Daily Life With A Lilim Chapter 20

~Cards On The Table~

Liam Ishwar Callaghan was born the son of an Irish Catholic father and Indian Hindu mother. While religion didn’t play a major factor in his life growing up it did for his parents to a certain extent. While they didn’t let their individual religious beliefs stop them from finding love they were still rather conservative and raised him the same. It took a significant amount of time and experience for Liam to develop an open mind and vowed never to be that ignorant again.

This thought process played a part in why he pursued journalism as a career path. Back then journalism was actually a respected career and by the definition of their job description investigate and report on the truth. Of course that wasn’t the case now (or perhaps it never really was) as after getting a few jobs in certain mainstream media outlets he realized that modern journalism has unfortunately become subjective. With information becoming more easily available from multiple sources it has come to light that mainstream media was rife with paid shills, hacks and activists pushing their own agenda.

It was so bad that at one point Liam became ashamed and regretful of his choice in career path and thought about abandoning his journalism career before it even took off proper. Thankfully he only ended up abandoning his job at the mainstream media outlet to instead invest his time in creating a YouTube channel with a focus on journalism. Through time, effort, experimentation, trial and error he eventually found his niche and built his brand becoming a very successful journalist content creator with three channels all sporting big subscriber numbers and monthly viewership.

Throughout his journey to get to this point in his life Liam has learned to never take anything at face value, never judge a book by its cover, never judge a person by their online persona, don’t bow to peer pressure and always do his due diligence.

This brings him to his relationship with Amelia.

They met at a convention and immediately hit it off. Afterwards they kept in contact, went on a few dates and eventually moved in together. This was the point in time that Liam learned certain things about Amelia’s lifestyle and personality that were a bit off putting to the average person. Specifically Amelia was someone free spirited and liberal especially with her sexuality. Some would call her a degenerate, a term that she wasn’t at all bothered by.

Amelia laid it on particularly thick with Liam as a kind of test to see whether or not he would stick around. He almost failed said test as there were points in their relationship that Liam really considered breaking it off. However regardless of what she did or how she acted Liam just could not muster up a good enough reason to. Being with Amelia the pros outweighed the cons and he also believed that the ‘cons’ were just his personal discomfort when faced with something he lacked experience with or didn’t understand.

In Amelia’s case it was how liberal she was in expressing her sexuality, hobbies which include watching anime and hentai, doing raunchy cosplay, having an OnlyFans account and even considerations into doing porn content that came off as serious at the time. Liam was someone who always had and valued order in his life and Amelia was basically chaos wrapped in a sexy package. He did not subscribe to the allegory of ‘opposites attract’ when it came to relationships but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit the friction caused by their opposing personalities did not make for exciting times in their relationship.

In the infamous and meme worthy words of Todd Howard it just works and in a weird sort of way they balance each other out complimenting their strengths while covering their weaknesses. Together they managed to carve out a path for their relationship up until he proposed to her two years ago. With that wedding date looming in the not-so distant future Liam was both anticipating and dreading what fresh new ‘excitement’ this next chapter in their lives together would bring.

There was never a scenario where he would be sitting in a room with his fiancée, his friend and his friends girlfriend who turned out to be an actual succubus princess form another dimension explaining to him how the latter’s existence was even possible and also how his fiancée wanted to be like her. Once again his eyes are drawn to the white haired succubus standing in the corner and swallowed as he beheld Ezraphel and the idea that Amelia could become something like that was…admittedly very enticing.

Despite what he’s clearly seeing as well as listening intently to what Stan and Amelia were saying Liam still found the situation to be…well…fucking unbelievable.

“Hey” suddenly his head was turned back around to a frowning Amelia “do I need to put you in a neck brace?”

“I can’t help it?”

“It is fine Amelia, I am used to men staring at me” Ezraphel (un)helpfully admitted.

Amelia looked to the woman however her irritation slowly turned as she gave her a once over and biting her lip she grumbled “you know it would really help if you just went back to your human form.”

“I fear that if I were to do that Liam will attempt to dissuade himself from believing what he has already bore witness to.”

“…what?”

“She means that the situation is so ridiculous that if he’s not confronted with the proof that is her true form then he will deny it ever existed as a way to protect his mind and rationalize everything.”

“Hey I’m not so mentally fragile” Liam scowled yet his eyes strayed to Ezraphel yet again only to look away when he felt more than he saw Amelia’s glare.

“No but you’re still a man” she deadpanned.

Thankfully Stan interjected “also if you’re going through with this best that he gets used to seeing her.”

“This is so cap.”

“Liam…” Amelia trailed off with a worried expression having clearly been agonizing over his reaction.

Stan on the other hand “hey man I get it, I’ve been with Ez for months and I wake up sometimes wondering if I didn’t just snapped at some point and this is all just in my head.”

“Stan that is not at all as reassuring as you think it is” Liam answered.

The other man shrugged “I’m just telling the truth.”

“You seem fine with it.”

“I do don’t I? I can assure you though I am not okay with this at all but it’s too late to prevent it and I can’t really force them to stop. This is Amelia’s decision and Ez is all for it.”

Yes Amelia’s decision to become a monster girl…mamono…whatever. They threw a lot of things at him at once so there was a lot to unpack and he was still processing it all. He understood the main points though. Ezraphel is a succubus princess from another dimension who ended up in Stan’s backyard after messing with a spell (better add magical to her description) and began cohabitating with him. Eventually they started a relationship with rather confusing dynamics since he called her his girlfriend yet she calls him her husband.

The reason why he looked so different from when they last met was because Ezraphel turned him into an Incubus. Now Amelia wanted to become a mamono like Ezraphel and they hinted that Liam will eventually become an Incubus like Stan. Speaking of, Stan was clearly as uncomfortable with this prospect as Liam was. Really it was the women who were pushing for this.

‘Jesus Christ…’ he covered his mouth with his hands and released a slow breath through his mouth then looked to his fiancée.

“Is this really what you want?”

“Yes” she replied with no hesitation before her features became more bashful “but if you don’t want me to go through with this…”

“No, I’m not…” he trailed off with a sigh “you see how weird this is right?”

“Oh most definitely” she agreed.

“I’m still processing.”

