pulling soundless strings in a futile act of self-reflection. Setsuna abided at her master's side, speechlessly supporting him in a moment of crisis. Finally, Eve walked back and forth, restless…
"Ehm, Keyaruga…" The black-haired maiden dared break the silence. "I wanted to say, that was… kind of you." She said with a slight awkwardness in the voice.
"Was it?" The man turned around, letting all see his grin, along with the twitching right eye. "That was an experiment. One guy said my blood was special, so I gave it another test. In the worst case scenario… it would make people die in a bloody splatter." The lad replied in a half-aware, half-trance manner. His essence was just as revitalizing as it was ultimately fatal. "No matter. It wasn't generosity. He paid for the food, and will pay more for my potions later."
"Still, you…" Eve had to stop there. After all, the healer just turned around, nervously gripping his green cape. Setsuna, in turn, hugged his left arm.
"You'll go after that woman?" The huntress cautiously asked. She got no answer. Nothing but a stern gaze toward the city. "Setsuna will come with you." The she-wolf added. It finally called for some reaction.
"No, you won't. Blade will die by my hand." Keyaruga said, as if murdering another hero was just as mundane as using a nearest cesspit in the morning.
"Josephine…" A faint voice ranged behind. It was Freia, still playing her lyre soundlessly. "Her name is Josephine."
"Well, I don't give a fuck what name she had back… then. I just want her dead, preferably in a pool of her own blood and my c…"
"KEYARUGA!" The pink-haired girl burst out, slamming the table with her fist. "She… It's not her fault! If anything, it's mine! What you're saying… I found her exactly the way you said! Dying in a pile of her own feces! I…"
"I don't give a fuck." The man repeated monotonously, interrupting the sorceress. Alas…
"I DO! I made her the way she is! I gave her that thing that turned into a sword she carries around! I disciplined her to love women to keep her loyal to me! I taught her how to hate men! Taught her how to kill! I… I just needed an obedient murderer…" At that point, the magician's head lowered so much, her forehead almost touched the table surface. "She… needed saving. She still does…"
"No, she doesn't." Suddenly, the man broke out of Setsuna's embrace to face the princess. "You heard what she does, you even saw it yesterday! Every last bit of that bullshit was her choice! She was willingly murdering men and raping women! You do know she has a bag to dispose of bodies, don't you, Freia?"
"She can't control herself, Keyaruga! She can't help who she is, and nobody can change what she went through! Please, you could help her! Like you helped me!" The caster exclaimed, sticking out her lyre.
"She's not coming with us!" The healer declared adamantly, giving a brief glance toward Eve. The latter quietly sat in the corner, just like a child in a presence of arguing parents. The queen-to-be maintained a formation of small luminous spheres. An exercise in mana shaping turned her into a something akin to a star for planets of pure light. "She's a rabid animal, and you know it! The best thing you can do is putting her down!"
"I tried!.." Freia yelled, raising from the chair. "I tried, but…"
"But you failed." The man responded with a cold remark.
"So what?! You think I can just sit still, knowing I was playing lyre and having fun, while she maimed another innocent?! Knowing you're out there, chasing my greatest failure?" The princess exploded with yet another tantrum.
"Yes! Because you can't do shit with that magic disruptor Norn's brought along! Because this monstrosity stands between me and her! Because I have my own score to settle with that cross-dressing bastard! Because…" As more and more arguments left Keyaruga's mouth, he steadily dropped his equipment. A cape with a pauldron, a vest, a shirt… skin and meat itself.
"W… what is this?.." Freia got engulfed in shock. Underneath the layers of dangling flesh she saw a gaping ribcage. The Hero of Healing had absolutely no qualms about explicitly demonstrating his inner organs. The view was horrifying.
The man had four lesser lungs instead of just two, a hypertrophied trachea, two hearts in the chest, another in a place of where the liver was supposed to be, and a few small ones all across the stomach. His diaphragm is three times as large as an ordinary one, immune to lesser traumas.
"I'm not showing this to make you sick, Freia." The man spoke normally. Aside from his voice distorting due to the massive hole in the chest, there wasn't a single complication for the man. Not a single drop of blood. "I just want you to understand one thing: as it stands now, I'm nearly immortal. I'm immune to any poisons, I can take a slash or two, and losing one heart isn't enough to stop me."
