World of Women - World of Women – V4 – Chapter 23

“It started three years ago, on the day of wrath,” Oswald said.

“Yes, I was there for that,” I responded

“You were there for what Diba Monic tried to do, but her mission wasn’t the only one. There were an estimated five sacrifice shrines just like hers.”

I blinked and Cornelia gasped.

“F-five?”

“Why didn’t anyone hear about this?” Cornelia demanded.

“It was naturally kept secret. It was already enough that a group of women was trying to resurrect demons into this world. Most people don’t even believe demons to be a thing. Even if they had told the public everything honestly, it would have become a complete mess.”

“And that’s a reason to withhold this from the public?”

“I’m not trying to argue with you.” Oswald sighed. “I’m just telling you what happened.

“Right…” I lowered my head. “Sorry… continue.”

“Five portals were made, and to the best of our knowledge, they all failed. Until we found out about Rebecca, we had believed none of them had worked. It wasn’t entirely clear why they had failed. At least one had been able to occur without a hitch.”

“They need men,” I muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“The… whatever you call it. The demonic blood. The demonic switch. It runs in men,” I explained. “The hero from back in the day, the one who brought men back to the population? He was a demon in disguise. He wasn’t just making male babies, he was introducing demonic blood into the population. That’s what allows women to overcome the curse. The one called the evil queen? She figured it out. Her experiments weren’t about trying to get rid of men, they were about trying to get rid of demons.”

In the original lore, a male was spontaneously born. He had several apostles, slept with all of them to have several male babies, and then brought down the original Lilith. I wasn’t sure what happened to the original Lilith, but it likely had to do with the Lilith contract. Thankfully, she had a friend, now known as the evil queen, who used her resources to catch him and his sons. She used brutal experiments to try to keep the demonic blood out while retaining the male line.

In the end, she could only make a compromise, which was known as the male curse. Women could only have a male baby maybe once every 1000 children. This was accomplished by diluting the demonic blood with humanity by 1/1000, thus making it impossible for demons to enter this world. Well, not impossible, but extremely difficult. One needed many sacrifices, male and female, to bring a demon into this world. However, that demon still needed a body, and that body had to be someone containing demonic blood. In other words, it had to be a man.

The ironically-named Lilith followers didn’t know this. Most of them hated men, so they delighted in killing off the men. Thus, at any given ceremony, they wouldn’t have had men around, only women. The only exception had been my ceremony. Diba Monic had sought to use me to bring the Demon King into this world, or something to that effect.

There had been two exceptions to this. The first was Ashton, who had numerous male parts in her body thanks to a freak accident when she was a child. The second was Rebecca, who had a bone marrow transplant from a man, and thus technically had male blood. However, it seemed in her case, there wasn’t enough of a connection to her demonic roots, and it was difficult for her to maintain that form.

“Rebecca isn’t a man. And besides, you were there at one of the ceremonies and you weren’t turned into a demon.”

“I… don’t have demonic blood. I’m an exception.”

It was difficult to explain that I was brought here from another world and my story was distinctly different from everyone else’s. Oswald gave me a dubious look. It was clear he wasn’t convinced by my words. That was honestly fine with me. I didn’t care if he believed me or not. Reality wouldn’t change, and the fewer people that knew only men ran the risk of demonification, the better. After all, there was already enough negative sentiment regarding men. If the lipstick lesbians and WRA learned that men were demons, they’d try to use it as an excuse to further suppress us. It was hard to believe being suppressed any more than we already were.

“Either way, after the WRA was disbanded, there was a massive coverup. Admittedly, several people took the wrap, but they made it seem like the WRA was a fringe group, with most of the women involved being outcasts and societal miscreants. They blamed gangs of lipstick lesbians for all of the crimes involved.”

I did know a bit about this. It was all over the news for a while. There were trials and people were arrested. At the time, I was still recovering from the shock of everything that had happened, so I only listened passively and didn’t dwell on it too much. However, now that I thought about it, the WRA was everywhere. There were lawyers, teachers, politicians, and more part of the group. Diba Monic wasn’t unique in her feelings regarding men. The trial to bring me down had a very large and vocal group of those who wanted to see me burn. ‘Burn Cly Burn’ had been the name on the posters, if I recalled. It was a play on my name, their sentiment, and the arson that spawned such unrest.