“We don’t have to do it tonight if you do not wish to” Ezraphel spoke up “I am available to continue this whenever and wherever you are comfortable. I have already halted the spread of corruption in Amelia’s body and mana core.”

“Yeah see we don’t have to rush-wait a minute” Amelia cut herself off “mana core? What’s that?”

Ezraphel seems to have been caught off guard by the question before realization hit her “oh I forgot to explain. As a result of your monsterization you are developing a mana core to facilitate the Demonic Energy cursing through your body.”

“Does that mean I can use magic?” she said with some excitement.

“Amy…” Liam said with exasperation.

“This is important Liam” she interrupted before giving the Lilim an expectant look “so is magic on the table?”

Unfortunately Ezraphel dashed whatever hope she had “no, unlike humans from my dimension your core is still a bit too specialized at the moment to manipulate mana. You will only be able to even attempt spells after becoming a mamono.”

Amelia slumped “well that sucks.”

“While you may not be able to do spells as you are now you will be better off physically, mentally and spiritually than you were before.”

“Well there’s that I guess.”

Liam could only shake his head.

“Let’s stay on topic people” Stan interrupted with a clap looking to Liam “if I may put my two cents into this. As much as I absolutely hate how this came about and I can’t believe I’m saying this, objectively speaking there isn’t really a downside to her going through with this.”

“Only an ethical one” Liam added.

“Ethical?” Amelia frowned.

Liam looked her in the eye “you’re basically giving up your humanity”

Liam can see the writing on the wall because if Ezraphel and other dimensions actually exist then wouldn’t that mean there was a God, Satan, Heaven and Hell?

“Eeh…” attention turned to Stan as he made a so-so gesture before pausing in consideration “you want my opinion on that?”

The couple gave each other a look before Amelia reluctantly nodded to Liam’s mild surprise.

“Humanity is overrated” Stan began then scowled at the looks he received “I’m not just saying that because I’m not human anymore. I think out there in some other universe having your humanity and keeping it against all temptation has some higher meaning but honestly this world ain’t it chief.”

Now Liam’s interest is peak “how’d you figure?”

He glanced at Ezraphel “well I have it on moderately good authority that we don’t have a God watching over us right now.”

Liam recoiled and looked to Ezraphel who had a look of mild discomfort as she nodded “not to say that there has never been any Gods however all signs point to them either being dormant, absent or…” she trailed off.

“Dead” Stan finished “God is dead. Either that or he’s taking a sabbatical or fucked off to greener pastures. Point is there ain’t no Gods watching our every move and judging us for our decisions. Not that being human is doing us any favors right now what with all the wars, murders, other heinous crimes and just the general stupidity collectively committed by people literally every day on sites like Twitter and Reddit.”

Liam didn’t know how to react to that but luckily Amelia wasn’t so stunned by this revelation.

“Get to the point” Amelia continued impatiently not liking how Stan captivated Liam’s attention.

“The point is I’m an Incubus but I’m still Stan fucking Berkowitz at my core” his frowned deepened “the only difference between me as a human and me now is that I’m in the best shape of my life physically and mentally, can be successfully sociable if I cared to be, people find me attractive and I’m a bonafide sex machine.”

“…” the couple gave him a collective deadpan stare.

“Tell em Ez”

“It’s true~” the Lilim half gushed with a blush on her face and bashful sinuous motions with her tail.

Amelia who looked she had an onset headache coming on spoke after a moment “again I ask that you get to the point.”

“Ezraphel’s method of monsterization doesn’t make you become a different person” he looked to Liam “if that’s what you think ‘losing her humanity’ means. She’ll be the same unbearable wannabe porn star slob you’ve unfortunately fallen in love with…only objectively more beautiful and ten times as horny.”

“You could have just said that from the beginning” Amelia groused.

“Context” Stan stated plainly.

Their budding argument was interrupted by Liam “are you sure becoming an Incubus didn’t change you?”

“Yeah I’m a lot less miserable than I used to be.”

“That’s debatable” Amelia muttered not so silently.

“The only reason why I’m like this is  because I think if I ever allow myself to get too comfortable something will go horribly wrong. For example, yesterday I thought I’d relax with some friends and one of them ended up fucking corrupted because of a stupid and completely avoidable mistake.”

Behind him Ezraphel flinched and Amelia opened her mouth only for the Lilim to wave her off though her expression showed her appreciation. Amelia clicked her mouth shut but still glared heavily at the man who unfortunately had Liam’s complete attention.

“But I’m not exactly a fair comparison since Ezraphel has been the main driving force behind my change” he huffed “with her around I would have ended up like this even if I didn’t become an Incubus, just less attractive, less fit and less horny” he took a deep breath “like I said I honestly don’t see an objective reason for Amelia not to go through with it at this point. The only thing I’d be worried about is the type of person Amelia is and while I don’t trust her not to fuck it up I trust you to reign her in like you always do when she goes too far.”

“Hey!”

“I also trust Ezraphel not to let her fuck it up” he turned to the woman who looked like a deer caught in the headlights “I can accept you had a really bad lapse in judgment that caused this and I know you’ll never allow something like this to happen again” he pointed at Amelia “and that means taking responsibility for her and ensuring she doesn’t do something that would expose us, right?”

Ezraphel took a moment before she nodded regaining her confidence “right!”

“Good and that’s my take” he stated before adding “but honestly Liam, would it really matter to you if she’s a Mamono? Would you love her any less?”

“Of course not” he answered and laughed at the surprised expression of his fiancée “I just needed time to process and to make sure that this isn’t something that will put you in danger.”

“Eh…” Stan began only to be interrupted by Amelia.

“Shut up Stan!” Amelia interrupted then turned to Liam and asked with hope in her voice “then you’re okay with this?”

Liam sighed once again before his eyes trailed to Ezraphel looking more in contemplation “I still don’t really know what to make of all this but if it’s not dangerous and you’re willing to go through with it then I’ll support you.”

As she stared into his eyes Amelia couldn’t help but think to herself ‘why does this seem so familiar?’

Eventually she realized that they have been through this before. Earlier in their relationship when they first moved in and he got to experience the full brunt of her eccentricities. He wasn’t so sure about the future of their relationship back then but he took a leap of faith and he’s doing it now which really wasn’t bad.

‘I guess that’s all I can really ask for anyway.’