"You're… not immortal, my prince." The pink-haired girl said, resisting the urge to touch the man's bare shoulder. "This… This is all wrong! You're barely holding on." Freia spoke with genuine fear. The healer enhanced his systems with magic, he could grow new muscles with a simple whim, his vital organs were multiplied, his bones were unnaturally thick… "You must turn it all back. Or else…"
"Or what? I die without mana?" The man shrugged, as his innards swiftly got back to normal. A surrealistic sight of ribs coming into place along with meat and skin pulling back together wasn't anything uncommon for their party, but even Setsuna, who was staring in awe at her master's masterpiece of flesh, couldn't really comprehend, how in the world, not even scars remained afterwards. "I won't. I can sustain myself for a few hours in the worst case, just enough for one heal. Although, even now I don't know if I have a chance against Hawkeye." And so, the lad's torso finally returned to normal. Eve had been looking from afar, unhinged by Keyaruga's metamorphosis. If anything, it made him somewhat similar to the ma-zok people.
"Oh gods… First Josephine, now Hawkeye… You really think you should tackle all of them alone?" The Hero of Magic asked, taking a step back.
"I didn't choose to be a hero and being taken from my home. But here I am." The healer declared, once again turning his eyes toward the window. "I'm a man, and I have a few promises to uphold. And I'll be damned, if I let any of you anywhere near that blonde, lesbian monster." He declared, putting his shirt on.
"You have us. We'll help." For better or worse, the she-wolf was as stubborn as the red-haired lad himself. Maybe even more so, as she wouldn't let him go, no matter what.
"She… She's right, Keyaruga!" The sorceress added, grabbing the lad's hand. That way she mirrored Setsuna, and the man himself did not really seem pleased with that turn of events. "I'm sorry, but if you want to fight every enemy alone, than you shouldn't have brought us along in the first place."
"Uh-huh." Setsuna playfully hummed in agreement.
"If you want to hunt Josephine down, you'll need some bait. A maiden, preferably a cute one, like me." Freia said somewhat mischievously. She needed that closure, and would do anything to see the Hero of Sword put to rest. "Isn't that why you asked Karman to keep his friends away from this?"
"Hmm… I merely wanted Buranikka to face Norn prepared. Sometimes she just can't help but play with her prey, that girl." The Hero of Healing spoke with a big fat smug grin on his face. Vigilantes might come after the psychotic fencer, but that would escalate the situation earlier than necessary. "Also, what makes you think I need any of you to get Blade out of Jioral's attention?" Keyaruga mockingly quarried, deftly breaking out of the girl's embraces. It only took him one forward flip and a cartwheel to wind up near another window.
"Sanathuma (looks interesting)…" Eve mused, wondering, just how this wild predicament could aggravate further. And oh boy, was she not disappointed.
"Girls, I have a request." The hero pronounced with the utmost confidence.
"Whatever you need, Keyaruga." The sorceress replied, slightly upset about the lad's defiance. Still, it managed to cheer her up, avert her attention from Josephine, and even more.
"What you need, master?" For Setsuna, though, that whole stress was something alien. She had nothing
"Okay… Put some makeup on me!" The man demanded with a straight face. Well, he tried, but a glimpse of chuckle still touched his lips. He did take some of those skills from Mira, his first woman, but they were washed away by much more gruesome memories and valuable skills that followed.
"Haa… I should've guessed… So, we're making you a girl, right?" Freia asked, feeling her retribution slipping away. Indeed, Keyaruga was the sort of man willing to take all the hardships onto himself, even that kind.
"Yup, you guessed it." The healer briefly replied, slowly walking toward the entrance. To the right of the door, there was a table with Freia's miscellanies. "That way I'm not afraid of what that maniac might do to you."
"And what about what she do to you?" The ice warrior asked in turn. Her speech was anything but extended, but the pure concern put in that three words didn't remain unnoticed.
