“Wake up, fresh food! It’s morning! Your favorite time of the day is here.” The voice of a man came from the end of the corridor. He was speaking loudly while using a bat to hit the grates of the cells he was passing by. This way he could grab people’s attention through fear.

“She’s going to have her first meal of the day. Kneel by the grates and get ready to give her what she wants! Don’t forget that this is a privilege for you and that the pain is nothing compared to what you get in exchange. If chosen, you will become part of Dragnya’s body. There is no greater honor on this planet. Make sure you thank your Gods for it.”

The man stopped and turned around once he reached the other end. There was only one entrance to the block of cells and that was where he came from. One way in and one way out.

All people kneeled inside their cells by the grates with their heads down as soon as they heard something approaching from the other side of the door. They knew what was coming and they were terrified. Every time this happened, they prayed they were not going to be the chosen ones.

“Oh, so that’s how it works.” Mitch, who had recently been captured in the forest, said to himself from one of the cells. “We are brought here as food, then she feeds on us whenever she gets hungry. We’re just like prisoners waiting for their execution. The only difference is that we don’t know when the final day comes.”

As he kneeled, the lights turned on and he could see numerous people in the same situation as him. Everyone was fully naked and waiting to become food.

*NEED MEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAT!* A struggling raspy voice so sinister that made most people tremble could be heard from the other side.

“AAAAAAAAA! No, no, no! I don’t want it! I had enough!” The only girl in the room was having a breakdown.

Other people seemed to be praying and looking at the ground. The louder the noise and the closer the otherworldly human-eating machine got, the faster they prayed.

It was pure madness. Even the guard sent by the witch was scared. Despite already knowing the procedure, he hated these moments of waiting more than anything.

The noise coming from the other side stopped. After a few moments of silence, some of the prisoners raised their heads slightly to see what happened and glanced at the door.

-THUD, THUD, THUD-

The heavy sudden knock on the door made them press their foreheads back to the ground.

*Knock, knock, knock. Whoever isn’t ready will be hugged by my bellyyyyyyyy.* The woman on the other side spoke again, this time in a playful tone.

As it opened, the creaking of the door made Mitch cover his ears. He didn’t know if his weak heart could take it anymore.

The thing took a step in, then another, and then another. They didn’t see what they were expecting, but something uglier and much scarier. IT WAS A WALKING AMALGAMATION OF FLESH!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! It’s the witch! She transforms into this thing when she is really hungry, especially after a long sleep.” As the girl screamed, the enormous mass of flesh walked past the first few cells on all four limbs with putrid rolls of fat hanging on all sides of its body.

The eyeballs of the caricature could barely be seen. They were extremely small due to the high quantity of fat pushing the skin on the forehead down over the eyes. It was sticky, wet, and disgusting. It felt like a nightmare just listening to its raspy voice that betrayed the pain she felt when in this state. This witch apparently needed to eat humans to live.

“Noooooooo! NOOOOOOO! Stay away from me!” The girl screamed again as the walking flesh seemed to be heading straight toward her.

Mitch wanted to say something to distract the witch, maybe to offer himself as a sacrifice to save the young girl that had years left ahead of her. He already lived most of his life and he was also sick. But why couldn't he do it? He was simply too scared to even look at the monstrosity passing by.

Last night’s incident had scarred him. Unable to say a word and while still looking at the ground, he heard the overwhelmingly disturbing sounds of the girl being eaten alive.

“Uhuuuuuuu! That’s refreshing.” The walking flesh had disappeared and now in its place stood the witch that recovered her normal form.

After she pulled a bone out of her mouth, she said pleased:

“Definitely not the best breakfast I had, but anything is good when I am so hungry. Men surely taste better to me.”

Dragnya, the devouring witch, looked around the cells to see who was most scared of her and smiled. She was proud of herself for the monster she has become. Strong and truly feared.

“Take those from cells sixty-five and sixty-six with us. We will prepare real delicacies for lunch.”

 

*

 

The proportions of the guild were not as impressive as Saori expected, but they were still far better than those of an average house from Bird Valley Village.

The roof, the walls, the pillars on the front porch, and the frames of the windows were all different shades of brown, from very light to very dark. Everything was polished nicely giving a nice aesthetic look to the building in front of them.

“It looks pretty nice. A guild with three levels and decent shades of brown will definitely stand out in your below-average village. That being said, it’s definitely not among the better-looking ones in the world.”

“Who gives a damn, gran. Let’s get inside.” The girl said enthusiastically and ran inside, dragging the unconscious man after her.

“Wait, Saori!” Anta tried to stop her but to no avail.

