As my eyes shut and my consciousness faded, I dreamed.

For the first time, in a very, very long time I dreamed of the old days. Days of happiness and companions, of days long gone, when I was an official Hero and had my own party.

A party comprised of four others, three guys and a girl, the girl who was a Princess. A party that I had felt love for, three of which I loved like brothers.

The fourth was my beloved, she owned my heart and soul, my first true love.

My beloved was called Kirrin, the only daughter of the Human king.

A bright and beautiful girl with a heart of gold, as the saying goes. She was overly nice, always helping others, even at the cost of her own happiness in some cases.

However, that all changed the day that we arrived back the Capital, after the successful subjugation of the Demon King and the long trip back. Kirrin and I had been called to the Church.

I was to go and get the reward that Arre had promised when he had summoned me to this world, which was the original incentive for me to go fight in a war that wasn't my own, for a world that wasn't my own.

Kirrin had confided in me that she was worried that I would ask to return back to Earth, but I already knew what I was going to ask for, and I consoled her.

She loved me, truly and deeply, which was why she even suggested that I ask to go home, go back to my family and friends I left behind. At the cost of her own happiness, she wanted me to put my happiness over her own, but of course I wouldn't.

Being my first true love, we were the sappy kind of romantic that would have everyone rolling their eyes so hard that they could tell you the colour of the inside of their heads.

 

I did what everyone else knew that I would, as Kirrin had secretly been praying for, I asked to be able to stay.

Since I rejected the reward of being transported back home, the Pope said that I could ask for something else, anything that I could wish for.

Because of the curse of having a good memory, I still remember this moment, as though it happened seconds ago.

I remember Kirrin's joy, her tears of happiness when she heard that I would be staying. Her joy when she believed that since the Demon King was dead and the war was over, we could live together and raise a family.

She also believed that I would be next in line for the throne when her father died of old age.

I saw it, the deep love in her eyes, the joy, and the hope.

However, these emotions were the last thing I ever saw in her beautiful blue eyes.

But then one of the Priests used a Mind Wipe spell, I saw the light in her eyes fade as they went dark for the last time. They lost her will, her feelings, the glimmer that always appeared when she looked at me.

Her mind ceased, and Kirrin was no more.

She had been transformed into a brain-dead puppet, her outer soul had been erased and her Divinity Area was shoved back into the Cycle of Reincarnation.

A beam of golden light descended from the ceiling and I was forcefully transported into the pure white room which comprised the physical manifestation of Arre's Divine Domain.

I remember that at that time, I was crying uncontrollably. I felt as though my heart was ripped out, like some form of monster was imprisoned inside my chest and trying to claw its way out.

At first, I could barely see Arre through the tears and mind numbing pain that was both psychological and physical. I was young and naive back then, I couldn't understand what was going on.

Arre looked at me, watching me suffer, and then he began to laugh. After feeding off my pain, enjoying my agony for a while, he finally explained.

He explained how he used Heroes.

How he would summon us to defeat a Demon King, and then wait until we were at our happiest, then he would take it all away. He fed on our pain and despair, he absorbed the powers and skills that we had trained in and improved over the course of our journey.

After finishing his explanation, he stripped me of all of my magic, my skills...everything. He also made sure to take back the Holy Sword and Holy Armour, for the next Hero, next snack, that he brought into this world.

He made me weak, sealing every power that he couldn't consume, even turning my soul into a food source through some kind of Divine Magic. He took everything from me: My power, my original family, my future, by beliefs. Even my love and happiness, any joy or positive emotion was stolen, I was numb for a long time afterwards.

Then as one last 'Fuck You', he teleported me into the Demon Territories, to the Demon's Capital city to be exact.

As anyone could have guessed, the Demons were pissed at me. They planned on torturing and then killing me, and in the state that I was in, I would have welcomed it. But the Demon Queen saw me, she knew what had happened and she also saw that physical torture would be a relief for me, how my self-hatred and emotional pain was so bad.

She got a Mage to teleport me, to exile me from both the Human and Demon territories, teleporting me into the Dark Lands.

Any of the sentient races would shun me because of Arre's mark.

I was forced to live, to survive in the Dark Lands, the most dangerous place in this world. Even to this day, I am surprised I managed to survive. It was there and then that I grew up, I learned that Justice and Evil are the same thing and that Idealism and Optimism are just delusions and naivety...always leading to suffering. The only people who matter, who should be protected, are the people important to you.

In the words of Master: "For companions, be willing to destroy even the world if it means saving them. But strangers, let the world destroy them; unless interfering won't hamper your important people!"

A long time later, I heard that the Church had done what they did to Kirrin to frame me, because I was too popular. I had killed the Demon King, the people loved me. The Pope used the mind control to make their 'Princess Puppet' to start ranting about taking down Human Society, to establish a new Demonic Empire, saying that it was my plan as well as her own.

They acted as though they had they had caught her in some obscene ritual and then had her paraded publicly through the street as a prisoner, and burned at the stake.