"Trust me, she'll get it much, much worse." Keyaruga said with uncovered bloodlust in his voice. Most of the time he seemed like a good person. Slightly withdrawn, but friendly nonetheless. But with Blade around, his traumatic experience was slowly flooding his mind. "So, are we doing it, or what, Freia? Because either that, or I'm scourging half of the city at least to get to her." The red-eyed lad warned, looking at his disturbing reflection.
"Will you scourge Norn as well?" The Hero of Magic quarried courteously. The deal was still intact, after all. Honestly, the magician could've easily eliminated Norn's troops, provided she cast some mass-destruction spell from afar. That would cost Buranikka dearly, and also the two heroes as well.
"Haa… I don't want that." Keyaruga responded softly. This time his eyes was focused on Freia, her sad smile. On Setsuna's lowered fluffy ears… On his own grief. "Will you help me, then?" He asked, facing the princess.
"Haa… I will, Keyaruga." The pink-haired girl said with the calm acceptance. "Come on, sit down." She invited the hero to rest before the mirror. Unfortunately, though, when the princess began circling around the man, a few complications emerged. Specifically... "I admit, you do have a pretty face I can paint, but your physique is just… too manly." The sorceress declared with a slight hope that this would make the lad listen to reason and let her into the hunt. But alas…
"Wait, you're right. I have something I can do." The healer raised his arm, and the hand began emanating the familiar green light. With the reflection on his side, the man slammed it onto his chest, and the transformation began.
Thick layer of muscles shrank in a matter of seconds, his spine got shorter, along with his shoulders. What Keyaruga got in exchange was… hips and breasts. The whole process didn't take much, but it was taxing, due to all the body-modifications that the hero condemned himself to. Ultimately, what looked back at him from the mirror was a long-haired beauty… with a surprise between legs, but that's another story altogether.
"Oh my… Oh my! Setty… Evy! Come over here!" What he failed to take into account, though, was the sudden, almost maddening, infatuation his new form planted into Freia. Her cheeks got red, and her heavy breathing was anything but a good omen.
"Setsuna… wants a hug!" More than that, though, he was startled by the huntress' reaction. She literally jumped on him, and started groping Keyaruga's new body. Seeing his torso now had a pair of sensitive boobs, he didn't find it all that pleasant. "M-mm, soft."
"S-stay back!" The hero yelled, terrified by the loss of his authority. Once again he had to disentangle from the she-wolf's grip. Which he did, even if his agility left much to be desired. The healer felt sick, especially with his center of mass moved downwards. Damn! I'll have to get used to it.
"Wha-?.." In that embarrassing moment, Eve finally decided to take a closer look at the commotion. Indeed, she was not disappointed. "Farafinatia Ahurama (by Ahriman), what have you done to yourself?!" Instead, she was surprised, dumbfounded… enticed even. So much so, that she abandoned her luminous, magical practices in favor of glancing upon the charming doll her savior turned himself into.
"I can't believe it… Wait… Is that… your true face? Because…" Freia finally understood, what made her heart race that much. The princess had already seen it once, but only with her whole memories regained (both by her own investigations and limited practice of healing magic) did the girl realize, how much weight lied beyond that single mask of skin.
"I hate it." Keyaruga spat. Only now did he realize the difference in his voice. It was higher, more feminine… so different. Alas, the man couldn't create absolutely new visage with just a click of his fingers, so he had to become Keyaru again. At least partially. "It… makes me sick, really." He said, patting his lips in front of the mirror. There were so many forms for him to take, so many visages… but this one was guaranteed to draw Blade's attention.
"Setsuna loves it." For better or worse, though, literally everyone else seemed to appreciate his true form much more than the hero himself. One was staring at him with her aquamarine puppy eyes, another dashed toward the wardrobe to find something among Keyaruga's gifts that would fit him, and even Eve felt a fair dose of interest toward the healer.
"Wait, is that… are you actually a girl?" The kokuyoku scion asked with boldness.
"No, I'm a man, even now. I can demonstrate, if you wish." Keyaruga sneered, reaching into his pants.
"NO! DON'T!!!" The queen-to-be had no idea of the limitation of his power, but she wouldn't take any chances. Certainly not after fainting in sight of his wobbling sausage the last time. She didn't run away, though.