“Shake your pockets, good people. I arrived to get my reward. REJOICE! There is one less criminal out—” She couldn’t finish her sentence because she had already been attacked by two warriors from inside the guild.

The old woman rushed inside and saw the girl standing on one foot with the other one stretched to the side reaching close to the opponent’s neck, the tip of her sharp claws only millimeters away. She was also leaning back a bit, holding herself on the hair of the second warrior that attacked her, with the claws from her right hand ready to cut his throat. She was clearly assessing the situation, moving her pupils from one man to the other.

“Everyone stop! Let them go, Saori. They attacked you because of how you barged in. Who the heck goes in dragging a beaten man around? Of course, you’ll be seen as the villain, stupid donkey.”

“Anta? Is that you? We thought we’ll never see you again.” One of the two men said surprised.

Seeing that they know each other, the girl put her foot down, let go of the other guy, and pushed him back so hard that he had to take several steps back to avoid falling on his bottom.

“Idiots!” the girl pushed the hair covering her left ear to the back with the dorsal side of her hand.

Deciding to ignore the insult coming from the girl, the two men apologized for attacking her and went ahead to talk to their old friend, Anta.

“We are here for Sagurou, the guild’s master and the famous swordsman.” The old witch said.

“What business do you have with him? He is not even willing to talk to someone without getting money in exchange.” The man replied.

“I know that very well. We’ll pay him.”

“The girl will also need better clothing. Master believes that talking to lower-class people ruins his image, so he doesn’t accept just anyone. He changed a lot during the last couple of years.”

A beautiful dark-haired young lady, who worked as the receptionist of the guild, came to say hello.

“Good morning, you two. Thanks for visiting us. May I help you? Do you need a change of clothes perhaps?” She bowed respectfully.

“I don’t, but the girl needed some for quite a long time now. I’m tired of washing the same clothes over and over again.” Anta replied as she urged the two young girls to leave by waving at them.

 

*

 

The girls were now alone in a back room filled with closets.

“How am I supposed to choose what to wear?” Saori seemed very confused as if most of the clothes the guild had were something completely new to her.

“Here, I will help you for a small fee.” The black-haired receptionist, her name Leyla, grabbed a pair of red shorts, some long boots, and a very short kimono with a white and red checkered pattern, “I think this will look good on you.”

Something about being face-to-face in a room alone with this new girl made Saori blush. She was surprisingly nice and her feminine young features were something she hadn’t seen in a long time. Her silky rich hair full of volume was caught in a long ponytail that was falling down her left shoulder.

Leyla also had a straight scar on her right eye as a result of a cut from a previous battle. She was not blind as only a bit of the forehead and the cheek had been damaged.

The clothes were relatively tight and in two colors, black and white, offering her the look of a female butler.

“Holy crap, you’re hot!” The compliment came from Saori unexpectedly.

Leyla closed her eyes and smiled, then grabbed the beast girl by the hand and forcefully changed her clothes.

“How do you like it?”

Saori was now in front of the window in her new clothes, but with her chest completely revealed due to the relatively small size of the kimono.

“Huh?! Don’t you see my chest is completely naked? Did you hit your head?”

The girl behind her grabbed the beast girl’s boobs with her fingers firmly pushed into the balloons and whispered, “I need to get my fee before we cover those tits, correct? I’ll give you a special kind of red top to wear underneath the kimono that belonged to me after this.”

Saori was pushed onto a chair in the corner of the room.

“Wait for a second, gorgeous random lady! If you are really that thirsty for fresh pussy, then I’m not paying any money. Is that clear?”

“I don’t need money, I need your inner juices.”

The hot words along with the girl’s angelic voice made Saori blush again and smile.

“Nice white fangs you’ve got there. Now if you don’t mind, I will start now.” Leyla pushed her ponytail on the back, kneeled, pulled the white-haired girl’s pants down, then buried her face into her crotch.

“Ohhh, amazing.” Saori was taken aback by the overwhelming pleasure and arched her back, “I-I-I don’t mind getting used to this”.

The more aroused she got, the more the beast girl’s claws grew.

 

*

 

After taking longer than expected, the two girls came back to the main room where Anta and a few adventurers were sitting together at the bar to catch up. The criminal she had brought was not on the floor anymore, he had been taken away.

“Who the heck said you could grab my head like that and then let yourself go all over my face?!” Leyla was using a handkerchief to wipe the liquid off her angry face.

“Come on… You can’t blame me. This was a first for me…” Saori defended herself, “But you know, I really liked it.”

The two men speaking with Anta were not surprised by what they heard and saw, betraying the fact that this was probably not the first time this happened.

