The Punishment of A Demon General

I end up in the blindingly white space once again. Okay, does this confirm it's the Heroine? I haven't done it with anyone else since though, so, what if it's just normal now?!

I hate it! I squirm as I begin shielding my eyes once again. Weirdly enough, the feeling of being judged doesn't seem as... Strong this time? I still don't like it, but whatever!

What do I do when I meet the weird Heroine again? Will I meet the weird Heroine? I don't...

Now that I think about it, the Heroine during all this she was... Apologizing a lot, I got so horny and I forgot, ugh.

There's no way she means it though, right? I mean, what, she just expects me to believe that everything hasn't been some elaborate plot to fuck with me?

I pinch my cheeks and take a deep breath, the discomfort relieving slightly as I feel myself bump into something, falling onto my butt as the sounds of life begin to spread all around me once again.

Opening my eyes, I can see once more... I'm in the same spot in that one city, I think? This is where I face planted that one time, and then she helped me.

I glance around a bit as my body begins taking a more humanoid shape, the shadows of people solidifying from faceless amorphous blobs into proper humans milling about their day, parting around me with annoyed glances.

With a couple more tip-toed peeks I can spot the Heroine making her way around with a pair of strings attached to her ears, passing by me while staring at the thing in her hand, the same tired and unhealthy look on her face as always.

I can't help but bite my lip and follow behind at an awkward distance, wondering what I should say. Does she remember me from the last time? Is it just a repeat of what happened before? I'm not sure...

Whatever, I'll just do my best to seduce her this time instead of, well, I'll just avoid making her angry this time!

I gently tap her on the shoulder from behind, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin as she casts a peek back at me, wondering what's up.

"Hey, um..." Shit, what do I even say? Why didn't I think of this before?! My hand just moved by itself before I could think, aaagh!

"You're really cute, uhhh... Did you want to go out or something?" Okay, that... That was bad, I can already tell, that was absolutely horrifically terrible. I can't even-

"Sorry, what was that?" She says, taking out the strings from her ears, connected to some sort of small rock I can't really identify.

Oh, thank God, a second chance! What do I say?! Uh, wait, I don't actually have to satisfy her, do I? What...

What do I do here, then? God, my head is such a mess, why didn't I think of any of this before? I don't think I can even ask her why she did anything she did in our world.

"Hello?" She says, causing me to tense, realizing I'd just been sitting there and staring at her while thinking. Fuck it, let's just do the same thing as last time and try not to fuck it up.

"Can I take you out to eat?" I feel around my pocket, finding the wad of cash still there once again. I won't do the same mistake this time! No ordering a bajillion pizzas!

"... What?" She says, blankly and confusedly, tilting her head as if she wants me to repeat it. How do I explain it? How are you supposed to tell someone you want to take them out to dinner not weirdly?

"I, uh, I thought you were really cute and... I wanted to take you out to eat, so." When in doubt, compliment them! That's gotta work, right? I don't know.

"Is this some sort of scam where you get me to pay for you and bail? Cus I'm not buying, sorry." She says dismissively, putting her headphones back in, trying to walk away.

I can't help but reflexively grab her wrist before she can run away. Unfortunately for me, before I can register it, I find myself on the ground, wheezing as the air is knocked out of me.

Fuck, that hurts... I can see the people above me glance at me, some awkwardly, and some lustful while I lie there on the ground, trying to get my bearings. I rub my back as I stand up, finding the Heroine nowhere in sight after that debacle, having to pinch the bridge of my nose to wonder where I went wrong.

I head over to a wall outside of the crowd, leaning against it while I wait for the dream to end, expecting it to end any moment now that I've disturbed the Heroine.

...

By the time dusk begins to cover the city, I can't help but wonder what exactly this thing wants me to do. It didn't end when I bothered her like last time, so what?

... I don't know how long I'll be stuck here, but I need to find the Heroine again just in case. What was it called? Jefferson Dorm?

I begin stopping a few people, most of which blatantly try to ignore me, my frustration rising as I try to find anyone who knows what this 'Jefferson Dorm' is, and how I can get there. A couple of them ask 'Don't you have a phone? Just look it up.', but I feel like I wouldn't be asking if I could just 'look it up' like you're saying, so why don't you just tell me? Ugh!

Finally, a kind older gentleman points me the way, and I do my best to remember exactly which tall building I need to go to so I don't get lost. I hand him some of the local currency and make my way, ignoring the flustered shouts behind me as I do my best to get there before dark, human eyesight making me not look forward to what the night might be like.