A cough interrupted their moment and the couple turned back to Stan “alright so now that we got that all settled you two need to hash out a time and date for when you want to do this. I suggest clearing your calendar for the week. I am not joking when I say you’ll need it believe that. If you have any questions on Mamono culture and what to expect after the transformation talk to Ez. Liam you want to know what to expect living with a hentai monster girl, talk to me. Until then we’re leaving.”

The two did not leave as they arrived, through the door and instead they disappeared in a flash of light.

~Logistics~

Amelia and Liam looked at the spot where they disappeared before meeting each other’s eyes.

“Why are you friends with him again?”

“Hey Stan is an alright guy once you get past the prickly exterior.”

“Really? Cause I’ve known him for like two years now and he’s still the biggest asshole I know.”

“It helps if you don’t antagonize him.”

“Hmm…nope.”

That drew an exasperated chuckle out of him and for a moment they fell into silence. Amelia was prepared for Liam to be freaking out but he did not immediately broach the subject and instead held a look of contemplation as he seemed to mull over his thoughts. It seemed as if he was building up to something and the anticipation was making her anxious so in an impulsive move she nudged his shoulder with her own.

“What are you thinking about?”

He brushed the top of his head “still processing I guess.”

“…are you mad?”

“No” he said immediately “I guess I’m just still a little confused” he paused “and hurt.”

“Hurt?”

“That you didn’t tell me about this sooner. Were you even planning to tell me before you went through with it?”

Amy winced and looked away in shame. It wasn’t explicitly stated but Liam was smart enough to read between the lines of the situation.

“I…to be honest I didn’t know how you’d react to all this” she waved her hand “I didn’t want to start having second thoughts and I figured if I just went along with it you’d have to either accept it or…leave.”

“Jesus Christ Amy.”

‘There it is’ she thought miserably.

Amelia knew she was really pushing Liam’s patience this time around. It’s the reason why she didn’t really want to reveal her decision to him until it was already done.

‘In hindsight that would have been pretty messed up.’

Especially now that Liam wouldn’t have been able to reject her as a mamono even if he wanted to and let’s be honest Amelia probably definitely wouldn’t allow him to reject her in the first place which brought up some uncomfortable thoughts.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Liam’s next words “do you think so little of me?”

“What!? No I just…” she trailed off before slumping “I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“It’s fine…no its not” he amended after a pause “we’re supposed to talk things over before either of us make these kinds of life changing decisions that affects us.”

“I knooow” Amelia gave a muffled groan as she lowered her face into her palms.

When she didn’t continue Liam spoke “for the record I’m not mad with you but I am disappointed. I shouldn’t be hearing about this stuff from Stan.”

And wasn’t that a punch to the gut? She was saved from a bad decision making a dicey scenario much worse because Stan decided to show up at their room uninvited and uncaring of her opinion or the delicate nature of her situation to force everyone to lay their cards on the table and talk to one another. She supposed it could have been worse and with Stan that was definitely a possibility but she couldn’t really do anything about it besides moving forward.

“I’m sorry.”

He grasped her hand rubbing his thumb over her knuckles “I don’t want to dwell on this. We still have a lot to go over.”

“Right”.

Amelia knew this was bound to come up again at some point but he was right, they had a lot to unpack. Thankfully they didn’t end up devolving into shouting, the tension didn’t spike and for the most part their conversation to be a pleasant affair overall. Their conversation touched on a great many things and Amelia was ashamed to admit that a lot of the topics brought up are ones she didn’t really think about although she really should.

Liam steered their discussion towards how their relationship will go moving forward. How she would have to be under a disguise at all times in public settings. Considering their entire livelihood revolves around them posting pictures and videos of themselves that will forever be available for public scrutiny really doesn’t paint a stable picture. Then the topic went to a more distant future, one that involved kids. Neither of them was interested in having kids at the moment they both knew it was an eventuality especially given how procreation plays a vital role in mamono instincts.

They would never be able to have a son and since their kid will definitely be a mamono 100% this meant specialized birthing conditions but beyond that that their daughter would also need to be under disguise for the rest of her life. The idea that their future daughter would need to keep her true self hidden from the public had Amelia wondering whether she was making the best decision here.

Amelia was intimately familiar with the idea of hiding behind a fake persona so as to avoid public scrutiny. She wasn’t referring to her current self as a rather provocative content creator as said persona was closer to her real self than the person she pretended to be in the past during her teenage years. Nowadays she could care less about what other people thought about her but the idea that she would be subjecting her future child to these constraints did not sound appealing in the slightest.

Then she started to think more of herself and how she would essentially once again be hiding behind a mask, this one very literal. Strictly speaking Amelia wasn’t some clout chasing attention whore who documents her entire life to put on the internet but at the same time she didn’t take well to the idea of forced censorship especially when it will hide an important aspect of herself.

The doubts started manifesting however before it could truly fester she paused, took a step back from the brink and shifted her thoughts in another direction. The answer to her reasoning behind the decision to become a Mamono can be found in a single rhetorical question:

Why would a woman in her mid twenties living in the modern earth in the 202X give up her humanity to become an ostentatiously beautiful, quasi immortal and magically gifted creature of myth?

Amelia didn’t need to become a mamono. It was explained to her that despite being infected with Demonic Energy it was made clear that said infection can be staved off for the rest of her natural life so it wasn’t as if she would be in danger of monsterization if she declined. Amelia spent a significant amount of time attempting to rationalize her decision only to come to the conclusion that she didn’t have a moral imperative or unavoidable need to support her argument.

Her decision to become a mamono was rooted in selfishness, vanity and jealousy specifically towards Ezraphel who is a beautiful, graceful and powerful woman that practically oozes charisma and sensuality from her pores. She is someone who despite being under moral and physical constraints is still unabashedly content and happy with her lot in life. Frankly anyone who can unironically wax poetic about their relationship with someone like Stan Berkowitz with such passion was someone clearly happy with themselves.

Amelia wanted that.

She wanted to be ostentatiously beautiful without the heavy maintenance.

She wanted to not have to worry about the little things.

She wanted to be passionate about her relationship at all times.

She didn’t want to worry about sickness, age or death.

And yes she wanted to learn magic.

But above all else she wanted to feel good about herself without the nagging doubts.

