Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: At the End of the Unconscious
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Deep within the Rose Mansion's basement level 3, now transformed into a dungeon.
Fifteen cultists who had barely managed to evacuate in time were preparing the ritual there. Until just moments ago.
"P-Please spare me! High Priest! I brought five sacrifices..."
"Why?! I truly wished for the new era..."
"Aaaah! Mother!! Mothe..."
THUD──!!
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Oh, they're so noisy♡ If it's for the Demon King, you should gladly offer your own flesh and blood, right? The heads of the three Hexagram members who had been floating in the air, wailing for mercy, exploded. The other cultists on site were utterly shocked. Terrified that their own screams might displease that great being, they clamped their hands over their mouths to stifle their cries, not even daring to breathe.
"...D-Did you have to kill them so cruelly? Lady Liliet?"
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Oh my, does Rexton think I'm being too cruel? I don't want to be like this either♡ But the intruders wrecked my Sirca to pieces! If I don't fix her, it'll be a big problem, right? Rexton swallowed back his urge to vomit and stared at the upper dream demon that the pink mist had barely managed to rescue. He had no idea what had been done to her, but Sirca's state—staring blankly into space, having lost all intelligence and strength—was clearly far from normal.
Liliet was already reconstructing Sirca's body using the blood and flesh of the three whose heads she had just burst. But in her current form, she looked less like a dream demon and more like a corpse golem made from dream demon remains.
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Waaah! Sirca's totally broken! She was an executive I put so much focus into creating! What the hell did that unicorn's contractor do?! Liliet let out a wailing cry as she gazed at Sirca, who wouldn't regain her senses even after her body was restored and power infused. For a spinster succubus over a century old, Sirca was an irreplaceable rarity—the only one Liliet had ever found in her lifetime. It was all the more heartbreaking.
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 ...Well, nothing to be done. I'll just puppet her roughly, then let her self-destruct as an offering to the Demon King♡ But to Liliet, she was just a rare toy. She had plenty of dream demons to replace her as executives. In fact, without the authority Liliet had granted, Sirca wasn't particularly strong.
How strong could a chaste succubus even be? A succubus's power came from how much essence they gathered—and how potent that essence was. Sirca had flunked on both counts; Liliet had just made her an executive because her spinster status was amusing.
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Still, that unicorn's contractor who wrecked my toy! I can't forgive them! Watching Liliet casually toss aside what she'd moments ago shown such attachment to—like discarding a soiled doll—Rexton felt a chill of horror, but he couldn't let it show.
Just like the lay believers and priests trembling behind him, stealing glances at him, he was gripped by the fear that he could be sacrificed at any moment. To that woman, were humans worth less than dolls?
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Anyway, we'll have to speed up the ritual! Have you brought out all the prisoners? "...Y-Yes, we've brought out all the prisoners we have. We couldn't retrieve the ones used as bait or those left behind on the first floor or basement level 1."
If you hadn't pulled that insane dungeon labyrinth stunt, we could've started the ritual sooner, Rexton wanted to shout. Because the entire building had suddenly become a dungeon, many of the personnel needed to prepare the ritual had been left behind.
Most of the lay believers still on basement level 2 had become fodder for the monsters Liliet summoned right before their eyes. The ritual, which should have started thirty minutes ago, had only just finished preparing the sacrifices.
"Anyway, by my estimate, the summoning ritual for you, Lady Liliet, will take about thirty to forty minutes."
"Eh~ But we have plenty of prisoners? And such high-quality sacrifices too♡ Shouldn't it be done in ten minutes max?"
As she spoke, Liliet—possessing Sirca—pointed to the sacrifices: Sion, who had been subdued by Rexton and prepped as an offering, along with Senia and the other three virgins bound beside her.
"A woman the ritual leader hates, plus the blood of five pure virgins♡ That's a total jackpot, right~? Isn't it, Rexton dear?"
"...Even so! Normally, we'd need the blood of thirty prisoners poured into the magic circle at once! We have fewer than twenty left!"
"Is that so? Then just use other people."
Flinch!