Thankfully, the paths do seem to be clearing the darker it gets. Surprisingly, humans, despite their poor eyesight, seem to be much like demons in that there are many night owls among the city folk wandering their way around, though some are stumbling around in a drunken stupor already.

Of course, I can't say this is perfectly like demons, there are an incredible amount of lights despite the falling of night. I can't say it's easy to see, but it's most certainly not impossible.

...

I'm unsure how long I've been wandering, but I think I've definitely missed the mark a bit despite the directions, I would have asked again at some point, but the people have started thinning out to a point where almost everyone I attempt to ask avoids me.

I don't even recognize any of this because I went there when it was light out. Aaagh, fucking... Why won't this dream end?! Maybe it's a timer sort of deal? I don't like just sitting and waiting, though.

I can't help but be nervous though, honestly, even the buildings are thinning out. It's beginning to get to the point where most of what I can see are wide empty lots painted with white lines, with the occasional strange shadows mulling around vehicles under the few lights covering the almost... I don't quite know how to explain it.

It's definitely beginning to feel unnatural, though. Wide empty lots of vague detail, one road continuing on indefinitely, glancing back only reveals a similar pattern, even though I feel I shouldn't have traveled so far as to not be able to see buildings as tall as those.

I take a deep breath and ruffle my hair for a bit before having a seat on the curb instead of continuing to walk.

Right. I should have just waited from the start, this just gives me some time to think, right? I'll wake up, and then it'll be fine.

I do my best to try and stifle the anxiety being kindled in my heart, hoping to prevent it from becoming an inferno under the pressure of this strange space while I fold my hands together.

The Heroine said she was sorry... I... Ugh, whatever, I'll just accept her stupid apology. She's probably not even smart enough to purposely hurt me anyway! Definitely!

I try to be dismissive, but the unease doesn't go away... That's the first time I've ever seen her cry though, maybe she was serious? If she didn't mean to hurt me, and she was crying over that, does that mean she actually uh...

I decide to avoid where that thought goes, pinching my cheeks hard as they begin to burn. I didn't even get to ask Llorithen when Hallowed Fool's Day is! Why do you always ruin my plans, Heroine?!

Laying back onto the hard stone, I feel around at it with my fingers curiously, wondering what it might be made of briefly before my mind drifts back to the Heroine.

I'll just... I'll follow her around for a while, figure out how I feel, and then after that I can always dump her! Yeah, I can just... Stop letting her make me feel complex thoughts like these easy, just think about her as a dummy running around doing absolutely nothing productive and tadaaa.

I can't help but lay my hands on my forehead with a sigh, wondering if I'm going crazy, my head feels like such a mess. I miss when things were simple. That-

Suddenly I'm flash banged once again, screaming as I shield my eyes, my mind only able to vaguely register the faint feeling of judgement before I'm pushed awake with a shout. "Ilvia!"

"Ffff... Stop yelling already!" I slowly open my eyes to the Heroine looking down at me with a worried expression before she sighs in relief.

"Seriously, why are you so hard to wake up lately? I called for you a bunch but you wouldn't wake up until I started shaking you like crazy." I wasn't trapped this time either! Hooray! I can't help but whoop in my heart despite the Heroine's pouty gaze on me.

"Are you... Doing alright after last night?" She says, glancing at me. Honestly? I kind of am, thinking it over a bit helped a lot, plus...

"Seeing your crying face was super hot." I can't help but say, a lewd grin on my face while I look at her.

She crosses her arms while looking at me for a while before rolling her eyes. "Anyway, seeing as you feel better, emo butler says there's a holiday today and that you'd want to celebrate it. I'm kind of excited to hear what it is, too, so... What is it?!"

I have been forsaken by God! I just started feeling better and I immediately get doomed to this?!

+Plot twist, it isn't even the holiday Ilvia is thinking about, and it's just a completely different one.+

(God, that would have been so embarrassing if it were.)

+I woooonder what that wibbly woobly space is? Hmmmmm...+

(Oh noooo... I wonder what it is. Honestly, you and your slutty owner.)

+Shhhhh! Don't say that, they might figure it out!+

(I'm pretty sure you phrasing it like that is going to make them conscious of it even more?)

+Shhhhh, don't call it out or else they'll be even more conscious of it!+

(You... Sure, whatever.)

Author's Note:

Sorry for the missed chapter yesterday, will do a double release again one of these days to make up for it.

I hope these slower chapters don't feel too uninteresting, I often wonder it myself whether a slow chapter is worth it, but at the very least for the people who just want to get to the smut there's an easy way to know when I've released one.

There's a serious learning curve to figuring out what's 'interesting' to write when you're writing something like this.

Thank you for 45k views. <3