Chapter 306
Chapter 306
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 306
Chapter Title: Lingering Fragrance of the Flower
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I tried to draw my sword right away, but my body refused to move as I willed it. Pink haze seeped into my vision... The world itself hadn't changed. It was merely pink smoke drifting in on the breeze.
"Hehehe. Come now, savor the fragrance."
—Fragrance.
Just as Alraune said, a sweet aroma stabbed into my nostrils.
An utterly... soft scent that soothed the mind. It matched the color 'pink' to perfection. The moment it wormed into my brain, my surging battle spirit began rapidly eroding.
Same sorcery as the Dryad...!
Yet its power felt twice as fierce.
—Erection.
"Damn it, fuck...!"
Temptation sorcery!
Against my will, lust surged within me, my erection growing painfully serious. The arousal was so intense it felt like it'd rip through my pants...! I wanted to yank it out right then, grip it tight, and jerk it wildly!
I have to fight this, Kim Katt!
"...Huff!"
At that moment, Kobson let out a agonized wail and slammed his head into the ground.
"Hey, hey! Kobson!"
Panicking, I wondered if the bastard had kicked the bucket and immediately checked his body. His heart was still beating, his breathing steady. Looked like he couldn't resist the sorcery and passed out.
Good, he hadn't died.
I thought my guts were gonna drop out, fuck.
"Oh? Looks like you can hold out."
Blinking her eyes in fascination, Alraune addressed me in an amused tone. Kobson just fainted, and she's finding it funny? Is passing out her hobby or something?
"You possess remarkably resilient mental fortitude... How intriguing. Hehehe... But that boy seems far too frail? Fainted outright instead of yielding to temptation?"
"...What the hell is this?"
My head spun from the overpowering fragrance. Gradually, the monster before me began to seem like just another woman.
I desperately pictured Claudy's naked body and Winia's breasts, clinging to my fraying sanity. Right now, Kim Katt teetered on the edge of life and death... One slip, and I'm gone.
A gap would appear.
An opportunity would come.
If she was leisurely enough to open her eyes after so long and chat like this, there had to be a way out for me. Clinging to that belief, I welded my shattering mind back together, summoning Claudy's image to fend off the fear and seduction.
The instant I gave up.
The instant I submitted—that was when death would arrive.
—Giving up could wait until after I was dead.
If escape wasn't an option, then fight.
That was me, Heavenly Demon Kim Katt.
"What did I do... Hehe. Nothing at all. I've just awakened after so long, craving to try everything, curious about it all. At the moment, well. You, the child before my eyes, intrigue me most of all."
"Quite the curious one, aren't you."
"Oh, immensely so. It feels as if I've just been born."
Is this bitch actually the Queen of Curiosity?
"Well then, time for the next question. Answer me."
Alraune lobbed another query my way.
Kobson lay there facedown, breathing evenly in sleep. What a carefree bastard... Still, better than having his psyche whittled away by constant fear damage-over-time.
They say even ghosts look peaceful if they die in their sleep.
Dying asleep is always a good death, after all.
"Yes, black-haired child. Where do you hail from? If my memory holds, that's a rather rare hair color around these parts—from some distant land?"
Propping her chin, she smiled as she asked.
It felt like a blind date.
"From far away. The lands of the nomads."
I spun a convenient tale from a fabricated past. Endless plains. A savage wilderness teeming with life. Stories of a warrior tribe thundering across the world on horseback, plundering as they went.
She listened to the end, eyes locked on mine, then laughed again.
"Hehehe... Is that so? What an entertaining tale. Living without a fixed home, forever wandering... Humans truly are adaptable creatures."
She laughed so freely.
The more I spoke, the more positive her reactions—maybe I could talk my way out alive.
People who listen to others' stories this intently are usually good sorts. Folks normally tune out everyone else, forcing their own tales on you.
In that regard, Alraune was kinder than most.
—However.
The world still shimmered with seductive hues, forcing me to guard my mind meticulously with every word.
"Oh? Holding up nicely, are you? Few can resist this far... I'm curious just how long you can last. Shall we continue with more tales?"
Damn this bitch.
Listening, my ass.
She just wanted to test how long I could endure her sorcery.
She peppered me with questions on historical events. Naturally, I knew squat about this world's history and couldn't answer.
"You truly don't know the Green Dragon Lergerdaiser Velostate? How peculiar. No matter how much time has passed, this should still be her domain... Perhaps she's relinquished the land rights in the interim. The war's doing?"
Dragons and such were just fairy tales to me.
Ler-what? Hell of a name. I wasn't even sure dragons existed, but she insisted, so I nodded along.
"I'm a total outsider—really have no clue."
"Hmm... Seems you genuinely don't know what you don't. Very well. Let's hear more of your personal stories then."
What's with all the curiosity, you damn cunt?
No choice—I wove more fabricated past tales. Time... ticked onward. Night would fall at this rate.
I couldn't imagine how she'd transform come nightfall. Fuck. What the hell was I supposed to do...!
And so the stories wrapped up.
"What do you like?"
She doggedly probed my tastes—favorite things, colors, foods. She seemed obsessed with my personality.
I answered every one diligently. She looked quite satisfied.
