I Took A Succubus's First Time

Kozue was fighting against Kokoro, and the two of them had already been locked in a fairly intense battle for some time. Their fighting styles were completely different from one another, which made the exchange especially interesting to watch, because Kozue relied heavily on defense, positioning, and carefully timed barriers, while Kokoro preferred overwhelming her opponent with destructive magic before they had enough time to counterattack.

Kozue was a barrier magician who specialized in creating barriers and using defensive abilities, but her talents were not limited to simply putting up shields whenever somebody attacked her. She had learned to use her barriers in more creative ways as well, although some of those techniques were considerably harder for her to control and required much better timing.

One such technique involved creating a barrier around her opponent and then immediately closing the barrier inward, effectively crushing the enemy who had been trapped inside it. It was a rather nasty technique when she managed to pull it off, although Kozue obviously could not casually use it against just anyone and expect it to work perfectly.

The biggest problem with that technique was that she needed to make absolutely certain her opponent could not move before she attempted it. If the enemy was fast enough to escape the moment the barrier appeared, Kozue would have wasted the opportunity completely, and she would probably end up looking rather foolish for trying to trap someone who had already slipped away.

Kokoro, on the other hand, was a magician who specialized in destructive magic. She was not quite on Yuuna’s level when it came to sheer destructive power, but that did not mean Kokoro’s magic was weak by any reasonable standard. Her destructive abilities were still among the most powerful possessed by the demons around them, and getting hit by one of her stronger spells was something that even a capable fighter would have to take seriously.

At that moment, Kokoro was throwing fire magic toward Kozue.

A mass of flames gathered around Kokoro before she launched it forward, and the resulting fireball raced through the air with considerable speed. The flames flickered violently as the attack traveled toward Kozue, carrying enough heat that the surrounding air seemed to distort around it.

Kozue immediately reacted by creating a barrier around herself.

The defensive field appeared just in time, and the incoming fireball slammed directly into it before reaching her body. The flames spread across the surface of the barrier for a moment before dispersing completely, leaving Kozue standing safely behind her magical defense.

She did not waste the opportunity.

Kozue quickly dashed forward while Kokoro was recovering from her attack, closing the distance between them before forming offensive magic of her own. Her offensive magic was nowhere near as powerful as Kokoro’s, but that did not mean she could simply be ignored.

The spell flew toward Kokoro with enough force to leave her in serious trouble if it connected properly. Kozue was not trying to overpower Kokoro with raw destructive strength, since that was clearly not where her greatest advantage was. Instead, she wanted to force Kokoro into a position where she could eventually restrict her movements and use her barriers more effectively.

Kokoro immediately recognized the danger and dashed out of the attack’s reach, moving quickly enough that Kozue’s spell passed by without hitting her. Kozue sent the magical projectile after her, but Kokoro managed to maintain enough distance to avoid being caught.

Kokoro then activated barrier magic of her own.

Like Kozue, she was capable of using defensive magic, although Kokoro’s barriers were much more limited and were primarily meant to deal with relatively basic attacks. She could protect herself from ordinary magic without too much trouble, but her defensive barriers were not designed to withstand extremely destructive spells.

Fortunately for Kokoro, Kozue’s offensive magic was not particularly destructive to begin with.

The barrier absorbed the attack and stopped it completely, leaving Kokoro unharmed. It was not exactly a dramatic defense, but it worked, and that was really all that mattered when someone was trying to avoid getting blasted in the face.

After that exchange, both of them moved away from one another and took their respective stances. A considerable amount of distance separated them now, giving both magicians enough room to prepare their next attacks.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Kozue watched Kokoro carefully, while Kokoro did the same to her. Neither magician wanted to recklessly charge forward without knowing what the other intended to do next, especially after seeing how quickly the previous exchange had changed.

Then, almost at the same time, they engaged again.

Kokoro immediately began conjuring flames around herself, gathering another mass of fire into her hands as she prepared to attack. Kozue reacted at nearly the same moment by beginning to construct another barrier.

She expected the barrier to appear just like it had countless times before.

However, something was wrong.

’H-Huh?’

Kozue’s eyes widened slightly as she attempted to complete the spell.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, forcing more magical energy into the technique, but the barrier still refused to appear. It was as though something had suddenly interfered with her ability to use magic properly.

Kozue could feel that something was wrong, but she had no idea what was causing it.

Kokoro noticed the problem almost immediately.

Her eyes widened when she saw Kozue standing there without her usual defensive barrier, but by the time she realized what was happening, she had already released the fireball.

The blazing attack shot toward Kozue.

Kozue’s eyes widened as she watched the fireball rapidly approach her, and the realization that she could not create her barrier made the situation even more frightening. She tried to move, but before she could properly react, something else happened.

Kozue suddenly coughed.

Blood came out of her mouth.

A considerable amount of blood followed, far more than she had ever expected to cough up under normal circumstances. It spilled onto her hand when she instinctively covered her mouth, and the sight left her completely stunned.