She wanted to become a mamono because it looked like genuine fun and for all that she was warned of the drawbacks as well as the potential negative effects being a mamono would have on herself, her relationship and her future the pros outweigh the cons in her eyes.

Does that make her a bad person?

Maybe.

Does it make her selfish?

Sure but it’s her decision.

She made her bed and she’s prepared to lay in it.

Frankly she could not wait for it to happen.

Once she came to this conclusion and told Liam of this point blank with a straight face she was surprised to find him relieved.

“Good.”

“Good?”

Amelia didn’t know what to think of this at first since she assumed he would be erring on the side of sanity. He’s the one who seemed the most unsure about all this and he ended up being the one to bring up all the hard questions that ultimately cast doubt on her decisions. It made it seem as if his initial support was just him deferring to her as a means of not wanting to state his negative opinion that would cause a friction between them.

“I mean your reasons could have been more…” he made a so-so gesture with his hands “you know, ethical but honestly I just wanted to make sure that you were sure about this.”

“Seriously?” she said in disbelief “I just admitted I wanted to become an inhuman sex monster because of reasons that are entirely selfish.”

“So? Babe I’d follow you to hell if you wanted.”

“Really?”

“…well no I would probably end up dragging you out of there once you realize how stupid it would be and I’d admit you to a psyche ward for your own safety.”

Amelia couldn’t help but snort at that “my hero” she faked swooned.

In hindsight she could see why he would be this way. After all it wouldn’t have been the first time she made an impulsive decision only to be brought back from the brink by his rationalization. There were actually more examples than she’d like to admit of this very same phenomena happening throughout their relationship so him being unsure and highly skeptical made much more sense.

“No but seriously you wanting to become a Mamono might not be for the right reasons but fuck it we’re only human” he shrugged “and I don’t think Ezraphel’s deal is necessarily bad all things considered.”

“You think so?”

“I mean it’s not like you’re investing in crypto and NFTs” he quipped.

Amelia snorted “that’s not fair. Ezraphel’s deal is way better than those things.”

“Yeah you can actually physically see and touch the results for one” he agreed.

The two of them had a laugh at before Liam coughed in his fist “speaking as a red blooded man I find the prospect of you becoming a sexy monster girl waifu devoted to me and always down for sex to be very…appealing to my male sensibilities.”

Amelia said nothing for a long moment before eventually nodding to herself “fair enough.”

“Cool so Stan mentioned we’ll need to clear our timetable for a week before you can do the thing.”

Amelia couldn’t help but feel relief as they managed to get through the heavier topics with level head intact. Now they can move on to the logistics of how they would go about preparing for her transformation.

“Are we doing anything important next week?”

“You have livestreams and I have to record for the podcast and weekly news report not to mention whatever drama pops up this week.”

Amelia clicked her tongue in annoyance, the perils of being an active content creator.

“I can postpone the livestreams for the week.”

Even as she said this her thoughts turned to how she could use her newfound transformation to make content.

‘Will I look different with the disguise on?’

She’d rather not look like her current self to be honest. Whatever enhancements to her body and appearance she would receive from the transformation she’d like to keep minus any extra features so to speak.

Her thoughts were cut off by a yawn and a moment after she glanced at her phone and winced “it’s late.”

“Yeah” Liam agreed “let’s talk about this tomorrow.”

~Reassurance~

The second to last day of their weekend much like the day prior started off with a thunderstorm. As always Liam woke up first and to avoid disturbing his partner he opted to do his morning calisthenics elsewhere. To that end he ventured to the living room where he found a surprising sight.

“Stan?”

“Sup” the other man grumbled from his place lounging on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table and his laptop on his thighs.

“Good morning” to say that he was surprised to see him would be an understatement “you’re up early.”

“Didn’t sleep” he clarified.

That gave the man pause “were you down here the entire night?”

“Yep.”

As someone who pulled his fair share of all-nighters and seen what the effects of them look like in others he knew what to look for and Stan looked remarkably good. His observations did not go unnoticed by the other man.

“Something on your mind? You keep staring” Stan spoke without taking his eyes off of the screen.

“Just thinking why you spent the night down here is all.”

“This is punishment.”

‘Punishme-oh!’

Liam raised an eyebrow “what did you do to piss Ezraphel off?”

Stan rolled his eyes “this is my punishment for her.”

“What?”

“She did something incredibly stupid so I’m punishing her for it.”

“You’re punishing her by sleeping on the couch?” he reiterates for clarification.

“I’m punishing her by not being in close contact or showing her affection.”

“…”

At his dubious look Stan shook his head “it’s a Mamono thing you wouldn’t understand…but I guess you should since you’re going to be in the same boat as me pretty soon” another pause before her rubbed his eyes “god this is so fucked.”

Liam had something to say about the phrasing of how he described his punishment but thought better of it instead he went on topic.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Well it’s as good a time as any.”

He did a few clicks on his laptop before closing it down and after fixing his posture turned on the TV for some background noise. Liam took a seat near him on the adjacent three seater sofa.

“So what do you want to know first?”

“What exactly am I in for with this?”

Stan blew out through his mouth as he stretched “where do I even begin?”

“You said we’d need to clear a week out of our schedule.”

“Yeah, I don’t recommend going through this if you have something important to do that week.”

Liam scratched his chin “that’s not necessarily a problem though I still have to record the podcast.”

“Cancel it” Stan interrupted.

“What?”

“Or let the others do it without you” he continued.

“Why?”

“I can almost guarantee you won’t be making an appearance on that podcast if Amelia’s is turned before you record it.”

“Again I ask why? I can’t take like two hours out of the day?”

“Nope because you’ll be preoccupied with feeding Amelia.”

Liam blinked “explain.”

“Okay so my knowledge of how recently turned humans react after becoming mamono is a little choppy but I’m erring on the side of caution. Truth is you might not actually need the week but it’s better to be safe than sorry and you can use the extra days to help Amelia get her shit together.”

“Wait a minute I thought that was what the week was for.”

“What?”

“Getting our shit together” he stated “giving Amelia time to adapt to the changes, getting her a disguise.”

He cut himself off as Stan abruptly started chuckling “oh you thought that’s what the week was for? Oh no Liam” he breathed “the week is the amount of time you need to set aside to satisfy Amelia after she turns.”

