The Devil's Lust System

“Please, please save me, I’ll do anything you ask as long as I can survive,” Edi pleaded. Though his voice was barely a whisper, Edi still struggled to convince them. His throat burned every time a word escaped his lips, adding to his agony.

The man in the black suit bent down, staring at Edi’s mangled face, as if judging whether Edi was worth saving or not. His flat eyes showed no emotion whatsoever.

“He’s conscious,” the man said flatly to the pink-haired woman named Aurora.

Aurora approached. She shrugged, holding what looked like a high-tech scanner. The device beeped, beeped, beeped, indicating that Edi’s life hung by a thread.

“Physically, Edi—that is your name, isn’t it?—you should already be dead,” Aurora stated, her voice clear yet cold, contrasting sharply with her bright hair color. “Your entire nervous system and organs have suffered extreme trauma. We’ve been hunting these low-level Dog-Fiends for three days, and we were too late for you.”

Edi tried to shake his head, but even that minimal movement sent waves of unbearable agony through his body. He could only groan.

“I… I promise… I’ll pay… everything…” Edi rasped, even though he knew it was nonsense. What could he possibly pay? Edi already struggled to afford his monthly rent.

The man in the suit gave a small snort. “We are not interested in money, human. What we are offering you is far greater than money. But the price is equal to your new life.”

“What do you mean?” Edi asked weakly. His fear mixed with a spark of hope. Whoever they were, they certainly weren’t ordinary humans, Edi thought.

Aurora flipped the scanner over, revealing a small holographic screen. Edi’s body diagram was displayed there, covered in damage indicators.

“Our clients—the ones saving you—are looking for the right host for their ‘Incubus Project.’ In short, we want you to become a Devil, or at least, some sort of hybrid anomaly. Your body is totally ruined. The only way for you to stay alive is by inserting a powerful Devil energy core into your nearly destroyed soul,” Aurora explained.

Edi’s weakly beating heart now started to race again. A Devil? After what *they* had done to him?

“You were just preyed upon by a group of low-level, magic-controlled Lycanthropes. You’ve crossed the line into our world, Edi. You’ve been marked. Even if we saved you conventionally, other Devils would sniff you out,” the man in the suit interjected, releasing one of the snakes in his hand, which promptly transformed into a shimmering silver needle. “You will die, sooner or later, unless you become the predator, not the prey.”

“Then, what are the conditions?” Edi’s voice was clearer now, driven by a primal instinct for survival. The killing pain made him indifferent to minor details like 'becoming a Devil.'

Aurora leaned in, her beautiful face only inches away from Edi’s blood-filled eyes.

“The terms are simple and absolute. First, Edi will die. You will be reborn as Desmond. Your memories of Edi will remain, but your personality must change completely. The awkward, fearful Edi won't be able to control the power we are about to give you.”

Edi drew a shaky breath. He knew the old Edi had to die. The old Edi was too exhausted and too pathetic to keep living.

“Second, the system we install in your body requires a specific energy to remain active and suppress the ‘Incubus Rage.’ That energy can only be obtained through sexual intercourse with anomalous women or humans of great power. If you fail to acquire that energy every... say, 48 hours, you will lose your mind and become an uncontrollable monster. You will prey on anyone, including your stepsister and that poor neighbor of yours.”

Those last words cut Edi deeper than the Dog-Fiend’s fangs had. Sella. Although their relationship was awkward and cold, Edi would never harm her.

“No… I won’t…” Edi mumbled.

The man in the suit crouched down beside Edi, his black-gloved hand gripping his chin firmly.

“You only have two choices: die on this cold floor right now, or live as Desmond, the Incubus, and submit to our System. We are giving you a chance to control your destiny, to possess the strength that poor Edi never could. Think about your sister. If you die, who will protect her?”

Edi’s mind immediately flashed to Sella’s face, full of loneliness and resentment. He remembered when she screamed at him, blaming him for their Father’s death. Sella was fragile. Bern, her scumbag ex-boyfriend, kept harassing her. Sella needed Edi.

“How… how do I get that energy?” Edi asked again, his tone now stripped of pleading, replaced only by resignation and a faint ambition suddenly emerging from the darkness of his soul.

Aurora smiled broadly. It was a dangerous smile, full of passion and madness.

“As the name suggests, the Incubus Project. You are the king of lust. The demonic energy inside you desperately requires the stimulation of desire, love, or anything that ignites the deepest passion. You have to have sex, Edi. And not just any sex; you must do it with a highly compatible ‘partner,’ ideally an Anomaly, or a chosen human. The stronger the woman, the greater the DP (Desire Points) you will gain.”

Women, Devils, power, survival, and Sella. Everything spun in Edi’s mind. His body was already ravaged; Edi had no choice.

“Fine. I accept. Just do it. Save me!” Edi commanded, his voice sounding authoritative for the first time since he became their prey.

The man in the suit nodded, satisfied. “A wise decision, Desmond.”

“Prepare the Alpha Core. Make sure the automated mind defense system is active. We don’t want him messing up before orientation,” Aurora told her male colleague.

The man approached, the silver needle—formerly a snake—now in his hand. He did not hesitate. He plunged the needle precisely into the open space between Edi’s ribs, piercing deep until it reached something in the very core of his soul.

“ARRRRRGGHHHH!”

Edi’s first cries of pain in the room felt like mere whimpers compared to what he felt now. The pain surpassed the tearing of flesh and skin.

It felt like a piece of hot iron was being forced into the core of his consciousness. Every fiber of Edi’s body burned. He felt his past memories—of poor, awkward Edi, of Father, of Sella—all being pulled out, cleansed, and burned in blue flames.

“Hold on! The System is integrating!” Aurora yelled, her voice sounding distant.

“This is the price of your resurrection! Edi dies! Desmond is born!” the man in the suit roared.

A bright green, translucent interface flashed before his eyes, penetrating even his half-closed eyelids.

*[Incubus Project System V. 1.0 Installing...]*

*[Assigning New Self-Identity: Desmond]*

*[Primary Function: Desire Points (DP) Harvester. Primary Requirement: Sexual Intercourse (Min. once every 48 hours)]*

*[Failure to Meet Requirement: Incubus Rage (Destruction Mode) Activated.]*

*[WELCOME, DESMOND.]*

A cold, dominating dark power replaced Edi’s nearly depleted blood. His bloody eyes now closed. The last sensation Edi felt before losing consciousness was an odd one—a thirst. A thirst for power, and more urgently, a thirst for desire.

Edi, the poor, awkward human, had met his end on that floor.

And within that darkness, a new consciousness began to breathe. Desmond, the Incubus.

***

Desmond didn't know how long he had lain in the darkness, but when he returned, he felt a whole body. The pain was gone. There was only the sensation of power flowing like an electric current through every vein.

“How do you feel, Desmond?” Aurora asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He looked at his hands, then at them, then back at himself. His face, once thin and unremarkable, now sported a firm jawline. His black hair was the same, but his gaze was clear, sharp, and he was sure his eyes were no longer ordinary brown.

“I… I feel incredible,” he said. The voice that came out was deeper and more resonant. It was not Edi’s voice.

The man in the suit tossed a set of clean clothes onto a nearby table. “Your body has been healed. The Incubus Core transplant process was a success. Remember, Desmond. Your first rule: Acquire DP. Immediately.”

“Immediately? What do you mean?”