When Liliet smiled and pointed behind Rexton, the faces of the trembling cultists there drained of color. But she wasn't pointing at them.
"If we sacrifice any more believers, we won't have enough people to even conduct the ritual!"
"I know♡ Not believers—other people. What were their names? Elena and the original Hexagram members?"
The moment Elena's name left Liliet's lips, Rexton couldn't hide his dismay.
"B-But Elena and her subordinates are being brainwashed for use after the new era arrives...?"
"Exactly~♡ But if the ritual fails, we get nothing. So close your eyes and use their blood and flesh as sacrifices this time! What do you think, Rexton dear♡?"
Elena—Rexton wanted to protect her, no matter what. He'd locked the rebellious members who should have been used as sacrifices immediately in basement level 3 solely to safeguard Senior Elena.
"B-But..."
The instant he opened his mouth to refuse, Rexton's eyes met Liliet's blazing red ones, and terror seized him like his heart might stop. That gaze wasn't looking at a person.
"But~♡?"
He had to speak. If he didn't, Senior Elena would die. But speaking now meant his own death. Rexton squeezed his eyes shut. This was the moment to muster his courage...!!
"U-Understood. I'll... prepare the other sacrifices too..."
"Hehe, that's my boy♡ I love how quick on the uptake you are♡"
Gazing at the bowing Rexton, Liliet smiled in euphoric delight. The tragedy of offering up a loved one for promotion and survival—what a thrill!
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Now, everyone, hurry and prepare the ritual~♡ Got it, my dears? As Liliet turned away, apparently losing interest, the surviving cultists rushed off to fetch the other prisoners—leaving Rexton clutching his fists and trembling. This grotesque spectacle of humanity was exactly the entertaining sight Liliet craved.
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Now then, shall we deal with that damn unicorn contractor and the cheat-using brat♡? Liliet had originally planned to toy with the intruders a bit longer, but she could no longer tolerate Arthin and Violet for ruining Sirca and her game.
The demon possessing that witch looked fairly strong, but Sirca Mk. 2 had more of her authority infused, sans personality. She could output up to 10% of Liliet's full power, enough to beat anyone. The unicorn contractor? Already nearly lost to Sirca once—irrelevant♡
Once Liliet decided to end it herself, her victory was assured. It was an unfair game the intruders could never win from the start. Fairness wasn't the point; it was purely Liliet's amusement.
Still, they might be annoying♡ Better take out the unicorn contractor first... Huh?
Liliet, about to instantly eliminate Arthin and the unicorn, sensed something off.
"Why is the unicorn's contractor inside the witch's unconscious with the rabbit demon...?"
She had trapped the witch's mind in nightmares, anticipating attempts to free her. But Liliet had used her authority to block anyone but herself from accessing the witch's psyche.
Yet somehow, the unicorn contractor had pierced her authority and was wandering the witch's unconscious right now. This had never happened, not even during her days conquering the world with the Demon King. Impossible.
"How dare... A mere mortal challenge my authority...?"
Crunch!
For the first time, Liliet—who always seduced or toyed with foes leisurely for pleasure—grew genuinely furious. She could tolerate artifacts and powerful demons, but a bug-like human defying her authority? Unforgivable.
💢 LILIET'S RAGE 💢 I'll make you fully realize who you've angered!! I'll turn you all into mincemeat and use you as fertilizer for my garden!! Spreading her two wings, Liliet began teleporting every monster in her garden to the Rose Mansion. Not just that—she also sent her dream demon kin into Violet's unconscious to thoroughly slaughter the insolent mortals who dared challenge her authority.
💕 LILIET'S VOICE 💕 Just you wait...! I'll show you how terrifying it is to anger the Demon King's kin...! As Liliet muttered in fury and flew toward basement level 2, the cultists—who had strained to stay conscious amid her rage—finally sighed in relief.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Two months had passed since we began wandering Violet's unconscious.
We were still pressing deeper into it. We'd come quite far—the once-flat path now resembled treacherous mountains of endless hills.
"We can get back to reality, right, Master...?"