My dreams seemed to last forever, though I realized that I was dreaming. But the pain wasn't as bad as it had been at the time, though I felt a slight numbness.

When the most painful memory rose in my mind, I saw her.

For some reason, standing behind Arre was Soea. She wasn't actually there when this happened originally, of course, five years ago.

When I saw her ethereal form standing there, I felt something strange. I felt a warmth that seemed to devour the coldness that was reforming inside me, a warmth that held the ice at bay. When her glowing blue eyes met mine, I felt an itching in my heart.

With that scene and strange reaction, I finally rose back to consciousness.

 

When I woke up, I felt warm, and I could feel the dull thumping of three separate heartbeats. For a few seconds, I worried that I had grown another heart in my sleep, which might be able to happen, since this transformation was completely new territory.

However, upon further exploration with my newly heightened senses, I felt something soft tickling my chin, so I opened my eyes and looked down.

What met my gaze was the top of Soea's head, her silky raven-black hair was rubbing on my chin, her head was buried in the crook of my neck. She was sleeping as well, and making strange noises in her sleep. One of her hands gripped my shirt firmly, balled into a fist in the soft material, it was as though she was holding onto me so as to stop me from disappearing while she was sleeping.

Her other arm was wrapped around me tightly, her legs gripped my left leg tightly, burying it in a rather dangerous position.

I had turned on my side and was holding her as well, I returned her grip, it was almost like I was subconsciously worried about her escaping me. Which, remembering my dreams, made sense. I didn't want to lose anyone else.

Sheesh, I was getting soft.

But, no matter how soft I get, I will never return to how I was, back when I was summoned so long ago.

Soea woke up with a small noise, her arms and legs tightened around me, seemingly reassuring herself that I was still there. She opened her eyes and glanced up at me, she then realized that she had been drooling in her sleep.

There was a damp spot on my shirt, though strangely, it didn't bother me as much as it should have, since I had a minor phobia when it came to saliva.

Well, Kirrin at the beginning, followed by Master, and then the Archdemon and Demon Queen helped remove that discomfort.

"Good morning, My Lord," Soea muttered as she released my shirt with one hand and wiped her mouth, looking slightly embarrassed.

 

She had gotten all sorts of bodily fluids on me at other times, but wasn't embarrassed, she is a strange girl.

"Good morning, Soea." As I spoke, she twitched for some reason. Well, I had the feeling that I hadn't used her name many times, or it may have been the way I said it.

Even I noticed that my tone was softer than before.

"Are you hungry, Soea?"

She nodded enthusiastically to my question.

For some reason, she looked a little worried for a second before dismissing her clothing, I followed along and dismissed mine as well.

 

That was a good breakfast... A seven course meal.

Though Soea technically stopped feeding after two 'courses', it seemed that my new energy was even more potent than what it used to be. I had to use a siphoning and adaption spell to allow her to even feed through two 'courses' without damaging herself.

Having finished, I looked down at Soea below me. Her skin was flushed, and her breathing was rapid. She looked as though she couldn't muster the strength to move, like she had melted into the bed.

Watching my minion who became a puddle, I found myself smiling.

This is what all Transmigrators dreamed of, waking up in the morning and having sex with an attractive non-human girl who deeply loved them, even if the feelings were the result of a spell.

After my dreams, I felt strangely relaxed.

I hadn't felt like this since before Master died, while we were still traveling around and having fun in different areas in the world. Yes, I also had a sexual relationship with Master as well, but she was the dominant one and she had taught me many of the tricks that she had learned over her tens of millennia of life.

Everyone needs an Elven partner at least once, they were both loyal, mating for life, and strangely overly loving. When they chose their Life Mate, they would open their heart completely and never leave or desert them.

It was curious that my mind was drawn to a previous relationship, which was different from the one I had with Soea now. But I finally admitted to myself that I had failed, I had accidentally fallen for this adorable minion of mine.

Managing to drag my mind back from my memories, I noticed that Soea was staring back up at me. Her eyes were so similar to how Kirrin's had been, just before she died.

I felt an uncontrollable surge of fear, which took me several seconds to shake off, but it was replaced with something else.

Smiling, I placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze before using my other arm to push myself to my feet.

My stamina had improved, I actually felt more energized than when I had just woken up.

I found myself sighing for some reason as I recreated my clothing.

It felt good when I stretched, pulling my muscles a bit, a couple of my joints made cracking noises.

Today was the day that I was going to be gathering resources for the upcoming battle. Since I had no idea how long I had until the Human army arrived, or even what sort of soldiers would be coming, I had to be very careful.

Soea let out a small moan as she left her dazed state, and got control over her overly relaxed body. Her muscles were obviously exhausted, but from what my Mana sense showed, she was overflowing with energy from her feeding, it was a paradox.

For her, it was a delicious agony. Judging from her facial expression and reaction, I had the feeling that this girl was a bit of a masochist.