“Are you saying that the WRA wasn’t truly disbanded?”

“No… they merely hid in plain sight, the Lilith Followers among them.” Oswald sighed.

“How do you think the male protection act came to be? Did you honestly think that it was there to harbor goodwill toward men? To increase male productivity? To keep us safe?”

“That’s the only reason it exists!” Cornelia protested.

“Look outside. You saw it coming here. Can you still say that?” Oswald asked incredulously.

Cornelia opened her mouth and then closed it. She truly didn’t have any room to speak. It looked bad. The men in this building alone looked beaten, starved, and depressed. Whether it was mental or physical, none of them were being protected. If this was true for all of the male district, then the MPA was just a joke. The reeducation center and the male catalog were just for show. It was hiding the fact that women had just pushed aside men and consolidated their own dominion. Even Cornelia struggled to deny this reality.

“If you think they’re just content with this, then you’d be wrong,” Oswald continued. “There are many factors at play, and many plans occurring at once. Suppressing the men here is merely one thing. Although our fight has been here, there is a bigger picture at work that we can’t see.”

“Becky.”

He nodded. “Rebecca. Two years ago she got up, killed her way out of a hospital, and disappeared. The WRA realized that a demon must have gotten through, but they’ve had a difficult time getting in touch with her.”

“Demons don’t play well with others,” I said wryly.

“We should be lucky they don’t because the WRA has something for her. That’s the information Mako was able to discover. Although she was shot and still isn’t seeing anyone, we still managed to sneak someone in and download her terminal. Thankfully, she left a backup in case she was intercepted.”

“What is the news? Why was she shot?” I demanded, a fierceness flashing in my eyes.

“It was a message for the demon. Brooke was able to give us a rough idea of what it means.”

“What is it?”

“‘The third castle has been found.’”

I hissed when I heard his words, sitting back in my chair. Cornelia looked on with confusion.

“Third castle? What’s a third castle?”

“The inheritance?” I asked.

“To the best of my knowledge, no one has been able to get into it. The magic protecting it is beyond our abilities.”

“Rebecca has the knowledge.”

“I know… that’s why the WRA is trying to contact her. They want her to open the tomb for them.”

“I don’t understand.” Cornelia frowned. “What is the third castle? What inheritance?”

I bite my lip and then turned to her. “There was a Demon King a long time ago. He, and all of his demons, were purged from this world and sent away to some demonic realm. They can’t return to our realm with their mortal bodies. They can only send their spirits over with some kind of demonic energy. I guess, they can create that energy by killing humans, but ultimately, they need some energy in a human to cling on. The demons today are more like possessed humans. When the Demon King was destroyed, he hid his inheritance in four different castles. It’s basically a piece of his soul, knowledge, and power. If someone gets that inheritance, they can become a demon lord, wielding power and knowledge beyond anything modern humans can use.

I continued, “The original Lilith was the first Demon Lord. She had discovered and absorbed his inheritance. I don’t know the details, but this somehow led to the summoning of the false hero. Perhaps, Lilith was trying to save humanity by summoning men back into this world. We only know the outcome. Lilith was forced to sign a contract and was enslaved by him and ended up bearing his daughter. To this day, the Lilith line still exists, passing on the inheritance from daughter to daughter.”

“What happens if a son is born?”

I blinked, shaking my head slowly. I had never thought of such a thing, and Lilith had never spoken of such a thing. It could be possible that with the inheritance, she’s not bound by the rules of the curse. If a male was born and allowed to grow, he’d assuredly end up being a powerful demon. He might even be the reincarnation of the Demon King. Had the Lilith line killed every boy born, and made sure there were only women? It was a dark thought, but it might have been the only way they could keep the power through the generations. If there was no one to inherit the power when Lilith died, that was something else where I couldn’t guess what would happen next.