“…what?”

“Dude Mamono are nymphomaniacs who literally feed on semen and I know for a fact that recently monsterized ones are particularly horny and hungry after their transformation.”

Liam’s jaw worked in silence for a moment as he let that sink in before ultimately asking “yeah but seriously, a week?”

“Hey that’s how long it took me to satisfy Ezraphel the first time we had proper sex. Shit we still go at it for a few days every now and then.”

“…I don’t believe you.”

“Liam look me in the eyes, do I seem like I’m bullshitting you right now?”

Liam did and the realization had him recoiling “oh my God.”

‘What did I get myself into?’

“Dude relax.”

“Easy for you to say” he mumbled “no offense man but I can’t afford to lose whole days fucking my fiancée.”

“Yeah, yeah because you have a social life” Stan waved dismissively “well the good news is your situation won’t be as severe as mine.”

“It won’t?”

“Ezraphel and I are a special case. It just so happens that Lilims are more insatiable than the average Mamono and I have a more or less fluid schedule so I can afford to spend days fucking her” he ended with a sigh rubbing the back of his neck “or I just make excuses not to go through it at all.”

…for some reason Stan’s face looked really punchable in that moment.

“So just to clarify Amelia won’t be like that?”

Stan shook his head “no at least not outside of that first encounter or special occasions” he shrugged.

“What special occasions?”

“I don’t know man pick your poison: birthdays, holidays, anniversary, definitely your honeymoon. Just think of the kind of celebration or event where Amelia would have the excuse to fuck you for an entire day.”

Liam had to take a minute to rationalize his words which was quite difficult as they were just…so…ridiculous.

“I don’t know if I should feel relieved or terrified” he then groaned “I can’t believe I’m using the word ‘terrified’ to describe having sex with my future wife.”

“That means you’re one of the rare few men who think with the head on their shoulders” Stan nodded “I swear to god we’re a dying breed.”

“What do you mean ‘we’?”

“I’ll have you know I managed to endure almost two months living with Ezraphel actively trying to seduce me without falling to temptation.”

Two months?

‘Holy shit!’

“Wow, that’s…actually admirable.”

“Fucking right” Stan said smugly before pointing at him “also just because Amelia won’t be as insatiable as Ez doesn’t mean she won’t try to have sex with you every chance she gets. Mamono are perpetually horny and semen is their main diet.”

“If that’s the case then what’s the difference between her and Ezraphel?”

“The difference is Amelia might need two maybe three cumshots to get her satiated for the day as opposed to six.”

Liam boggled at him “that is insane!”

“Don’t take my words as facts I’m only making an educated guess here” he paused “be grateful I still keep count of how many times I nut inside my girlfriend and how long it takes for her to become ‘hungry’ again.”

“I didn’t want to know that.”

Stan ignored him to continue “frankly it’s unfair to compare normal Mamono to Lilims” he shook his head “they’re just built different.”

“I’ll take your word for it” Liam said hesitantly glad that they’re moving on.

“Just keep in mind that after she becomes a Mamono you’ll be dealing with an Amelia dialed up to one hundred especially if she’s serious about learning magic” he clarified.

The reminder had Liam blink “I almost forgot about the magic thing.”

“Yeah” Stan scowled “word to the wise you need to double down on keeping her tendencies in check Liam. I know it might come off as being overbearing but trust me if you give Amelia an inch she will take more than a mile. And having access to reality warping magic will definitely make her bolder.”

“Jesus, how did you deal with that with Ezraphel?”

“I didn’t” he scowled “the spell that brought Ezraphel here drained her reserves so she couldn’t use magic without taking spirit energy.”

“What’s that?”

“In this context human mana inside semen basically” he explained

“Oh” he made a face before moving on “so she couldn’t use magic?”

“No and I wasn’t going to give her the means to do it without the assurance that she was on the level you know.”

“So she was basically like a normal woman then?”

“Hell no, magic or no magic Ezraphel is still outrageously strong” he scowled “in hindsight I was pretty fucking lucky she just didn’t get fed up with my bullshit and rape me.”

Liam winced at his explanation “that sounds terrible.”

“It was, I had to keep her at bay with airsoft rounds, verbal abuse and the threat of violence.”

The more he spoke the more Liam could see how uncomfortable reliving the whole ordeal was to him so he decided to change course.

“So everything worked out I’m guessing, since if it didn’t well…” he really didn’t want to think of the alternative.

“Yeah everything worked out” he sighed “and I think it would have only worked out with her too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ezraphel really didn’t have to put up with me the way she did especially after she got her magic back. If it were any other Mamono we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Worse if it were any other Lilim we would be seeing a full on Mamono incursion about right now.”

Liam’s mind immediately went to an army of horny monster women slinging magic invading cities across the world and cringed.

“W-we’re getting off topic” he half stuttered.

“Right” Stan paused “what were we talking about again?”

“What I should expect after Amelia turns” he sighed.

“An Amelia with a higher libido, hypersexual personality, lower inhibitions, the audacity to try outrageous things, the eventual magic to justify doing those outrageous things and an insensitiveness towards human convention in favor of embracing mamono customs” Stan listed off with his fingers.

Liam stared for a moment before speaking with a sardonic tone “Amelia dialed up to eleven right?” he echoed Stan’s words from earlier.

“I’m not saying that she’s going to do a complete 180 with her personality but she’s definitely going to be towing the line between what is and isn’t acceptable in our current society more times than not. Things that she wouldn’t do as a human will suddenly look ‘not that bad’ to her as a Mamono especially when it comes to sex and romance. The onus is going to be on you to check her so she doesn’t do anything that will put the two of you in jeopardy.”

“I guess I really have my work cut out for me then” Liam blew out air from his mouth as he leaned back in the sofa rubbing his face with a groan “you know Stan I was really hoping this talk would reassure me that this would work out.”

“No idea why you’d think talking to me would do that. You know I’m a pessimist right?”

“I guess that’s my bad then.”

Stan looked at the man for a bit before silently cursing to himself “well the good news is that after she turns Amelia will be more or less devoted to you.”

“Isn’t she already?”

Stan scoffed “I’m talking next level devotion. You’ll basically be the most important person to her and she’ll do her level best to make you happy.”