Midway, she shifted position and abruptly broached a sensitive topic.
"So, don't you miss your parents? Coming from afar, their faces must ache for you. Isn't that right?"
I always thought about it—Dad was a bit eccentric, Mom had germaphobia, and my siblings were all flawed in their own ways—but I missed them constantly.
"Of course, always. Circumstances just don't allow it. I miss them terribly. My family, my siblings."
"Siblings as well?"
"Yes. They all take after me."
"Did you get along?"
"Well... decent enough. We bickered over food a lot, though..."
Talking about it pulled me into nostalgic memories.
I used to avoid recalling my Earth days. This harsh world had been too painful.
But lately... fate had smiled on me.
"From your demeanor, you miss them deeply."
"Deeply so. Dad and Mom."
Somehow, it had turned into a counseling session. Her relentless questions on my family and quirks felt like a blind date interrogation.
"He, hehehe...! Heh! H, hehehehe.... Hehehe!"
As I drifted into reminiscence, a maniacal laugh exploded forth.
Alraune, who'd listened throughout, erupted into even wilder guffaws than before.
—Gulp.
Tension made me swallow hard.
Unable to read her intentions, every sudden move filled my heart with black dread... I had to endure. Suppress it.
"Hu, haha. Hoo, hoo... Ah, sorry. It was just too amusing... Ha. Yes, black-haired child. If your parents... hehe, hehehe... were gone... ehuhu. Forever? What thoughts would stir in you then?"
...Should I take this as a dad joke?
Her words, barely containing bursting laughter, carried a vicious thorn.
"...It'd be fucking heartbreaking."
I answered cautiously—
"Yes! Naturally heartbreaking. It's only right to grieve... Ehuhuhuhu!"
—Shishishishi!
She clutched her belly outright as she spoke.
"This fucking... "
You...
Why.
Are you laughing.
"...Your Majesty, what's so damn amusing? I don't recall telling any jokes."
She glanced at me, pondered something, then burst out laughing hysterically again. Is this bitch a laughter missionary? She's got me on the verge of cracking up too.
Nothing funny about my parents...
"Quit laughing and answer..."
"Kuhuhuhu... Ah, sorry."
"..."
She wiped a tear with her finger, took a deep breath, and finally stopped sneering. Guess even her emotions were monstrous—
"—How could I not revel in delight, sharing peaceful conversation with my prey?"
Her demeanor flipped in an instant, her sharp gaze piercing me as she spoke.
"What?"
Prey.
That word seized me.
"You all shall become my sustenance. Until the day I perish. Eternally. Drained of your essence and nutrients, you'll live out your days in misery. Ah, children of man."
...What the fuck is this bitch rambling about.
"You were born to be my nutrients, nurtured those thoughts, cultivated that personality."
Utterly consumed by madness, she preached on. Goosebumps prickled my skin. The wicked sorcery that had teased my brain until now fully dissipated.
"To share space with such beings. Kek... hehehe... Krk! Krhahaha! What greater joy could there be?"
She's a full-blown psycho bitch!
"Dormant as a seed for endless ages... Awakening to find gifts awaiting. Perfect."
Just as I'd suspected, she'd never intended to spare us. Talking it out was never an option.
I screamed in hysteria.
"N-No! Alraune! Honestly, that's overkill!!! Please... I'll do anything, just spare us! I beg you! I don't wanna die, Your Majesty!!!!! Was all that prying just for this!!!!"
Fuck!
This was a genuine lunatic monster! That barrage of questions—to better understand her prey!!!
Too goddamn sadistic!!!
"Kuhuhuhu, sorry. It's my sole hobby. Conversing with my future sustenance, learning all about them... Ah, I simply can't contain myself. Their lives becoming mine... Unbearable bliss..."
Crossing her legs the other way, she continued in utter delight.
You crazy cunt!
"Aigoo! Please! Spare us, I beg you! Anything!!"
I kicked back my chair and leaped up, pleading desperately.
"Anything, you say?"
"Yes! I'll live as your loyal servant!"
"Hmm... And what exactly can you do?"
She finally showed a reaction.
Whatever else, when cornered like this, beg for your life!
"First off, I'll lure every fool who steps into the jungle and offer them to Your Majesty!"
"Oh? Intriguing notion. Betray your fellow humans?"
"If you spare me!"
I babbled whatever came to mind, sharpening my focus to the limit in search of an opening. Yet even in that posture, she betrayed no vulnerability.
Think... Brainstorm, Kim Katt!
I have to survive!
"Hehehe... Appealing, but. My own children could manage that much."
Children?
"Then grant me a reprieve!!! No need to feed now!!! Keep me alive a bit longer and harvest later, yeah? Nutrients taste better matured!!! Better than scarfing raw—let 'em ripen!!!"
"Hmm, a fair point."
Alraune stroked her chin at my words.
She seemed to mull it over, but her posture oozed leisure. She was just toying with me...!
"No need to fret. As you said, I shan't make sustenance of you just yet... I've starved far too long myself. Before turning you into nutrients, I can at least craft some pleasant memories."
—Swish.
With that, Alraune slipped off her leaf bra, baring her pink nipples. Her massive breasts, long compressed, sprang fully free.