The Demon's Gift

Night, aboard a luxury cruise ship.

Young, beautiful girls in alluring, sexy outfits held wineglasses as they gathered around Bora.

However, Bora had no interest in prey he had already caught. After exchanging a few perfunctory words, he returned to his room.

Inside, a blonde girl in a red dress sat uneasily in a chair.

"Your name is Lucy, right? That's quite a nice name."

"Thank you."

Lucy only wanted this to end soon. She had a persistent feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Anyway, let's have a drink first."

Bora snapped his fingers, and the wine floated into the air. He even struck a pose he thought looked cool.

So disgusting!

Lucy felt like throwing up inside. She kept trying to calm herself down. She was going to join Fairy Tail—though would Fairy Tail really let someone like this join?

"Smack!"

Lucy noticed something and immediately shattered the floating wine. She stared at him seriously. "You're using the Sleep spell, aren't you?"

"Hehe, you know quite a lot."

"Don't get the wrong idea! I want to join Fairy Tail, but I don't want to be your woman."

Bora did not get angry at having his pride bruised. He merely chuckled. "You really are troublesome."

"Hehehe." ×n

The curtains opened, and a group of sleazy lackeys carried out unconscious girls.

"Welcome aboard my ship. Behave yourself until we reach Bosco." Bora stopped pretending altogether.

"What Bosco? What about Fairy Tail?!"

Lucy was stunned. She had only thought this man had poor character. She had not expected him to be complete scum.

"Give up. You're already merchandise."

"How could this happen?!"

Lucy tried to take out her keys to fight back, but Bora noticed her exaggerated movement.

A magic circle lit up in Bora's hand, and purple flames wrapped around Lucy's keys and pulled them into his grasp. "Oh? Gate keys. So you're a Celestial Spirit Mage."

"Too bad only those bound by contracts are useful. They're worthless to me." With that, he threw the keys into the sea.

Lucy began to panic. "How could this happen? Is this what a Fairy Tail mage is like? Abusing magic and deceiving people—you're simply the worst kind of mage!"

"Eh, say whatever you like. I have things to do, so I'll be leaving first."

Bora had just turned to leave. He had not forgotten that there was still a Fairy Tail doctor to deal with.

"Bang!"

The instant he turned around, Natsu landed on the ship from above!

On the other side of the luxury cruise ship.

Inside a lavish room, Qian Guang heard the enormous noise.

When Qian Guang boarded the ship, he had seen Bora surrounded by a group of girls and realized he had arrived just as the story was beginning.

"Mr. Wip, it seems there's a bit of trouble on your ship. Also, why haven't I seen any of the girls?"

Qian Guang sat before a transparent glass window. Behind him, the maid Lar massaged his shoulders, while the owner, Wip, stood to one side. Qian Guang looked more like the ship's owner than Wip did.

Wip was in terrible condition. Not only had he lost an arm, but his entire body showed signs of being corroded by a curse. There was barely a patch of intact flesh left on him.

Lar was no longer as brazen as before. Her face was pale as she trembled while massaging Qian Guang's shoulders.

Just as Bora had been capturing the girls, Wip had already grown impatient about taking down Qian Guang.

He had decided to act himself, transforming into a horned half-demon with a completely black body. Lar had also transformed into her succubus form, licking her lips as she prepared to devour Qian Guang.

Yet after transforming, they did not see the terrified expression they had expected from Qian Guang. Instead, they found him watching them with keen interest, constantly examining them.

When they tried to attack, they discovered they could not move. Qian Guang kindly expressed his desire to study Wip's half-demon arm and horns, then simply broke them all off.

It seemed that had caused a backlash. In any case, Wip had now become something neither human nor ghost.

In the end, the room had become this scene.

In truth, Wip's curse was less a curse than a demon's gift.

According to him, when he had still been a small-time merchant, he encountered an extraordinarily beautiful girl and wanted to possess her. In the end, though, he discovered that she was a demon!

Yet she had not killed Wip at the time. Instead, she had praised him. "Ah, what a filthy soul. I admire how you honor your heart's desires, so I shall reward you. But whether you can endure it will depend on you."

In the end, Wip had endured the trial with his filthy soul. Though he could only use the curse to a minimal extent, it had still allowed him to become a major merchant and summon a succubus.

"Mr. Qian Guang... I have a great deal of money. I'll give it all to you. Could you let me go?"

Wip wanted to struggle one last time. He knew that if he were caught for his crimes, he would most likely never see daylight again.

The little succubus massaging Qian Guang's shoulders trembled at those words as well. "Lord Qian Guang, although I'm a demon, I've never harmed anyone. At most, I absorb a little of men's vital energy, but they recover after resting for a while."

"Could you please let me go, considering what happened this afternoon?"

The little succubus still did not know the truth. Qian Guang patted her hand reassuringly. "There was nothing between us. That was only an illusion, little succubus."

Lar's little face turned pale. "How could that be?!"

"But don't worry. I'm not an unreasonable person. A friend of mine runs a tavern in town and needs a waitress. What do you think?"

Qian Guang handed Lar a slip of paper with an address written on it. He could tell that she was not lying, and she truly did not possess the hostility common among other demons.

Qian Guang placed a spatial mark on her. It would not do for her to run away.

"Thank you, Lord Qian Guang."

Hearing that, color returned to Lar's face. Her hands massaged his shoulders with even greater effort, and the wicked softness of her chest nearly pressed against him.

"Mr. Wip, this is no longer a matter of whether I let you go. Your sins are simply too great. And haven't you noticed? Your curse."

Only after hearing Qian Guang's words did Wip realize that the curse, which had only been corroding his skin moments ago, had begun absorbing his nutrients.

He had already changed from a plump middle-aged man into a stick figure.

As his nutrients were drained away, the curse began eroding his bones.

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!!! Mr. Qian Guang! Save me!"

"Lord Qian Guang! I'll give you everything! Save me!"

"Qian Guang!"

"..."

Qian Guang watched coldly as Wip was gradually corroded into a pool of blood, without the slightest ripple in his heart.

The moment Wip accepted the curse, his ending had already been decided. Did he really think a demon's gift was so easy to receive?

However, the demon that had placed this curse was very powerful!

Qian Guang patted the little maid's hand again. "Go on. Tell the owner I referred you. Your wages will be cut in half."

Lar nodded hurriedly. Without even hearing the latter half clearly, she fled as though escaping for her life.

Qian Guang looked out at the scenery beyond the window and took a sip of wine.

"Next, it's time to deal with someone impersonating guild members and tarnishing the guild's reputation."

The author you provided, Qian Wei: Fairy Tail: Starting with Dual Kamui