“ANTAAAAAAAA!” the old woman got hugged from the back as soon as she heard her name. Saori had an innocent smile and her mind was far away.

“You youngsters get happy for no real reason, I swear. But at least you can still enjoy life even after everything you’ve been through.”

A more muscular adventurer coughed in order to grab their attention.

“This is very important… You mentioned the girl wants to train with Sagurou. You need to know that he is rumored to have extremely strict and harsh coaching.”

He got close to her ear and whispered, “There is a rumor going around that several of his students died during his training. If you are not fit enough to wield the sword like him, then you will die trying, and nobody can wield a sword like him. I will kindly ask you to reconsider doing this. She’s just a girl.”

“Stop it. He’s here.” Another adventurer intervened after swallowing the last drop and smashing his beer mug to the table.

A chill ran down the beast girl’s spine. Saori could feel his presence even with her back at him. She smiled as she gently let go of Anta and turned around to face the legendary swordsman.

“What an ignorant kid. Who does she think she is?” a random dude at the table judged the girl when he saw how cocky and excited she was.

“What the heck?!” the people around were shocked by her gesture.

Saori had stretched her hand toward Sagurou and invited him to try her.

“I bow in the face of such greatness. I shall prove my worth. Therefore, I kindly ask you to take your best shot.” She bowed slightly with her right hand at her chest and the left arm stretched to the side.

The old witch stood up to stop her from doing something reckless that could get her killed, “Are you crazy, kid?! How can you—”

“SILENCE!” Saori cut Anta short, defying her expectations.

This was the first time she saw Saori so serious and determined.

As she took a fighting position, the beast’s fangs, claws, and ears started to grow slowly once again, revealing her fearful and overwhelming aura that only the puppeteer had felt before.

“I have to warn you. If you don’t come to me with the intent of killing, you might just die.”

“Whhhhaaaaaaaaaaat?!” the jaw-drop situation shocked everyone. The girl was now the center of attention and nobody could take their eyes off her.

“I have been waiting for this moment. It has been too long since my last fight. I am a predator, after all. I love fighting, especially when lives are at stake. It makes me tremble from excitement.” The beast girl said as she moved her left foot from the side to the back for better balance and to close the openings. She already knew that he was going to attack just by listening to his heartbeat.

“SOMEONE STOP THAT BRAT!” an adventurer screamed.

“It’s too late.” Leyla intervened. “Well, at least I got to taste her crotch.” The girl turned around knowing for sure that this was the girl’s end. Sagurou wasn’t the type of man to forgive such impudence.

“Come out.” The voice belonging to the guild’s master was weak, almost as if it belonged to a lifeless grandpa in his very last days, yet he didn’t look old.

As requested, Saori went outside, followed by several adventurers that made sure none else was around to get hurt.

“Drenched in the pain of our lives, we became who we are now. Not a year has passed without me learning from the mistakes I’ve made.” Saguro positioned his right foot forward, bent his knees slightly, and grabbed the handle of his sword.

“Yes!” Saori was happy. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Fighting the strong was what made her feel alive. Not to mention that meeting this master, also helped her vaguely remember things of the past as if it wasn’t the first time they met.

“May the gods forgive those who don’t deserve to be slayed by my blade, but die foolishly not knowing their place.” As he said those words, the guild’s master unleashed his sword gradually increasing its speed.

The sword appeared to be extremely shiny because he managed to reflect the light from the sun in such a way that he forced everyone around him to close their eyes. By using the moment perfectly to his advantage, he swung his sword closing the seven meters distance between him and the girl in just under a second.

It was something a mere human should have never been able to achieve no matter the circumstances. Yet, this man’s expertise with the sword was at such a high level that his average physical ability was easily overshadowed. He didn’t need to move his feet to get close to the girl as he cut through space and time teleporting himself in front of his opponent where he could reach the beast girl’s body with ease.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Most people thought Saori was already dead, but Anta still had faith. She knew that this challenge was something the girl needed to overcome if she wanted to have a chance at stopping the apocalypse of the witches.

“Incredible, young lady.” Sagurou’s sword had been broken by the beast girl. She had kept her eyes open the whole time in order to survive the overwhelming attack of her future master. It was a painful experience, and as a result, her watery eyes were burning. She used all her outstanding senses to deflect the attack, yet she felt that he still showed mercy.

“Y-Y-You didn’t go all out. Is that right?” Saori asked angrily.

“Hmm, you’ll probably never find out. Ha, ha! Well done, miss. You passed. I shall train you to the best of my abilities, but I need to be paid accordingly.”

The master knew this girl from a long time ago. They had only met once in the darkest of times. He owed his life to her.