Chapter 13: The Coming-of-Age Ceremony
Chapter 13: The Coming-of-Age Ceremony
"Our Demon God Cult is a place that reveres the successive Demon Lords as gods."
The woman, possessing a sharp gaze and enchanting long silver hair, was exactly as Lena had described.
"Furthermore, we serve as a place that assimilates humans and other non-demon races into our society, laying the very foundation for the Demon Race."
A woman who had walked the path of a nun and priestess as a religious monastic. An outlier of her reclusive race and one of the general managers of the Demon God Cult, she was the only non-demon among the cult's bishop-level priests.
"It seems you know of me. Lena, it’s been a long time. And this must be the person you mentioned?"
Lena nodded and took a step back politely. Consequently, Jaejin naturally found himself standing directly before the silver-haired woman.
"You likely already know, but as the one requesting assistance, it is only right that I show proper courtesy. My name is Sinclair, the Head of the Northern Diocese and the Abbess of Beni Monastery."
It was said that her entry into the Demon God Cult—or the New Religion, as it was known superficially—had drawn significant public attention, given that she was once a promising elven mage.
Since elves, much like the Empire, possessed their own unique faith, such a conversion was a rare occurrence.
"Originally, I had no intention of joining, but I found myself quite fond of this place."
Every one of Sinclair's movements exuded authority and pressure. Jaejin tensed his entire body, trying his best not to let his guard down.
"To return to the main point, the work the Demon God Cult does to lay the foundation for the Demon Race primarily involves proselytization and assimilation with the region."
Through proselytization, they increase the number of believers, selecting those among them to become demons or assigning them to support the Demon Race. The 'support' mentioned here was usually a trade rather than mere service.
Unlike the wealthy central regions, the demon lands in the barren north suffered from a chronic lack of supplies.
However, merchants willing to engage in commercial trade with demons were few and far between. To solve this, the Demon God Cult established connections between the merchants they had recruited and demon traders.
The goal of regional assimilation was to sway public sentiment in favor of the demons. It was the groundwork laid to make it easier to rule once the demons occupied the land, or to foster resentment against any conscription intended for invading demon territory.
"As expected, you already know the basics. Our diocese uses this specific outfit as a means of proselytization."
Before Jaejin could even respond, Sinclair seemed to peer into his mind and hear his answer in advance. As a result, the conversation proceeded without him having to utter a single word.
Jaejin scanned Sinclair’s attire under a different kind of pressure than when Sheryl read his thoughts with her Mind's Eye.
Due to the deeply carved slits, her pelvis was exposed, making her thong straps clearly visible. Unlike Lena’s nun’s habit, which covered her arms, Sinclair’s was sleeveless, revealing her armpits and the curve of her side-breasts.
"No matter how I look at it, it just looks like an outfit designed to seduce men..."
The cleavage revealed by the open top was large enough to rival Lena’s, and her skin was so fair that Jaejin could barely tear his eyes away. He nearly had an erection right then and there, which would have caused his demonic power to erupt.
"Fufu, you’re quite cute. I can see why Lena fell for you. And it is exactly as you described. By wearing these clothes, we’ve managed to bed half of the adult men living in this city."
While Lena covered her face at the embarrassing remark, Jaejin’s eyes widened in shock at the latter half of the statement. Lakeside was one of the few major cities in the north with a high floating population.
Since most people were transient—merchants or adventurers passing through—the number of actual residents would be smaller, but even so, it had to be in the tens of thousands.
Sinclair didn't seem like the type to lie about such things, but it was a staggering number to believe immediately.
"It’s fine if you don’t believe me. We have decades of results to prove it."
Sinclair quietly extended her hand. She suggested that she would convince them by giving Jaejin’s party a tour of the monastery.
Sheryl looked uncomfortable but didn't seem to mind much, while Lena pushed him forward, saying it was a great opportunity.
In any case, since the purpose of coming here was to improve their relationship with these people, there was no harm in listening.
"Fine. I’ll see for myself, Sinclair. My name is Ginger, a Demon Lord candidate of the Lust Demon Race."
"Is that a name for external activities? It doesn't quite suit you, but... very well, follow me. The rest of you may disperse."
Embarrassed by her reaction, Jaejin reached out to shake her hand. He immediately regretted not using his real name and had to endure Sheryl’s fits of giggles behind him.
"It just so happens that a regular coming-of-age ceremony is being held, so observing that will be the quickest way for you to understand."
Following Sinclair’s guidance, the group left the chapel. They passed through the monks' quarters and the dining hall via the cloister surrounding the garden before entering the chapel annex.
Jaejin questioned the complex layout—the annex was adjacent to the chapel but not directly connected, requiring them to walk all the way around—but he understood the moment he stepped inside.