There was so much blood that it covered nearly her entire hand.

Kozue stared at it with wide eyes, seemingly unable to understand what she was looking at. The blood was bright against her skin, and for some reason, seeing that much of it made her feel as though she were watching some invisible timer slowly ticking away.

Something was happening to her.

She just did not know what it was.

Unfortunately, she did not have the luxury of standing there and figuring it out.

The fireball was already almost upon her.

Before it could hit, however, Kouhei suddenly dashed into the battlefield.

He moved so quickly that Kozue barely had enough time to notice him before he had already placed himself between her and Kokoro’s attack. Kouhei immediately swung his blade toward the incoming fireball, striking it directly.

The fireball should have exploded from the impact.

Instead, the flames simply dispersed.

The attack vanished almost instantly after making contact with Kouhei’s blade, leaving only a few scattered embers that disappeared into the air.

Kouhei immediately turned toward Kozue.

Her legs had already given out beneath her, and he caught her before she could fall to the ground. He held her up while looking down at her with an expression filled with confusion and concern.

"Touyama-san?" Kouhei asked, his voice betraying the shock he was trying to keep under control.

Kozue did not immediately respond.

Her attention remained focused on the blood covering her hand.

The amount of blood was disturbing enough that even Kouhei struggled to process what he was seeing. It was not simply a little blood from a cough or a minor injury. Her entire hand was coated in red, almost as though she had dipped it into a bucket of red paint.

Kozue slowly raised her hand toward him.

She showed it to Kouhei as though she wanted to ask him what he thought about it, but she did not actually have the words to explain what she was feeling. Her expression was confused, frightened, and uncertain all at once.

Kouhei stared at her hand.

He had absolutely no answer.

He could only look at her with the same shocked expression while trying to figure out what could possibly have caused something like this to happen so suddenly.

"Touyama-san, what happened to you?" Kouhei asked, although he already knew she probably could not give him a proper answer.

Kozue’s lips moved slightly, but before she could say anything meaningful, her head suddenly went limp.

Her body lost what little strength remained in it, and she collapsed against Kouhei.

"T-Touyama-san!" Kouhei shouted as he tightened his grip around her.

Kozue had already fallen unconscious.

She was completely unresponsive, and judging from the way her body had gone limp, there was no chance she would simply wake up because Kouhei called her name.

Kouhei’s expression became even more worried as he looked down at her.

Whatever had happened to Kozue, it was clearly more serious than he had initially thought.

***

Kouhei and the rest of the Kouhei Faction were gathered outside the medbay inside the Yuka Mansion.

The atmosphere was tense, with everyone waiting outside while Yumi and Orimoto Yuri, the healer of the Yuka Faction, treated Kozue inside. Nobody really knew what was happening to her, and that uncertainty made the waiting considerably worse.

Eight hours had already passed since Kozue collapsed during the battle.

Eight hours.

Despite that considerable amount of time, Kozue still had not woken up.

Kouhei remained outside the medbay with the others, and his expression made it painfully obvious how worried he was. He had been trying to stay calm, but there was only so much composure he could maintain when someone he cared about was unconscious behind a closed door and nobody could tell him with certainty when she would wake up.

Hina eventually spoke while looking toward the medbay.

"It seems like... it is similar to what happened to her mother," Hina said quietly.

Kouhei already knew what she was referring to.

He had heard about Kozue’s mother before, so the moment Hina mentioned her, he immediately understood why she was making the comparison.

Kozue had apparently survived the effects of the fallen angel blood inside her, but surviving the initial effects did not necessarily mean that her body could tolerate it forever.

That was the part that worried Kouhei the most.

Kozue’s mother had gone through something similar.

Despite being impregnated by a fallen angel, Kozue’s mother had somehow survived the process and managed to give birth to a child connected to that same power. Under normal circumstances, a demon would not even have been capable of giving birth to a child of a fallen angel because of the conflicting nature of the powers involved.

Yet she had somehow managed to do it.

The problem was that surviving the pregnancy did not mean that she had escaped the consequences.

Holy power had continued growing inside her body.

It had not immediately killed her, which probably made the situation seem safer than it actually was at first. However, as the holy power continued developing, its effects eventually became too much for her body to withstand.

She eventually died because of it.

Kouhei had already known the story, but knowing it and seeing something similar happen to Kozue were two completely different things.

The possibility that Kozue might be suffering from the same problem made his chest feel heavy.

It also explained why her sudden loss of control over her magic had frightened him so much.

"What should we do?" Kouhei asked.

His voice was quiet, but the worry behind those words was obvious.

Hina looked at him for a moment.

She wanted to give him an answer, but she did not have one.

Hina could tell just how distressed Kouhei was simply by looking at his face. He was trying to remain composed for everyone’s sake, but there was no hiding how worried he was about Kozue.

Kouhei was incredibly concerned about her, and considering what had happened to her mother, his fear was completely understandable.

Unfortunately, there was very little they could actually do at that moment.