Using effort, and my support, Soea climbed to her feet and stretched like a cat. She was incredibly flexible, which I had discovered a while ago, the things this girl could do.

Soea flapped her wings slightly to restore feeling in them, then gently swayed her tail. It seems that being on her back for so long had allowed some numbness to settle in her extremities.

"So, what are we doing today, My Lord?" She yawned as she spoke, her mouth stretched open, displaying her cute canines, and inhumanly long tongue.

She saw me watching her and made a rather obscene gesture with said tongue, winking adorably.

It was a good thing that she had been getting braver as time passed.

While I prefer subservient people over extremely dominant people, with Master and the Demon Queen being the exceptions, I also like them to have their own personalities.

"We, my pet, will be getting some materials for the Human army." As I spoke, I gently rubbed her head, to which she pushed up against my palm, like a cat wanting to be spoiled.

For a while now, my body had been storing more and more Mana, it seems that I can absorb the ambient Mana around me. According to my senses, I wasn't even near my Mana containment limit.

Just judging from what I contained now, my Mana was easily double what it had been before the transformation. Luckily, as the seconds passed, my intake of the ambient Mana slowed down. It seems I may be approaching my normal capacity, which reassured me because I was starting to worry that I may end up exploding.

While I had no idea how Humanity managed to get their hands on the Angel's feather, I still had the diary stored in my Spatial Ring.

I did, however, have an idea where they may have gotten the Horn. This was because during the final fight against the Demon King, I had seen one of my teammates, Jesh, pick something up off the floor. This had slipped my mind at the time, because I was in a life and death fight against the powerful Demon King.

My theory was that when I had smashed the Demon King into the wall, he had lost one of his horns then, which our sharp-eyed Elf had spotted and picked up.

Reaching into the folded dimensions of my Spatial Ring, I removed the diary.

I know, I get distracted really easily.

According to the words written in the Diary, Jesh wasn't overly loyal to the Church in the Capital and so he had given the horn to the Guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild in the Capital City, to research, hoping that it could lead to the betterment of Humanity and Elves.

He was a good boy, even up until the end.

However, I knew that the Church didn't want any Demonic items to survive, let alone be studied by Humans. They believed that if something was Demonic, it was inherently evil.

According to the Rumour Mongers I heard in Derrios, this was why they had sent assassins and killed Jesh, they had found out that he did something with a Demonic item.

If he had given it to the Guildmaster in the Capital, how had it ended up in this Guild quite a distance from the Capital? Well, my question was answered with further reading.

Jesh had originally planned on giving the Horn to the Guildmaster in the Capital, but he had noticed how the Guildmaster tried to suck up to the Church at any chance, so instead, he gave the Horn to a trusted friend.

This companion was the son of the Guildmaster of a small city, dwelling far away from the Church's primary sphere of influence, so Jesh thought that it would be safe.

The Guildmaster's son, as per Jesh's request, gave the Horn to his father. This Guildmaster was the one who lived in the city that I had just destroyed.

I didn't see, however, in the diary where the Angel's Feather had come from. This diary belonged to the Guildmaster's son, and explained only what happened to him or was told to him by Jesh, it didn't contain any of the research done on the Horn either.

Finishing the diary, I looked up.

Since a while ago, I had been feeling some weight leaning against me, I had been distracted by the diary and hadn't looked up. Of course, I felt no danger or malicious intent, or my subconscious reactions would have taken over and I would have unleashed all sorts of wards and defensive spells.

Looking over, I saw that it was Soea leaning on me, which is what I had expected, even when I originally felt the weight while I was reading.

Some time when I was distracted, I had stopped stroking her head, so she had just patiently leant against me.

Her actions made me smile, and brought to mind an old Japanese saying: "Cuteness (Moe) heals the heart," anyone with pets can attest to the truth of these words.

Well, it was time to fully acclimatize myself with my new form.

Separating myself from Soea, I swayed gently from side to side, feeling for my center of balance, crouching and raising to my feet again in a single fluid movement.

Soea was watching me, and with curiosity, she copied me, she was like a child imitating her parent. She didn't seem to understand, but she wanted to join in with whatever I was doing.

Even following Master's teachings on acclimatizing to a new body, my balance still felt slightly odd because of my increased height and wings. But strangely, I had no tail.

Finishing the movements, I had quickly adjusted myself, and even if it felt a little odd, I could still fight as needed. Which was primarily because Master, as well as teaching magic, had taught me hand-to-hand combat and body control.

So, whatever happened, I could defend myself.

It still struck me as strange that I found my mind drifting to old flames this morning. Kirrin was in my dreams, and I thought of the Demon Queen and Master.

Master who had saved me when I needed it the most, trained me, and gave me a new hope in life.

But she died, almost a year ago.

While I was thinking, I had already begun moving, walking towards the Throne Room door.

I hadn't done so before, so I took the opportunity and cast a simple repair spell. Watching as the destruction around me rewound like a VHS, the stones and rubble on the floor flew up through the air and back into the holes in the walls.