"Sad." Setsuna, though, wanted nothing more than to witness her master's greatness. In some way, her wish would be fulfilled very soon, as the sorceress found a perfect attire for her… partner?
"All right, my princess. You're beautiful now, but we can make you gorgeous." Freia spoke mischievously, as the healer was preparing for the last stages of his transformation, forced by extraordinary circumstances.
"This won't go unpunished, you cheeky wench." Keyaruga warned the magician, reluctantly entrusting his body in the heroine's hands.
"It may, but it's either that, or scourged earth… Kerry." She responded, starting to undress the man. Damn it! I knew she'd make a pet name for me eventually! Oh well, sometimes vengeance calls for sacrifices.
Indeed. To reach his target, the man needed to endure the gruesome torments. First, he was stripped of his enchanted clothes. Hard bracers were replaced by narrow cuffs, sturdy shirt had to go in favor of a blue dress with white strips, and trusty boots were taken away just so Freia could fit his feet into a pair of comically small shoes. Oh, and how could one forget? Keyaruga's long hair was adorned with a puffy red ribbon.
He felt miserable. Being rolled around like a mannequin, made to stand in excruciatingly unpleasant poses, persevering through agonizing procedures of having his face and nails painted in aromatic cosmetics… At least he found sympathy in Setsuna's eyes. Or… was it lust? Anyway!
"There! There we go! Now you're the prettiest thing in the whole world!" Freia exclaimed, presenting her masterpiece to the other two. At least, that was over…
"I can argue with that." The hero protested, staring at the mirror. Honestly, he didn't mind using his body as a tool. What he did hate, though, is that he liked what he saw as a reflection. Maybe, a bit too much. "Also, do I really have to wear a dress? Maybe, I should at least grab my pants?"
"No! No-no-no! Now, you'll need my panties! That rag you wear under your trousers won't do!" The princess added, poking a pair of white female underwear right into the lad's face. Bra included.
"I'm not!.. Shit… Why? I'm not letting that maniac anywhere near my dick!" The hero exclaimed, viciously grabbing Freia's hallowed gifts right from her hands. He had no reason to be embarrassed before her and Setsuna, but now it felt devastating to the man's pride. Either way, he couldn't boast much, with the long hemline. Bear with it, Keyaruga. It's nothing, compared to what you've been, through…
"Ahh, you're so adorable!" The Hero of Magic enunciated, as she watched her 'prince' restlessly stepping from foot to foot. So much of this felt wrong, Keyaruga just couldn't begin to point out what. Still… Calm down! It's for a mission! If I falter, who knows what that trash would do with Freia… or Setsuna… Egh?
As the hero was trying to center himself, his perception got weaker. And one naughty soul couldn't help but… peek under his skirt!
"What the hell are you doing?!" The healer snarled, flinching away from the gray-haired girl.
(https://preview.redd.it/jgpr5xekzbma1.jpg?width=705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=6e5701942f25390adf7b5186909ba373559a4641
Relatively SFW illustration)
"Setsuna was curious." The huntress admitted shamelessly.
"That's settled!" Freia yelled, bracing for a grapple. She wasn't alone. The she-wolf was radiating malice with her eerie sneer.
"Settled what?" The hero twitched and took a defensive stance.
"Your current charm is just too much not to assault you!" The princess answered eagerly.
"Uh-huh, let's go!"
"What? N-no, I'm!.."
Alas, whatever plans Keyaruga had, they had to wait, as two over-aroused females pushed him on the bed. Setsuna jumped first, Freia followed, but both looked awfully eager to take advantage of the healer's cuteness.
"STOP!!! DON'T YOU DARE!!!" He screamed, but his perfectly crafted feminine voice only made the girls wetter.
"Uegh… Perverts…" Eve's judgment was fair and all, she fled to her room and slammed the door… But only to peek from there and masturbate, savoring every last bit of this distorted intimacy.
"Ugh!" Keyaruga rarely moaned, at least beyond his nightmares. But now, with his newly-acquired breasts mercilessly fondled by the pink-haired (ig)noble, while the unusually rallied ice warrior sucked off his penis like there's no tomorrow, he couldn't help but ask himself.
