Chapter 528
Chapter 528
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 528
Chapter Title: Doctor Gam Deok-bae (64)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Everything had gone smoothly.
They'd arrived in Rahitan, found the underground ruins, passed through the traps, and wiped out the base. Thanks to Cloy deciphering those notes from the captured black mages, they'd finally achieved something meaningful. From the black mages captured after a brief skirmish to the crates of classified documents they'd uncovered. Even though they were just at the entrance, if things were this promising already, this time they could aim for total annihilation.
Lucius had no doubt about that fact.
Until he heard Cloy's scream, that is.
"Nooooo!"
Boom! Bang! Smoke bombs exploded. With them came the black mages charging in. Everyone was stunned by the sudden assault. Who could've expected an attack from the rear? What the hell was going on? His aides tried to form up ranks, but in the meantime, disaster struck.
Cloy had been kidnapped.
Lucius moved immediately.
"Cloy!"
"Lord Lucius!"
Tat-tat-tat!
Five black mages dragging Cloy away, and mercenaries buying them time. Lucius rushed forward, but their resistance was fiercer than expected. They fought dirty, no holds barred. Artifacts detonated everywhere.
"Cloy!"
"Ahh, no..."
"Cloy! Damn it!"
He slashed a mercenary with his sword, hurled his shield at a black mage. He tanked a curse-laden spell with his body, then charged without pause, dropping one of them. But they didn't stop. They were dead serious about the kidnapping, no matter if a comrade died. A black mage lunged in a suicidal bid, another tried to self-destruct...
In the end, he had no choice but to halt.
Just like that, Cloy vanished before his eyes.
"Hah... hah, damn it!"
"Over here!"
"...Iris?"
"It's a magic tool that signals our positions to each other!"
"!"
"We got matching couple ones as a joke, sis... Here, take this!"
"Lucky. I'll borrow it for a bit."
"Sure, it's yours!"
But Lucius had comrades to help him.
"This way..."
"Not that path!"
"Luin?"
"It looks like a wall at first glance, but those marks..."
Boom!
"I see. There was a door here."
"I don't have Senior Cloy's insight into everything... but I've adventured enough to spot a few things myself. Please let me help you, Lord Lucius!"
"...Right, I appreciate it!"
"M-Me too! I'll help!"
"Masha, was it? Thanks. I'll rely on you too."
Luin offered seasoned advice from his experience, while Masha swiftly dispatched the lurking black mages. With their aid, Lucius finally picked up Cloy's trail. And soon after, having felled all the interlopers... he found her, the kidnapped Cloy. She lay unconscious in the center of a massive chamber.
"Heh heh heh, I knew you'd make it this far."
"Who... are you?"
"The being who will plant despair in your heart... Benzo!"
And beside her stood a dark elf he'd never seen before... holding a suspicious fruit.
"Human who bears the prophet's fate, Lucius... Heh heh heh, I've been waiting for you!"
"...You know me?"
"Of course. How could I not? The matricide who killed his own mother with his own hands. That's your true identity, isn't it, Lucius? Trembling as you choked the life out of her, then slicing her throat... Ahh, you wore such a beautiful expression. Just like now!"
"...You know quite well."
"You are a being who could save or destroy everything. That's why I want you. I want you to fall into ruin, to suffer, to grieve... That's my one and only amusement."
"You're insane."
"Heh heh heh, aren't we both mad?"
"...First things first. Why kidnap Cloy?"
"Your despair."
Ahh, this really is a female-oriented world.
A final boss obsessed with the male lead to an unnatural degree. He was handsome, sure, but this androgynous, gay-looking dark elf—straight out of what women swoon over—gazed at Lucius with a creepy expression. His eyes reeked of filthy, sticky desire.
Not the crude "I want to fuck you" kind, of course...
That's what makes female-oriented worlds tick.
They let readers fantasize, "Maybe he does want to fuck him after all." Seeing it firsthand was straight-up nauseating. Unlike the black mages, this guy seemed to crave Lucius himself...
Hmm, should I just kill him now?
...I thought, but decided to hold off a bit for the NTR opportunity.
"My... despair?"
"Yes, heh heh heh... Know what this is?"
"What is it?"
"It's called the 'Arbo Somnium' fruit."
"Arbo Somnium?"
"A devilish fruit that parasitizes the host's heart, draining their life force. But... heh heh, it's a truly ecstatic fruit. It sucks away the life force until it finally blooms... bursting through the host's body to grow into a tree."
"Don't tell me you... fed it to Cloy..."
"Exactly! You get it! When the tree grows, that spot becomes elven territory. Not just any tree—it's the World Tree's root! So you... heh heh heh, must choose! Kill the host to protect your land, or watch her turn into a tree... Hahaha!"
"You damn bastard..."
Sure enough, that's what it was for.
I'd wondered why the elves made 'Arbo Somnium'—turns out it was for territorial expansion too. So feeding it to Iris was to claim Lehinar...? Kinda curious, but... irrelevant now. Arbo Somnium was just a cold-level ailment I could cure anytime.
"Wait, those symptoms... that's what Iris had."
"Ah, the girl from Lehinar?"
"Yeah. And this doctor here cured her."
"Heh heh heh, Cured? She fooled you!"
"...What do you mean?"
"I checked her condition recently. She was still showing similar symptoms. Hahaha, cured? She just faked being healthy temporarily to deceive you. Ridiculous. As if a mere human could cure 'Arbo Somnium'!"
Aha, so that's how it went down?
Sorry to Iris, but lately I'd been leaving the 'Arbo Somnium' treatment to her during our orgy sessions at the inn. Guess he investigated in the meantime. Judging it incurable, he pulled this stunt... Heh heh, works for me. Things were falling into place nicely. NTR just got easier.
"So now, despair."
"S-Stop!"
"What are you doing? Block him, you worthless scum!"
Clang!
Clang!
"Damn it. Dammit!"
"Heh heh heh heh, time for ruin!"
Benzo forced the 'Arbo Somnium' into Cloy. Lucius let out a guttural roar upon witnessing it. But it was already too late. Cloy's complexion worsened rapidly, her breaths coming in gasps. Lucius dropped to his knees. Benzo savored the ecstasy. Which meant... now was the time to end it for real.
"Idiot."
"...Idiot? Did a puny human just call me an idiot?"
"Serpinn."
Stab!
"A puny human just... Huh?"
"Cleanly."
Slash!
"Calling me..."
Thud!
I had Serpinn kill Benzo.
"...Serpinn?"
Even a dark elf dies with a pierced heart and severed neck. Benzo met a pathetically easy end. The black mages froze in shock. I handed the cleanup to Masha. Their numbers dwindled in seconds.
"Don't worry, Lord Lucius. She'll be fine."
"But..."
"It's okay, Lord Lucius! Big brother will treat her!"
"Ah, he's reliable."
Iris and Sirius arrived at the same time.
"What... what do you mean?"
"It means it's curable. Arbo Somnium is treatable enough."
"B-But that guy said..."
"Hey, Lucius. You gonna trust a dark elf exiled by his own kind?"
I left Lucius to Sirius and approached Cloy. But... huh? Her condition was worse than I thought. Worse than when Iris was struggling... Hmm, did he use a fruit on the verge of blooming? Whatever. My job stayed the same. I woke Cloy and carefully stripped her.
"Y-You madman! Luin! What the hell..."
"Hey now, behave. This is treatment."
"Sirius? What are you..."
"Ah, guess I should explain that first."
"I'll explain."
"Iris?"
"The way to cure Arbo Somnium... hee hee, it's sex!"