Claimed by the Snake King of the Abyss

The blue flame devoured the parchment. The smell of burning blood and scorched magic filled the cramped attic. A sharp hiss escaped Astar’s lips.Belial staggered back and hit the wall with a loud thud. Cassius gripped the wooden doorframe. His knuckles turned stark white. The broken bond ripped through their magical cores, severing the connection that tied them to my soul. They were in pain. But nobody stepped forward to stop me. "Fine. Break it," Cassius spat. "I'd rather endure this backlash than starve to death here. Cecilia has high-tier mana. You don't. We need a real witch to survive." He said it straight to my face. No hesitation. No guilt. I looked at Belial. I looked at Astar. They avoided my gaze. They stared at the floorboards, waiting for the fire to finish its job. Silence filled the room. Not a single one of them asked to stay. My chest felt completely hollow. I stared at their flawless faces. I remembered the Abyssal Rift. I remembered dragging their half-dead bodies out of the poisonous mud. My fingernails cracked and bled. My boots sank into the toxic sludge. I carried them on my back, one by one, until my knees gave out. I spent my last gold coins on healing drafts. I stayed awake for six nights straight. I fed them water drop by drop while they shivered in fever dreams. When their mating season hit, they begged for a contract. They knelt on this exact floor. They swore they would protect me forever. I was just a low-tier witch. I took double shifts at the alchemy lab. I scrubbed cauldrons until my hands blistered, just to buy their expensive mana supplements. Back then, they were gentle. Astar used to grind herbs for me. Belial used to massage my aching shoulders after a long shift. Cassius used to kiss my blistered fingers and call me his savior. Then the family council called. My mother’s face appeared in the transmission crystal. She wanted to marry me off to Duke Howard. He was an ugly, sadistic old man with a reputation for torturing his wives to death. "Cecilia is too delicate for the Duke," my mother had said. Her voice was cold and commanding. "The Duke originally wanted her, but I won't allow it. You're older, Elise. Do your duty for this family." I refused. The family immediately cut off my research funding. They abandoned me. I cried that night. I sat on my narrow bed and sobbed. Astar held me. Belial wiped my tears. Cassius whispered sweet promises in my ear. They told me I wasn't alone. But Cecilia heard their voices through the open crystal connection. "Who is that?" Cecilia asked. Her voice dripped with pure jealousy. "You have incubi?." She hung up. The very next morning, Cecilia knocked on my door. She wore a pristine white dress. High-tier mana radiated off her skin like a beacon. It smelled like expensive perfume and raw, intoxicating power. I watched my three incubi freeze. Astar’s eyes locked onto her neck. Belial stared at her lips. Cassius couldn't look away from her waist. They breathed in her scent like starving wolves. I stood right next to them. I saw the raw hunger in their eyes. It was the exact same look my parents gave Cecilia when she manifested her high-tier talent. I was being tossed aside. Again. My things were always taken away. After that day, everything changed. The gentle kisses stopped. The herb-grinding stopped. They started demanding more of my magic. When I said no, they hit me with that succubus aphrodisiac magic and forced me to fuck them—all three at once. But after the intense sex, I just felt this huge emptiness… my magic was completely overdrawn. They didn't care if I lived or died. They just wanted to keep themselves in peak physical condition for their new master. They wanted to look good for Cecilia. And today, I finally heard them say it out loud. They wanted to drain me until I broke the bond, so they could run to her. The parchment turned to ash. The heavy, suffocating weight of the contract vanished from my mind. The magical tether snapped. I was finally free. I looked at the three men standing in my room. They weren't my saviors. They were just leeches. "Pack your things," I said. My voice was completely steady. "Cecilia will be here this afternoon. Don't keep your new owner waiting." Astar frowned. He rubbed his chest where the bond used to be. He looked annoyed, not guilty. "Elise, don't act like a victim," Astar said. "You brought this on yourself. You're just too weak. We need more than you can give." "Yeah," Belial chimed in. He fixed his collar andsmirked. "We deserve better. We're top-tier incubi. We shouldn't be stuck in this dusty attic." I didn't argue. I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I just pointed at the door. "Get out of my room." Cassius scoffed. He turned around and walked out. Astar and Belial followed him without a single backward glance. The door slammed shut. I stood alone in the dark room. I brushed the ash off my hands. I didn't feel sad anymore. I just felt clean.

The afternoon dragged in, and my room had gone quiet as a graveyard. None of the three would meet my eyes. Cassius spoke first, trying for gentle. "You can't truly mean all of us, Elise. You'd keep one, wouldn't you?" I met his eyes. "Who wants to stay?" No one moved. Asta studied the floorboards. Belial turned toward the window, arms crossed, jaw set. There it was. The last question I'd ever ask them, and they'd all answered the same. Before the sting could land, Belial was at the door, all smiles, sweeping into a low bow. "Lady Cecilia," Cassius said, dripping honey. "Our new mistress." That word should have cut me. It barely scraped. My sister stepped in like she owned the room, her white dress trailing over my floor. She inspected the three of them the way she'd inspect horses at market. "You've outdone yourself, sister," she said. "Three gorgeous incubi." Her eyes slid to me, full of pity. "Though you could never afford to keep them properly." I kept my mouth shut. "At my villa, you'll have silk sheets and real wine," she told them. "Not... this." She wrinkled her nose at my cramped walls. The three preened. Cassius and Asta traded glances, already drunk on the life she was painting. They had no idea what my sister did to creatures that displeased her. That was no longer my problem. Cecilia turned back to me, her voice going sweet and sharp in one breath. "You really should come home, Elise. The Duke is still waiting. Refusing him was foolish, and look where it's left you." Asta glanced at me then. For half a second, something flickered behind his eyes. Concern. Maybe guilt. It was gone before I could name it. "I could leave one behind, to keep you company," Cecilia said, feigning kindness. "Sisterly charity." Silence again. All three looked anywhere but at me. I laughed, short and cold. "Don't bother. Take them all. I'll sweep my own floor." Cecilia shrugged. "Your loss." She waved a hand, and the three filed out after her like trained hounds. At the threshold, Cassius glanced back. Once. Then he was gone. That was when they wheeled in the cage. Two of Cecilia's servants pushed it through my door, an iron box so tall it nearly scraped the ceiling. Inside sat a man, motionless, arms chained above his head. Dark hair fell over a face too sharp and too pale and far too beautiful. Even locked in iron, he made the incubi look cheap. Cecilia just wanted one last look at him, but the second she got close, the guy coldly turned his head away."This is the snake. Cold as stone. Won't speak, won't let anyone near, barely eats.I won't miss him." The servants unlocked the cage and left without bothering to unchain him. The door shut. The room went still again. I turned to face him. He lifted his head slowly, and his eyes found mine. Gray. Flat. Empty as the cage behind him. Then they changed. His pupils stretched, thinning into two dark vertical slits. His whole body went rigid, the muscles coiling under that pale skin. The air turned heavy, thick with something sweet and strange that rolled off him and filled my lungs. The guy my sister was talking about— with two thick cocks who’s super cold—right now he’s wrapping his black snake tail around my waist. I gasped, grabbing for the iron bar. "You—what's wrong with you?" He didn't answer. Those slit eyes stayed locked on my face, his chest heaving, the strange sweetness pouring off him in waves. His tail tightened, just enough that I couldn't step back.