“You know the way you say that makes it feel like there’s a huge caveat.”

“Not necessarily” Stan answered before closing his eyes and sighing “I can’t believe I’m saying this but Amelia is a reasonably smart woman and she’s not ignorant so any faux pas made on her part will have to be a conscious effort.”

“I think that’s enough for now” Liam grumbled with a sigh of his own “unless there’s anything else I should know.”

“Say goodbye to any form of contraceptives from now on and be prepared for a spontaneous pregnancy down the line.”

“…good talk Stan” then he made to stand when Stan stopped him.

“Wait, wait, wait” Stan hurriedly spoke “despite what I say I still believe Amelia becoming a Mamono will ultimately be a good thing.”

That piqued Liam’s interest enough for him to sit down and gesture towards the other man “go on.”

“For one after she turns Amelia will be the second sexiest woman alive.”

Liam rubbed his chin with a hum “there is that.”

“You can also take solace in knowing that your relationship is secured with a lifetime guarantee. You won’t ever have to worry about getting divorced and any rough patches you might go through will solve itself pretty quickly.”

“Speaking from experience?” he half snarked.

“…” Stan’s expression became tight.

The sudden change in the man’s expression had Liam backpedal “shit I’m sorry Stan.”

“No, no that’s…you’re absolutely right about that. This isn’t the first time me and Ez had a falling out this is just the worst. We’ll get past this or at least I will…eventually. Maybe seeing you and Amelia work out will make me feel a little better about the situation or blue balls will get me before that” he shrugged “who the fuck really knows? Until then I think I have the right to give her a hard time.”

“You know we’ve been talking about how Amelia’s going to become a supernatural nymphomaniac and how Ezraphel is a more intense version of that but if that’s true how the hell do you cope with it?”

“It helps that I’m not exactly human anymore.”

“Oh right…how does that work by the way?

“Okay so corruption and monsterization works both ways. For human women they turn into Mamono but for men they become Incubi.”

“Not monster boys?”

“There are no monster boys and the only difference between a human and an Incubus is that Incubi are basically made to be the perfect partners for Mamono.”

“Really?”

“I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I’ve fucked Ezraphel for a week straight dude.”

Liam cringed “kinda hoping you were to be honest.”

“Also my dick is huge.”

Liam massaged his temple “again I did not need to know that.”

“Like a foot long” Stan continued with a smirk.

“That…” Liam trailed off before shaking his head deciding to instead broach another question that was previously on his mind but put on the backburner until now “is that why you look so different?”

“Yep, what you’re looking at is the physical manifestation of Ezraphel’s idealized version of me” he said with a deadpan drawl whilst gesturing to himself.

“I don’t know what to say to that.”

“There’s a psychological element to that too.”

Liam sat up straighter as Stan’s tone shifted to something more grave “really?”

“Yeah Demonic Energy tends to have a psychedelic effect on people, like taking super molly” at Liam’s disturbed expression Stan cursed and amended “shit don’t worry Ezraphel can make it so that those effects don’t show up.”

Liam muttered something incomprehensible before forging on “what psychological effects did it have on you?”

“I’m a lot less awkward about sex.”

“Can you skip all the sexual parts” Liam interrupted.

“I’m a lot more emphatic” he began “I can pick up people’s emotional state better, I don’t have social anxiety, I’m a lot more intuitive about stuff and my confidence is through the roof.”

“Good for you” Liam said before sinking into the couch

“It’s a lot to take in” Stan commented “all this.”

“Does it get any easier?”

“I’m not exactly the benchmark for sanity here but yeah it does get better, adapt and over come and all that.”

Nothing more was said after this and for a long moment the two simply basked in the silence until a particularly loud crash of thunder sounded causing Liam to wince.

“I don’t think we’re going to be lucky enough to get a second pass with this weather.”

Stan waved him off “Ezraphel is going to fix that later.”

“What? Is she going to manipulate the weather or something?” he asked jokingly before pausing “wait, is she?”

“She did it yesterday.”

Liam worked his mouth for a moment before closing his eyes with a shake of his head “right, of course because that makes sense because why not?”

“If there is one thing you will soon come to learn Liam it’s that magic is bullshit. Nonsensical reality warping bullshit.”

‘And Amelia wants to learn how to do it.’

The thought had Liam sinking into his chair in despair.

“Oy vey.”

~Stan Rambo~

As someone who has been on the internet for a decade and a half Stanley has been exposed to a great deal of stupidity and degeneracy that modern humans have to offer. Despite being an unfortunate textbook example of someone who is terminally online Stanley would like to think himself self aware enough not to display the typical symptoms of someone ‘diagnosed’ with that particular ‘illness.’ To that end he has cultivated something of a defense mechanism for keeping his cool when traipsing the internet and happen to find himself embroiled in some kind of online drama.

That defense mechanism is nihilism.

Now one might think it’s a joke but the nihilistic defense mechanism has brought Stanley back from the brink of many a online meltdowns, blowouts, rants and generally making a fool out of himself. Now given how outspoken, vulgar, stubborn and unapologetic he can be one wouldn’t think he could be capable of walking away and they would be right. His pseudo nihilism lets him become emotionally detached allowing his better instincts to take the wheel.

It is the most efficient means of dealing with any online drama by dishing out witty, vitriolic and scathing retorts without the drawback of becoming lost in the sauce. It has made Stanley come out on top of many debates, beefs and attempts to cancel him which started when he first started to do live streaming. Those first months when he gave the world a look into his semi-filtered thoughts were rough.

His brand took a hit, he lost a bunch of subs and made a few enemies although calling a bunch of randoms on the internet his ‘enemies’ was giving them too much credit. At worst they were annoying pests and at best they were a source of entertainment as he does so enjoy dunking on them whenever he’s got nothing else going on at that moment. His various interactions with these faceless morons have become the stuff of legends in his own fanbase and have earned him the respect and notoriety of certain corners of the internet.

With all that said there was an unfortunate drawback to this method that Stanley himself only realized recently and that is this approach to dealing with problems only worked for internet drama. For him it’s become easy to separate his online life from his actual life despite being terminally online because he knows that ultimately online drama doesn’t matter. IRL drama on the other hand was a different beast altogether and this one in particular hits close to home.