Well, how did I get here?
So many thoughts, so many possible branches of the future, and somehow it had to end this way! Freia was gripping his nipples, caressing and licking them with the utmost care and ferocity.
"Agh!" Keyaruga squinted, as his spine caved upward, raising his widened hips closer to Setsuna's throat. It was something else. Akin to the times of martyrdom, but… different.
As the huntress was madly craving the hero's untouched manhood, gripping his uncharacteristically large ass, Freia was unfastening the buttons on her corset.
"Keh, so much… with obsessing over your failures." The man said provokingly. He was perfectly able to break free, but something stopped him from just pushing his companions away.
"It's still there, Kerry…" She said, lying on the healer. The princess made sure their breasts overlapped, their nipples rubbed against each other. "I just… Ahh!"
The sorceress wasn't destined to finish, as Keyaruga took her in a bear hug and pressed against the torso.
"I'm not Kerry, woman." He whispered menacingly, loudly slapping the magician's butt cheeks. A difficult task with a mad wolf clinging to your penis, but possible nonetheless. "My name is Keara, a crimson flower… blooming in the night." He said it, pompously, with the magnitude.
"He-he-heh!" But Freia only laughed. "Gods, you really do lack imagination, don't you, Keara?" The girl chuckled, hearing the man's new alias. He just couldn't get far from being, well, Keyaru. Both in name and in nature.
"I'm gonna fuck you… really hard now." The lad threatened. Alas, in the light of Setsuna sucking all the juices out of him, his words lacked any intimidating effect.
"Fair enough." Moreover, the heroine relished in his attention.
Keyaruga impaled Freia, while Setsuna licked their juicy genitalia. Setsuna raped Keyaruga, but ultimately the sorceress swiped her out of the bed. Then the hero got enough and mercilessly subjugated their both. So many sceneries, so many variations, and all of them Eve Reese watched from the first row.
She didn't know, why those indecencies drew her so much. Maybe she was bored, maybe curious, maybe slightly jealous, but every time the black-winged girl heard the wet sounds of mating, something inside just forced her to watch.
Her hand was wet with her own love juices. Eve's finger rubbed her swollen vaginal lips, clitoris, twitching hole. She dared not to poke inside, but the maiden's hips already shivered with the pure ecstasy.
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NSFW illustration)
"Haa… Haa… Aahh!.." The girl's hand was getting sore, her fingers numbed, but no power in the world would stop her from reaching the peak. An orgasm she had been building for some time now turned into a tide. Following wave of undiluted pleasure, a discharge of crystal joy, made the black-haired beauty shiver in convulsions. Spasms, every second of which was comparable to heaven. Which orgasm was that? The third? Forth? No matter. She would continue, time and time again. Until…
"Haa… Nanue sahunda, mi (what am I even doing)?" The queen-to-be failed to resist voicing her single concern. Did it stop her? Hell no!
…
When Keara, a seemingly gorgeous young lady, finally prepared to leave the room with her face diligently painted up, with the mythrill dagger hitched to her hip, the Hero of Healing looked back at his lovely girls one last time. Freia and Setsuna seemed sleeping. Hours upon hours of continuous sex had left them drained. All of them.
But Keyaruga had no other choice but to stay awake, stay active, no matter what he cast or drank. He needed to be focused, to be strong when the time comes. Honestly, the only reason he stayed up until the very sunset was to make his allies less likely to follow him.
And so, Keara left without saying a word.
…
…
…
"He went out." Setsuna noted, rising in her naked glory.
"Ugh… Damn, I can't feel my legs… Where does he get all this power?" Freia lamented, as the limit of her capacities was limited to rolling on her back.
"Here." Fortunately, the huntress handed her a greenish potion. One of which the she-wolf chugged herself. It would take her a while to open the cork, but the sorceress was distracted by a door creaking open. This… was Eve.
"What? Are you going after him, or what?" The kokuyoku scion asked daringly. She was kind enough to help Freia with a vial, but not more than that.
"Uh-huh." Setsuna hummed in agreement, while the magician finally managed to regain some of her strength.
"Great. I'm going with you two!"