Raixel's shoulders slumped as his eyes rolled back, Ai pulling the blade out of his head as he began to fall over, hitting the ground with a soft squelch.

We...we did it.

That was way too close.

If we weren't able to regenerate, he'd have killed us several times over.

Incapacitating his arms, not to mention Ai weakening him with my debuffs, weakened him just enough that we were able to keep chipping away until we finally got an opening.

And despite not being able to fight at our best thanks to the the predicament of having our bodies swapped, we managed to cover each other just well enough to prevent any fatal blows.

If either of us had been even a step slower, the other could have ended up dead.

"<Hey, Boss...man, that hurt, he totally caved in my chest with that elbow strike>," Sighed Invidia, as he approached me with a grimace.

Ai must have held off on summoning the Apostles specifically for that last move...she must have used the smoke clouds that erupted from those lightning streaks as cover to summon him out of sight, then had him turn invisible and strike.

Speaking of Ai, I've got a lot of questions...

"Good work, we couldn't have pulled it off without you. Rest up for a while," I remarked, giving Invidia a pat on the shoulder, before calling out as I approached Ai, "Hey, way to go, Ai! But, uh, how exactly did you-...?"

"Don't talk to me right now...I need to focus...," She uttered, a strained look of focus on her face.

Huh? Uh, what's she-...?

.

.

.

.

.

For an instant, everything went white, my mind blanking for a second, before I suddenly snapped out of it and-...wait, am I...?

Hey, I'm back in my body! Alright, it's about ti-...!

<You have to chant, quickly!>

<I can't delay it for much longer!>

Huh? Chant what?

My eyes widened as she injected some information straight into my brain, instantly catching me up on the situation, before I chanted...

"<Subjugate>. <Submit Your Soul To Me, Pledge Your Undying Loyalty And Heed My Every Command>. <Now, Awaken, Apostle of Sloth>."

A burst of energy erupted from Raixel's corpse, rising up and taking shape, an electric dark blue hue glowing around it.

It took on the appearance of his smaller form, sparks of lightning crackling around the figure, kneeling down before me with its head bowed, before a display popped up:

Apostle of Sloth

Name: [ ]

Age: ???

Gender: Male

Height: 7'

Weight: 118 KG

Skills:

Lightning Generation

Lightning Immunity

Shuffle

Stats:

HP: 1700

MP: 2348

Strength: 1690

Agility: 2328

Vitality: 1710

Perception: 2270

Power Level: 2,007,700

<Acquired Apostle of Sloth>

<Please Designate a Name>

"From now on, you'll be known as Acedia," I remarked, before he lifted his head and met my gaze.

"<Yes...I understand, my Lord>."

Huh, he picked a different thing to call me too.

"We'll talk later. <Withdraw, Apostles of Envy and Sloth: Invidia and Acedia>," I chanted, before using Devour on his corpse.

Well, that's an unexpected bonus.

I didn't even consider the possibility that I'd be able to use Subjugate on him, considering how much stronger he was, at least in terms of base stats.

But...why's he been nerfed?

His current stats are lower than when he was alive, that wasn't the case with Luxuria and Invidia.

<I believe you were able to use Subjugate on him because, while he was stronger, his soul was that of a Greater Demon, a creature weaker than you>

<That's also why his stats are lower, the disparity between his body and soul met in the middle, so to speak>

<Also, I had to delay Subjugate until his Shuffle ability wore off and you returned to your body, otherwise it wouldn't have worked properly>

I see...by the way, uh, how were you able to take control of my body?

<I-...oh, maybe I'll have to save that explanation for later>

Huh? What-...?

"Um, Kai? Could I have a copy of one of your hoodies to wear? My armor's kinda in tatters," Came Aria's voice, as she tugged on my sleeve.

I gulped slightly as I glanced at her, her other arm over her chest...while she wasn't completely exposed, most of her tank top was gone, her stomach was completely visible, and the fabric over the right side of her chest was shredded.

"Y-Yeah, of course, I'm sorry! I, uh...I couldn't stop him from landing some serious hits on your body," I replied, averting my gaze before manifesting a copy of one of my hoodies and handing it to her.

"Come on, you don't need to apologize for that, I was guilty of the exact same thing," She pointed out, before adding, "Okay, I put it on, you can look now."

"Hey, that looks good on you, the baggy fit suits you," I smiled, as I glanced at her.

The sleeves are a bit too long, completely engulfing her hands, it's so cute.

"Thanks, Kai. This sure was a weird experience, huh? I was basically a spectator for all but the very start of the fight. I kinda feel bad that I couldn't do anything," She replied with a sheepish smile, before I patted her head.

"Don't worry about it, that was a pretty insane situation, getting our bodies swapped. And given the situation, I didn't even get the chance to mess around while in your body," I sighed wistfully, before giving her a slight smirk as she gave me an indignant pout.

"H-Hey, don't imply whatever you're implying...though, well, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a moment or two where I got distracted by what your body felt like, and how different it felt to mine.

Even after Ai took control, I could still see, hear and feel everything, so...yeah," She muttered awkwardly, her gaze briefly shifting down past my waist before she averted her gaze, her cheeks turning red.

"Heh, no need to be embarrassed, it's only natural to be curious-...," I began with a wry smile, before trailing off as something laying on the ground a short distance behind her caught my eye.

"Hm? Kai? What's wrong-...?" She began, before I suddenly took hold of her hand and dragged her along with me.

"If this works, you'll be...," I muttered, a sense of anticipation rising up inside me...

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