Crucible of Ideas

"My, you've grown quite a pretty pair. Here, take a look for yourself."

When, trembling, I opened my eyes at the Lilim's words, I could see someone reflected dimly in the window glass.

It took me a little time to realize that it was myself.

I was at a loss for words at the sight.

I had become something that could not be thought human — that could only be considered grotesque.

Two curved horns poked out through my hair.

Newly grown from my head, they looked at first glance like those of a goat.

But they were certainly no goat's.

A demon's horns.

The words ran over and over through my mind.

When I timidly reached up my hands to them, a rough sensation met my touch.

It was enough to tell me that these horns were unmistakably part of my body.

For an instant, my vision seemed to go pitch black.

But that wasn't the full extent of the change.

"N, no way... More...!?"

The pleasure returned, and I slumped to the floor.

My hands, hugging my body, and my feet inside my shoes squirmed restlessly as the pleasure intensified again.

"No. Save me, big brother. Big brother..."

My vision had become hazy with pleasure, but I could see light brown fur covering my arms little by little.

The fur, which was rich and soft, just like an animal's, was covering my skin completely.

Not only that, it seemed my skeletal structure itself was changing.

The same change seemed to be taking place inside my shoes as well, and I felt as sense of discomfort as if my feet were swelling.

"Big bro– Aah...!"

The pleasure was increasing as the changes in my body progressed, just as it had when the horns had grown.

In fact, perhaps because my hands and feet were changing at the same time, or else because my body was no longer a human's, it was even more intense than before.

My breathing grew ragged, sweat ran down my whole body, and tears spilled from my eyes.

But the animal fur was still growing thicker, and it now covered everything from my fingertips to my elbows.

I let out a piercing cry, signaling that my forearms had completely changed into those of a beast.

Their ends split into three fingers, a hard, sharp claw growing on the end of each.

There were even pads like a cat's or dog's on my palms.

At almost the same time, my swollen feet burst my socks and revealed their grotesque new form.

The feet peeking out of my wrecked shoes were not the flesh color I was used to seeing; like my arms, they were covered in light brown animal fur.

The five toes into which they should have split had vanished, and the tips become large, hard hooves.

On top of that, my ears itched.

They were lengthening and becoming covered in the same soft fur as my arms and legs.

When I focused on my ears, which assumed a bizarre new shape, they flapped.

I could do nothing but cry out in despair at the sight of myself steadily growing farther from human.

But the sensation of my hand on my cheek — hard claws, soft fur, squishy pads — and of the animal legs and hooves I could see poking through my ruined socks brought home to me the cruel reality of the situation.

Finally, the pleasure intensified in a region a little below my hips, and I could feel something beginning to grow.

Something shot out from the spot almost before I had a chance to realize what was happening.

It was a thickly-furred tail.

I cried out at the sensation of it swishing back and forth, tickling my still-sensitive skin.

When the tail finished growing, the pleasure raging inside me began to lessen a little in intensity.

Even so, the pleasant sensation that suffused my whole body continued.

It was as if something inside me was radiating heat.

I felt it especially in the changed parts — in my horns and ears, hands and feet, and at the base of my tail.

Tingling heat and intermittent waves of pleasure, like memories of what I had just experienced, made me tremble.

It may have been the influence of the transformation, but my whole body felt heavy as if I had been running all-out, and there was still a sense of discomfort, as if my body was still somehow not my own.

But, strangely, it didn't feel unpleasant.

Maybe there was something different about my mind as well as my body.

The Lilim glanced briefly at my condition.

Having made sure of my transformation with her own eyes, she opened her mouth.

"That went splendidly. I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me." The Lilim stepped towards me with a vaguely satisfied expression.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't put my pleasure-addled thoughts in order and ended up just flapping my mouth wordlessly.

She embraced my limp form.

The vestiges of the pleasure were still making my body sensitive, so the mere touch of her hand was enough to send an electric shock running through it.

I shook with a start, and let out a little cry.

"Oh dear, sorry about that. But, see? Look how cute you've become." Still embracing me, the Lilim turned me to face the large mirror hanging on the wall.

There seemed to be a note of cheerfulness in her voice.

At her urging, I turned my eyes to the mirror.

"Ah..."

Reflected in the mirror's glassy surface was a girl with a childish figure.

Her familiar features and petite frame were my own.

The only definite difference lay in the grotesque abnormality of her appearance.

The girl in the mirror had a pair of rough, bony horns growing from the top of her head, and her hands and feet were those of a beast, covered in light-brown fur — her appearance was unmistakably that of a monster.

I was looking at a little monster being embraced by a demon woman.

It was an uncanny scene, like a painting of a fall from grace.