His girlfriend infected one of his only friend’s fiancée with what basically amounts to a virus. Regardless of whether or not this was deliberate or accidental was semantics. The point is she betrayed his trust at the exact moment when he let his guard down and Stanley didn’t know how to handle it. He couldn’t go with his usual detached attitude since this does matter. Keeping his distance from her both physically and emotionally was what he decided to go with as punishment for the time being. The other punishments involved verbal and physical abuse. The former would just make him feel bad and the latter made him cringe just thinking about it.

It didn’t feel like it was enough to him. He felt like he should do more just to get the point across but all his ideas would either be ineffective or needlessly cruel. He had to do something or at least he felt the need to do something. Luckily he spent the entire night distracting himself with various different things in an effort to calm his thoughts. It didn’t work out as well as he hoped and he still had all this pent up aggression that needed an outlet to release it. It needed to be something physical he realized which presented a problem in that he didn’t exactly have many options when it came to that.

Sex was out of the question since Ezraphel was on punishment and angry sex without any romantic notions was still sex which would defeat the purpose of the punishment. Nothing short of an intense crossfit workout routine or hitting something really hard continuously would do the trick. There was really only one thing that he can conveniently rely on in that moment and it was airsoft. Unfortunately if the previous outing proved anything it’s that regular airsoft wouldn’t cut it if he wanted to actually blow off steam.

Stan already knew this and thought of a way in which he could get as much from this outing as possible. On their way to the arena he stopped at an ATM making up some bullshit excuse that everyone took at face value. Their arrival at the arena this time was a lot more mundane since Ezraphel chose not to go with them this time. During breakfast she confessed her apathy for airsoft as well as not wanting to stay behind in a room to be ogled by strangers. She’d rather do something constructive and Amelia agreed to as she decided to stay behind with her to help and hang out.

The others took them at their word and if Stan were less cynical he would think Ezraphel was taking his ‘needing space’ to heart but that wasn’t this timeline. Concepts like space and distance don’t mean much when you’re spiritually connected to your significant other who can instantly teleport to your side, go invisible, intangible and fly not to mention whatever other surveillance magic she has at her disposal. Even now Stanley can sense her presence and feel her eyes watching him but he wasn’t really bothered by this. Hard to be mad when you know what’s going to happen and it’s not like he specified to her not to keep an eye on him.

As for Amelia Stan can only imagine what the two of them are getting up to. For all he knew she could be getting a crash course in mamono ethics and be a fully realized monster girl by the time they get back. Stan didn’t know, he did not feel comfortable getting involved in other people’s business so he had a natural aversion towards keeping tabs on a situation. It doesn’t help that said situation was one where he definitely did not want to get involved in yet he had to if he wanted to provide some kind of insurance to his friend.

Not that it mattered either way because Stan was about to do something completely insane and out of left field. When the two teams made it through the prep lobby and just as they were about to decided what game to play (Team Deathmatch) Stan hit them with a curve ball.

“Actually let’s play Rambo” he announced much to the surprise of everyone present.

“What’s Rambo?” Jamie whispered to Kendal who gave him the basic run down.

Rambo is a game type based on the iconic movie where a single player is pitted against a team consisting of 10-30 players in an epic Deathmatch type game. Naturally with such conditions it’s not a game type for the faint of heart. The player or ‘Rambo’ in this situation would have to be ridiculously skilled and the arena needed to compliment a kind of hide and seek play style. Obviously a small CQB arena wasn’t the place for such a game type and Stan’s abilities while good were not perceived to be actually godlike by any of his friends let alone the other team of strangers.

“Everyone here vs. me and I’ll even sweeten the deal” Stan continued reaching into his pocket to draw out a fat stack of bills “I’ve got five grand in hundred dollar bills. If any of you manage to tag me I’ll give each of you a hundred bucks.”

He piqued their curiosity when he first suggested the game type, he had their full interest when he pulled out the money but now with that declaration he had everyone’s attention and consideration.

But before anything more can be said Liam interjected “can you excuse us for a moment?” the started pulling Stan aside with the others following. Once they were out of earshot he hissed “what are you doing?”

“Making this interesting” Stan answered easily enough.

“Stan what’s gotten into you?” Kendal looking a bit worried for her friend.

“Are you actually out of your damn mind?” Kendrick deadpanned.

“Gonna have to agree with Kendrick here man” Jamie said looking very curious at this turn of events.

Stan looked at the only people he called his friends and sighed “alright full disclosure and not to sound like an anime character but the airsoft game yesterday was fucking boring. I literally had to take hits on purpose so I didn’t make the other team feel bad.”

“Are you being serious right now?” Kendal asked in disbelief.

“For what it’s worth I believe him” Jamie defended.

“So what, you want to take on everyone else to what? Give you a challenge?”

“That about sums it up, yeah” he nodded.

Kendrick stared at him in disbelief “you really are sounding like an anime character right now and that is fucking cringe.”

Ignoring Kendrick Stan turned to Liam “look man I just really need to blow off some steam right now and worst case scenario you guys end up making some easy money” he said holding up the stack of cash.

Liam didn’t look impressed by it “we don’t want your money.”

“Hey speak for yourself” Kendrick spoke which was expected but the next person certainly wasn’t.

“I agree” Kendal nodded much to Liam’s surprise

“Kendal?”

“What, if he wants to give away money then that’s his prerogative.”

“Gee Kendal don’t I pay you enough already?” Stan dryly replied.

“Yeah but there are these boots I had my eye on for a while now…”

You could feel the other men roll their eyes at her proclamation.

Stan looked to Jamie “what about you, looking to get paid?”

The man simply shrugged “I don’t really care about the money but if you want to Mr. Beast this thing then you do you man. You already know what I’m about.”

“Life, liberty and the pursuit of dubs”

“Damn straight.”

Then the two clacked rifles before Stan’s gaze went to Liam.

For his part the Liam could only shake his head while looking to the ceiling ‘am I truly the only sane person left in this group?’

When God didn’t provide an answer he made a decision “you know what? Fuck it, let’s do it.”

“Yes” Stan did a fist pump

“If only because I know you’ll be a pain in the ass if we don’t do it.”

“In the next couple of minutes it won’t be a ‘what if’ scenario” Stan spoke with a gleam in his eye that went unseen under his dye mask.