“I don’t know…” I finally responded, shaking my head. “Brooke, you told me you didn’t believe in any of this stuff.”

“Hmph… what else could I say?” Brooke frowned. “I was skeptical at first. However, after everything I’ve seen… That doesn’t mean I would have said anything different. I didn’t want you to get involved. This is a matter far bigger than either of us. Even I feel overwhelmed at what the government is doing.”

“So, ultimately, the government is trying to end the world?”

“Do you think anyone truly exists that wants a demon lord in charge?” Oswald suggested.

I glanced up at him. “What are you saying?”

“Even the Lilith Followers don’t truly care about the demons or bringing them back. What they seek are power and world domination.”

“Seriously?  I would have thought a world filled with women wouldn’t have such basic plans,” I said wryly.

“Point being, the government is made of many factions, and the WRA is just one of them. They all want the inheritance, not to bring the Demon King back into this world, but for their own greedy purposes. They want the power and knowledge of the demons for themselves. Perhaps, Rebecca didn’t just avoid them because she wasn’t a team player. Perhaps, she knows they are just trying to use her.

“If they get their way, she’ll open the castle for them, but she’ll never receive the inheritance. Rather, they’ll lock her away, and someone loyal to the WRA will receive that inheritance. After that, they will use it to take charge of Amaryllis, perhaps even attack other countries,” Oswald finished explaining.

It was something that if most people heard, they’d think it was the insane ramblings of conspiracy theorists. However, after everything I had seen and heard up until now, I could believe this was real. Cornelia remained silent, and it was anyone’s guess how much of this she accepted and how much she was writing off in her head.

“Rebecca isn’t the only way to open that castle,” Brooke spoke up.

I bit my lip. I knew what she was suggesting. I had absorbed one of the inheritances as well. I could probably get past the restraints. It wasn’t clear how many in the government knew this though. That’s when I looked up in surprise.

“Do they know now?”

Brooke slowly nodded. “Yes. I’m not sure how they found out, but they seemed to realize you absorbed the second inheritance. That’s why we ordered Faeri to take you in so aggressively. Had she been even a few hours late, you might have already been dragged off to the MRA for any reason.

“Wait… what are you saying? You’re a demon lord?” Cornelia demanded.

“I absorbed the 2nd inheritance two years ago. While I kept some of the knowledge of the Demon King, most of the power was absorbed and obliterated. I’m not sure why,” I explained simply.

“Probably because you did it recklessly. You wasted all that power. Well, it’s not like that power is safe. It’d just be nice if we had an ally as strong as Rebecca. Instead, you can’t defend yourself like the Lilith descendent.”

I didn’t bother to correct Oswald on his words.  I did have some theories about why. I didn’t believe it had anything to do with how I absorbed the energy. I was from another world, and I was somehow resistant to the demon blood. He just didn’t believe my body was any different than others. If I lost the power, I had to bungle it somehow. I felt I was pretty formidable even with just the knowledge, but it also put me in a precarious situation. I had the knowledge that many people desired, but I barely had the strength to defend it. Thus, I was ripe for being kidnapped.

Up until now, I had been very lucky. No one truly knew about my ability. I had absorbed the powers, but I had technically been in the body of Caleb when it happened, and he was dead now. Only a handful of people would be able to connect us. It might have been Rebecca, but it didn’t seem like she was in contact with the WRA yet.

“Is that why you’re able to do all the things you can do with magic,” Cornelia nearly whispered to herself.

“I know it’s a lot to process, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t open from the beginning.” I sighed. “However, you weren’t open to listening and I found no reason to explain.

“So, there are your answers. Rebecca arrived in town and started killing people. Mako has been trying to get us information on the WRA with the government as well as the corrupted MPA and has been working with Dia. We also were using Alyssum to help us. In particular, they’ve been helping us sneak in aid to the men currently being oppressed by the MPA.”

“You’re wrong about one thing. It isn’t my sister who is killing those people.” A woman’s voice suddenly came from the door leading onto the outside balcony.

