Cruel Interrogation (5)
Cruel Interrogation (5)
The Extermination Force finished their preparations and were ready to advance.
The mercenaries, including Melanie, were ordered to assemble at dawn.
According to Sephemo's story, it was time for the First Knight Captain Lancelot to shine brilliantly as the protagonist once again.
However, since he had died according to Luxuria's will, it was obvious the battle would be difficult.
That's why she planned to go to bed early, get plenty of rest, and wake up refreshed.
"Please wake up. It's already afternoon."
"What?!"
Startled by the fact that it was Saint Hilda's voice waking her and that she had overslept, Melanie bolted upright.
But the scenery that met her eyes was not the dormitory, but Luxuria's Divine Hall.
"Wh-what? Why am I here...?"
"We were ambushed."
Melanie, unable to grasp the situation, turned her gaze to Hilda.
Seeing Hilda's white outfit completely soaked in blood, Melanie hurriedly approached her and reached out her hand.
"S-Saintess! Are you alri..."
*Slap!*
"Eek?!"
But Hilda smacked Melanie's hand away as if disgusted.
"I've already healed myself, so don't make a fuss."
"...I'm sorry."
"And drop the formal speech. It's irritating, as if you're trying to be considerate of me."
"...Okay."
Her attitude suggested she had absolutely no intention of getting personally close.
A feeling of disappointment welled up, but Melanie reminded herself she had no right to feel that way.
She held her stinging hand and forcefully suppressed that emotion.
Even though she knew it couldn't be helped, being despised by a character she had affection for was quite painful.
Seeing Melanie like that, Hilda subtly averted her gaze.
"...My words just now were a bit excessive. Since you speak informally to the other two, I thought it would be more comfortable if you did the same with me."
"Huh?"
Hilda's attitude seemed to have softened slightly.
Melanie was overjoyed just by that, but she tried not to show it.
This was the kind of woman who, if you tried to get even a little closer, would only push you further away.
"...I will explain the situation. The demonkin attacked during the night, and Pazurion has been captured. The Extermination Force is presumed to have been completely annihilated."
The sentences were simple and easy to understand, but the report itself was utterly incomprehensible.
"Th-that's ridiculous... Are you saying I was just sleeping while all that happened? Is this a dream?"
"A dream. That is precisely the power of the Sloth Demon God, Acedia. Everyone in the city fell asleep due to her power. No one woke up while the demonkin captured the city."
"......"
"All I could do was extract you few, beg the Goddess, and bring you here."
"Then, you got covered in blood like that trying to protect me...?"
"Don't misunderstand. It wasn't to protect you, but to deal with the Demon God. What was I supposed to do all by myself?"
"Ah, yeah... Sorry..."
"Stop apologizing to me. Your apologies are usele..."
Hilda barely managed to suppress the urge to lash out at Melanie again.
"...It's nothing. Anyway, since I have no escort troops, I couldn't even use this properly."
"Ah...!"
What Hilda produced was a brilliant golden holy lance.
It was the Sacred Artifact <Dawn>, bestowed upon humanity by the Heavenly God.
A weapon that could grant perfect immunity to the sleep-related Status Ailments used by the Demon God Acedia and her subordinate demonkin.
Even in the game, it was mandatory equipment you were forced to use in this section.
"According to the Holy Scriptures, it can protect thousands of people from falling into the dream. I tried to use it to drive out the Demon God's power covering the city, but all I could manage was to protect you few."
"......"
"You probably can guess... Since it wasn't arranged by the Heavenly God for me to use, I might not be able to draw out its full power."
In Sephemo, it was a weapon that Lili used in place of the Saintess.
But it was unknown whether Lili, who wasn't a clergy member, could use it.
"Well, isn't this rather fortunate? With the human army annihilated, it will be easier for me and Avaritia to operate. There will be no witnesses, after all."
"Tch...!"
Melanie grimaced at the words of the Goddess sitting on her throne.
How could anyone call it 'fortunate' in a situation where so many people might have died?
But she couldn't dare to retort.
Whether thousands or tens of thousands of humans died, it was irrelevant from a Demon God's perspective.
Making an emotional scene here would only add to Melanie's suffering.
"Fufu. I can see exactly what you're thinking. But having lost a strong asset like Lancelot, you desperately need our power now too, don't you?"
"...Does that mean you'll go with me to kill Acedia? Have you made up your mind?"
"......"
Luxuria, who had seemed composed, stiffened her expression.
"You were asleep and couldn't observe Acedia. Are you absolutely sure she is one of the <distortions>, as you claimed?"
"I didn't expect Acedia to attack first like this. Does this match the behavior of the Acedia you knew?"