“That’s if the other team even agrees to this” Liam said as they made their way to said team.

“We’re in” the other team leader said and Liam’s shoulders slumped while Kendal and Jamie provided moral support by patting him on the back.

With both teams in agreement the rules of the match are as follows:

Players are split into two teams: the lone ‘Rambo’ (Stan) and the ‘Sheriffs’ (everyone else).

The aim of the game is for one side to eliminate the other.

Matches end when the timer runs out or one side loses.

Each match is on a timer of 15 minutes and should the time run out ‘Rambo’ wins.

There are no respawns, everyone has a single life.

At the start of each match Stan will be given two minutes to go into the arena.

After his two minutes are up the others will file into the room in pairs in ten second intervals.

Usually for this game type each team is only allowed certain weapons to even the playing field a bit (machine gun, pistol and knife for Rambo and handguns for sheriffs). In light of circumstances however the Sheriff team isn’t allowed to go full auto with their weapons.

As agreed upon by the two teams if the Sheriff team wins then each player is awarded $100 by the other ‘team.’

Considering that it is a 1v10 in a relatively small CQB arena literally everyone in the sheriff team thought this whole thing was a farce. Stan’s friends thought he was going through a rough patch with his girlfriend (though they don’t know why) and wanted to do something outrageous to blow off some steam.

The other team thought given their recording equipment that they were YouTubers roping them into a stunt for content. They were fine with this especially considering that they would be getting paid for their trouble. They figured they would play a few rounds, get paid and get to do an actual match once they got enough footage for their channels.

They lost this sentiment five minutes into the game when Stan managed to eliminate half of them and then the other half a few minutes afterwards. That first round set the tone for what will eventually be recognized as the most memorable airsoft game for everyone present. For the next two hours Stan danced complete circles around everyone. He crept through the arena with speed, grace and silence that was damn near supernatural. Much like the iconic character that is his team’s namesake Stan stalked the other team ambushing them at points and eliminating everyone with extreme skill.

Every so often he would go the extra mile to assert his dominance over the arena by utilizing tactics straight out of movies and videogames. Talking about parkour, dodge rolls, knee slides, dramatic dives while shooting his handgun, ridiculously accurate blind fires and ricocheting BBs from walls. He seemingly defied reality itself by disappearing behind cover in one place and appearing somewhere else entirely. He’s even employed psychological warfare at points, taunting the others and may have actually traumatized one guy by emulating the Batman from the Arkham games.

It didn’t take the others long to realize that they were up against something different and actually started cooperating against the common enemy who took every opportunity to mock them in good fun.

By the fourth round they started coming up with plans. By the seventh round the ‘good natured’ ribbing from Stan started to get on their nerves. By the tenth round some were calling foul play and accusing Stan of cheating. By the thirteenth and final round they managed to corner him and through what was honestly a fluke finally, finally tagged him with a lucky shot.

“Hit!”

The sound of Stan’s voice was like a gong going off in an empty room. For a moment there was silence brought on by shock and then…

“We got him!” someone from the other team yelled.

“Holy fucking shit!” Kendrick exclaimed having been one of the few to survive this round.

As everyone started to celebrate and/or slump in relief Stan couldn’t help but laugh as he approached the man of the hour who clutched it in the end.

“Whoo, yeah baby! That’s what I’ve been waiting for! That’s what it’s all about! Whooo!” celebrated Jamie.

“You got lucky” Stan scoffed.

“Luck had nothing to do with it and even if it did I’ll take the win baby” Jamie replied easily enough.

Right at that moment the alarm sounded marking the end of the games and the appearance of the others who were eliminated.

“Did we get him?” someone from the other team asked.

“We got him.”

“Oh thank fuck.”

“Yeah, yeah” Stan rolled his eyes “congratulations you guys managed to cobble together a worthless plan and got lucky.”

“Doesn’t matter!” someone shouted in the background.

“We take those.”

“And speaking of which…”

Begrudgingly Stan paid them their money though he took solace in that he only had to do this once and the one to get him ended up being the one least likely to tag him. Not that any of the others cared, to them Stan was like a Soulsborne boss they’ve been stuck on for literal hours and were still high on the euphoria of finally beating him.

Shocking Jamie came up to collect as well to which Stan said “I thought you said you didn’t care about the money.”

“I don’t but it’s the principle” Jamie clarified “I’m going to be framing this bad boy and hanging it up on my wall as a testament to my greatness as the man who fell the legendary Airsoft God.”

“Airsoft God eh?”

“Don’t even start with that shit” Kendrick grumbled behind him.

Stan turned around with a shit eating grin “what’s wrong Kenny reality not working out well for you? I’m gonna miss our banters Kendrick since I think we’ve gotten definitive proof of who is the best Airsofter among us.”

“…you know what? Fine, I’m willing to be the bigger man here and admit that you are better at airsoft.”

“You’re God damn right” he said before walking away like a badass.

As he did he could hear the whispers and felt the stares from players and staff alike as he walked out of the arena. No doubt this event will be talked about for years to come and the fact that they have camera footage of the entire thing will only lend credibility to the no doubt impossible sounding claims.

‘That…might be a problem now that I think about it’ he frowned behind his dye mask before shrugging ‘eh whatever, not like people are going to care too much.’

For as much as Stan didn’t want Ezraphel to end up on a camera and becoming viral the truth is that a lot of seemingly extraordinary things get caught on camera that don’t really get much if any recognition by most of the world. There is always that ever present doubt that what people see is fake or scripted and people have gotten very good at fabricating videos to look authentic.

Still he will admit that he wasn’t exactly in his right mind during that game as he intentionally lost himself in the rush and exhilaration of completing trouncing everyone. As for how he managed to pull it off well, he can say with pride that he did not receive any kind of help from Ezraphel whom he knew was watching him. This was all him and he reveled in that fact but for now he needed to go deposit the money back into the bank.

Because fuck if he’s going to be walking around with four grand in his pocket.

~To Be Continued~

Author’s Notes: Came down with the flu recently so this ended up coming out later than it should. The good news is you won’t have to wait another month for the next chapter. If you can’t anyway there are two advance chapters available on my Patreon at: www.Patreon.com/Streggaeworks

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