The door was open and there was a light breeze coming in that contained the stink of the impoverished district. A woman was standing in the doorway casually. Oswald immediately cursed, reaching to his bedside and behind the nightstand to pull out a gun. Brooke also prepared to fight, looking about ready to leap on the woman.

“Ashton,” I said simply.

She smirked. “Hello, Clyburn.”

“The… the… right…” Cornelia had a look as if she was already too tired to act surprised anymore.

“Ah… shhh… shhh…” It was then a little cry sounded out and Ashton started rocking her arms that I realized she was holding a baby.

“That…”

“Yes…” She chuckled. “I’ve already said he’s yours…”

“You said he’s not a demon…”

“No… and if you look, neither am I. I’m a lot like you in that respect. The demon in me has been skewered away. I have the knowledge that the demon had possessed, but I do not have the body or soul of a demon.”

“That doesn’t make you Ashley,” I said.

Although Ashton was the name she had used when pretending to be a guy, that was her brother’s name. Since Ashely had died, I had subconsciously continued to call her Ashton. It was how I disconnected the demon she became from the woman she had been. I didn’t know how I felt about her words either. The last time I had met her, I had been too focused on Hannah to think about the things she had said.

In Matahari, she had looked about ready to pop. This was supposedly a baby that Ashley had been pregnant with before she died and was taken over by a demon. How the baby survived, I could never guess. It stood to reason that the baby turned out human. I was a bit anxious seeing the baby in a demon woman’s hands. Then again, she had taken care of the baby up until this point, and it was as healthy as one could expect. Plus, wasn’t she saying she was human. Even if I accepted the baby was human, why was Ashton human now?

“No… it doesn’t.” She shook her head. “I have her memories, but I wouldn’t say I was that naïve little girl who gave her life for you. Then again, I’ve found myself risking my life for this little one, so maybe I haven’t changed all that much.”

“Enough of that. What were you saying about the demon woman?” Oswald demanded.

It was unclear whether he believed she was a demon or not, but there was no question about Rebecca. If she wasn’t the one killing men, then who would it be?

“I don’t know who is killing the men,” Ashton spoke as if she had read my mind. “I just know that it isn’t Rebecca.”

Oswald shook his head, not satisfied at all by those words.

“Y-you disappeared after the day of wrath. The last time you were seen, numerous witnesses found you as dead,” Cornelia spoke uncertainly. “Y-you became a demon? But you’re not… anymore…”

While the rest of us had already moved on with the conversation, Cornelia was only just grasping with seeing a living ghost. It looked like she was still processing this demon thing in her mind. I supposed it was a bit much to take in all of a sudden. Ashton didn’t look at her. Instead, she smiled and me.

“It was you. You turned me back into a human. We thought you were the Demon Lord. Because of your ability to have male offspring, we thought you had more demonic blood. You were supposed to be the reincarnated form of Drakon.”

“Drakon?”

“He’s… the Demon Lord’s child. The Demon Lord sent him to this world to spread his demonic seed. Well, I don’t think Drakon knew this. He was born and raised as a human. His demonic blood was merely a part of him. I think he genuinely believed he was a hero. How else could he have managed to subdue Lilith.”

“You’re saying the hero, Drakon, was a good person?”

“Maybe… maybe not. He was just a man. I can say that much. Just like you. In the end, he did save humanity, didn’t he? The human race managed to continue, and all living women came from his seed.”

“I see…”

“Then, there is you. I thought you were his reincarnated form. Using you, the Demon Lord would enter this world and rule it. Neither of us could have guessed you were the exact opposite. An anti-demon creation… your seed purifies demonic blood. It removes it. I know what you’re thinking. You’re wrong. My child isn’t human because we were both human when we conceived. He’s human because any child you have will be human. As for me, I’m human because he was a part of me. We shared blood, and his body, your body, purified me. The demonic soul had nothing to hold onto, and it had no choice but to become purified as well. Do you know what this means?”

“What?” I frowned, already suspecting what she was going to say.

“Once your seed spreads across the world, the demons will finally be defeated. As for Rebecca, you can even cure her. You just have to make her pregnant! You will bring a new age to the world. An age free of demons. You will start a world of men!”