"It does. Acedia possesses an ability more fatal to humans than any other Demon God. Didn't she just put every human in the city to sleep? Then isn't it rational to actively utilize that power?"
"If it were as you said, originally Salome should have killed the Saintess and returned. But since the Chosen One did not return, it seems an anxious Acedia made the first move."
Avaritia, who had been reading a book in the corner, chimed in.
But Melanie quietly shook her head.
"The Acedia I knew would never attack humans first."
"Why not? Our very lives are being threatened right now."
"...Because she is the Demon God of <sloth>."
"...What?"
"The Sloth Demon God does nothing. She is a goddess who is a calamity to humanity just by existing. But Acedia doesn't particularly want to torment humanity. That's why she doesn't move an inch from her Divine Hall."
Before the story Renewal, the Demon God Acedia did not take any hostile actions against the city.
But just by her awakening, humans in the surrounding area fell into a dream from which they could not wake.
As the range of her power gradually expanded, the Empire had no choice but to decide to exterminate Acedia.
"Killing the Saintess to prevent the use of the Sacred Artifact that threatens her, and then massacring the city's humans after failing... Rampaging with such overt malice and hostility is not the way of the Acedia I know."
Acedia merely held her ground.
Until the humans came to her and put a blade to her neck themselves.
"That can't be... Acedia was quite a violent one among us. Wasn't she?"
"Certainly, she should be... Ugh...! What is this memory...?"
Avaritia dropped his book and clutched his throbbing head.
After hearing Melanie's words, a discrepancy began to occur in his memories of Acedia.
Luxuria looked confused seeing Avaritia like that.
It exactly matched the symptoms Lili and Pia had shown due to the Distortion.
"...It seems you are right. Acedia is indeed a Distortion."
"...Well, I'm not in the camp of just killing everyone indiscriminately like you. I think we can meet her and judge for ourselves."
Luxuria closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.
At that, the figures of Lili and Pia appeared in the Divine Hall.
"Ah! Melanie, you're awake too!"
"Where have you two been...?"
"We woke up first and were doing some work."
When Luxuria snapped her fingers once more, another figure appeared.
The Chosen One of the Demon God Acedia, the Succubus Salome.
But her condition looked far worse than when Melanie had last seen her.
"Ugh! Uuugh!"
Her limbs were restrained, her eyes and mouth covered, and she was being tortured while seated on a Triangular Hobby Horse.
Whether from the pain or pleasure—an intense sensation relentlessly applied to her genitals—she was continuously climaxing, her love juices flowing out like a flood.
Her voluptuous breasts, ample buttocks, thick uterine covering flesh, sturdy thighs—every piece of her lewd flesh was drenched in sweat and jiggling, a violently visual spectacle.
Melanie stared blankly before snapping out of it and quickly turning her head away.
"Wh-what are you doing! Isn't torturing her like this too cruel?"
"Cruel? How many people has this bitch killed? What's cruel about it?"
"Ah, even so, tormenting her without any purpose just for the sake of it..."
"There is a purpose."
Luxuria cut Melanie off and spoke.
"Hilda. You should be able to sense the connection between that bitch and Acedia."
"...Yes, Goddess."
"While the mind of that traitorous succubus bitch, who dared to leave my service, is weakened, if you seize that connection, I will attempt to communicate with Acedia."
"Understood."
At Luxuria's words, Hilda approached Salome, who was twitching and shuddering on the Triangular Hobby Horse.
Then she grabbed Salome's large breasts with her hand.
Hilda's fingers sank so deeply into the thick layer of fat they were no longer visible.
"Uuuuugh!"
Salome writhed, drooling profusely from the sensation that was either pleasure or pain.
"What a pathetic sight. How does it feel now that the tables have turned?"
"Uuuugh!"
"Ah, I'll remove the gag. Insult me all you want."
"Pl-please, spare me...!"
"...Spare you?"
Salome pleaded with a desperate expression, but Hilda tilted her head.
"That doesn't seem right. For a human who was brutally beaten and trampled by me, who didn't even subdue me with your own power, how dare you be so insolent... Don't you want to say something like that?"
"That's not it...! I'm sorry for tormenting you! Big sister, I'm really reflecting a lot! If, if you do what that Goddess says, big sister might be completely broken!"
"......"
Hilda frowned, seemingly displeased with Salome's utterly degraded state.
"That's not it! What's the fun if you surrender so easily! You should resist a bit more!"
*Smack!*
"Kyaaaaaah!!!!"
Hilda slapped Salome's side breast with her palm.
She hit so hard it wasn't just turning red—it was beading with droplets of blood.
A Saintess's revenge, something unseen in the original story where Hilda was unilaterally toyed with and killed by Salome.
"Eek...♡"
Melanie felt her heart pound and her genitals tingle with an irrepressible surge of euphoria.