"That's the seventh time today. I said you'd get spanked if you asked again."
Al'Miraz shot me a weary look and started repeating the question, so I smacked the rear of the one trudging ahead, panting for breath.
"Oof♡ Stop tormenting my butt already...!"
"Maybe if you watched your mouth, you wouldn't get tormented?"
Two months was a long time. Al'Miraz, who used to chatter nonstop at first, had run out of small-talk topics and grown quieter.
Instead, she'd ramped up her magic studies, and otherwise, lightly teasing her nonsense became our routine.
But lately, over the past two weeks, her nonsense had increased rather than decreased. Was this rabbit demon in heat, or had she started enjoying the teasing?
She even moaned with a weird heart-like inflection just now... And at night, she's been subtly snuggling up beside me to sleep.
Even now, it felt like she was subtly pushing her butt toward me. Lately, I was starting to think it wasn't my imagination. Wasn't her hand rubbing it, angling toward me...?
...Nah, must be boredom. Yeah, that makes sense.
It was understandable. I had a clear motive to save Violet, but she'd only tagged along on her superior's orders to rescue her contractor. We had to cut her some slack for the hardship.
Accounting for that, Al'Miraz—listening well in lessons, scouting diligently, aside from occasional nonsense—was practically a fairy.
Back in the 2nd round, Unicorn whined incessantly on a two-day boat ride to the archipelago.
Saying that, I was starting to think Al'Miraz was an upgrade over 2nd-round Unicorn. A month of grueling magic training had made her much stronger too.
...Plus, it felt oddly uncomfortable thinking my budding pupil saw me that way. Master Marianne, your worthless disciple is finally reflecting.
"Anyway, just hang in there a bit longer. The path getting rougher means we're deep in her unconscious. We should start spotting barriers from Violet or Liliet soon."
"I hope we find it quick and get out... It's been two months without carrots; I might forget their texture..."
Twitch! The ears of the one leading perked up.
"What? Did you find something, Al'Miraz?"
"Hold on... I think there's something! I'll check, Master!"
Al'Miraz dashed ahead alone, leaping over a hill. Curious, I circulated mana and raced after her, matching her strides. At the hill's peak, she stood staring blankly ahead.
"Hey, wait up! Let's go together, Al'Miraz! Why'd you run off alone?"
"...Look over there, Master."
"What? Did you find—"
...something. Yeah, I got it. I understood why Al'Miraz had rushed ahead.
"That's... the barrier from Liliet you mentioned, right, Master?"
"Probably. Didn't expect it to be so blatantly guarded."
The sight before us was overwhelming in its own way. A colossal cocoon, dozens of meters tall, dominated the deepest part of Violet's unconscious, shrouded in pink mist far denser than the Rose Mansion's fog.
Breaking through that mist and smashing the cocoon would undoubtedly be an insane ordeal. But after two months, I could finally grin ear to ear.
"Finally found you. Violet."
I had to calm my swelling chest. No room for carelessness until we saved her properly. Violet, slumbering inside that cocoon, was surely still suffering.
"Alright, let's go rescue her now. Al'Miraz!"
"Wait, Master! Before that..."
As I drew Orcan-Hile longsword and leaped down the peak, Al'Miraz hesitated, grabbing my collar.
"What? Did you spot something else, Al'Miraz?"
"N-No, it's not that..."
What? Al'Miraz kept beating around the bush, avoiding my eyes.
Every minute counted for me, and as frustration built to the breaking point, Al'Miraz finally met my gaze.
"We found Violet, so as a reward... pet my head, Master."
"...What?"
Her sudden appeal left me dumbfounded. Now, of all times? And what had I even done for those heart-eyes? I'd just taught her magic, counseled a bit, and chatted a lot...
"And... some butt pats too would be nice..."
"...Haha."
Seeing Al'Miraz squirming bashfully while eyeing me, I couldn't help but let out an incredulous laugh.
"I'll do it when we get out—when we get out... Focus on Violet for now. Got it?"
"...Really? Promise, Master! Demons can't break contracts!"
Sheesh, what a handful.