The place was filled with the sounds of moans leaking through the gaps in the doors. The intense sounds of men and women in the throes of passion, seemingly indifferent to how the noise echoed, could be heard from every room lining the hallway.
The voices of men ejaculating as they vented their desires upon the sisters, mingled with the moans of nuns reaching blissful climaxes, made the place reminiscent of a brothel.
So this was why Sheryl had been hanging her head low as they approached the annex. Jaejin looked at Lena, unable to comprehend the situation. She would surely know.
"Lena, what on earth is this place?"
"Jaejin-nim, Lady Sinclair told you. A coming-of-age ceremony is being held. The nuns here are taking the virginity of the young men who have just become adults."
Even with that explanation, it still didn't make sense. When he turned to Sinclair, she began to explain as she walked down the hallway, as if even Jaejin’s confusion was a natural part of the process.
"We do perform simple proselytization, but to expand the influence of the Demon God Cult, we needed faithful followers who could handle the dirty work."
That was when Sinclair, who had just joined the cult, thought of a way to fully utilize her race's characteristics.
After observing human psychology and emotions for a long time, she decided to drive a wedge of pleasure deep into their hearts.
Using the Mind's Eye of the Three-Eyed Tribe, they identified everything—fetishes, physical condition, tastes, stamina, and even height. Then, they paired that with sexual pleasure provided by beauties the likes of which an ordinary person could never dream of—Lust Demons. It was a perfect match.
By preventing the negative effects of excessive milking by low and mid-rank Lust Demons while simultaneously injecting a level of pleasure that maintained a state of appropriate dependency, they were able to create faithful followers and voluntary slaves for the cult.
"Didn't the Demon Race Pact say this kind of thing isn't allowed?"
"We certainly prohibited similar cases, but we haven't forced them into anything. Not their freedom of residence, nor their freedom of religion, nor their freedom of body."
Jaejin could guess that while the act felt immoral and unsettling to him as a fellow human, the cult's actions didn't technically violate the treaty.
If it had been a violation in the first place, the Demon God Cult branch would have been shut down long before Jaejin arrived.
"They can leave whenever they wish. They are free to change what they believe in. We have never restricted their freedom, nor have we ever laid a hand on those who have not yet reached adulthood."
Sinclair spoke only the truth. Beni Monastery had caused them no harm. In fact, contrary to their revealing attire, the place was superficially ascetic.
Every monastic had a solitary cell, and lewd speech or behavior between monks was taboo. They avoided exposing their skin to others, and impure relationships between men and women were forbidden.
Consequently, they were ignorant of the opposite sex, and the only women they encountered were the nuns living in the same monastery.
The nuns, most of whom were selected demons, were all exceptionally beautiful, and they served as beings that planted dark desires in the hearts of the monks.
Unlike their male peers, the fragrant scent wafting from the nuns whenever they passed in the hallway began to make the monks' loins itch at some point.
The cleavage revealed when the nuns folded their hands in prayer stirred base desires to reach out and knead them.
The lines of their thighs and calves, glimpsed through the slits of their habits whenever they stood still, made the monks' mouths water.
What if I untied the string resting on those hips? Imagining the uncontrollable beauty of the female body released from within, the monks only accumulated sexual desire they didn't know how to vent.
The Order of Saint Benny and the demon nuns did nothing to the monks.
They simply kept them ignorant of any sexual knowledge while living alongside them in clothes that accentuated their figures.
The coming-of-age ceremony was the explosion of that pent-up desire. On the day they became adults, they were taught the concept of masturbation for the first time.
The actual ceremony was held one month after they reached adulthood. The monks, having just learned to masturbate, became like animals, spending the entire month obsessed with the act.
One might imagine the cherry-like lips of a fellow nun, gauging the sensation by stroking his own member, imagining his red, engorged cock being taken into that mouth before barely managing to ejaculate into a tissue.
Another might think of the shapely lines of long legs, imagining the feet of a nun clad in stockings. Being aroused by the most 'unclean' parts added a sense of depravity, flooding the brain with dopamine.
The finishing blow to these monks, who had spent a month immersed in forbidden lust, was the coming-of-age ceremony Sinclair was describing.
The monks, who had spent a month learning the intense pleasure of ejaculation, lost all reason when the very beings they had only imagined embraced them—either completely naked or still wearing their nun’s habits.
What remained in the rooms were 'monkeys' who had just learned to masturbate and were steeped in lust, and the nuns assigned to them, their traits matched to the monks' tastes to push their carnal desires to the limit.
The lewd mating that followed was the source of the harmonious moans of over a hundred people that Jaejin was currently hearing.
Even if this situation occurred by their own volition, it was far too immoral. Jaejin couldn't shake the feeling that they were profiting by deceiving the innocent.