Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Succubus's Dream (2)
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As she seemed ready to dive into a truly serious conversation, the smile slowly faded from her face.
The playful glint that had lingered faintly in her eyes, and the seductive smile on her lips... all of it vanished.
In its place came a subdued voice, as if unearthing something buried for a very long time.
"...I..."
Chae Yeon-hwa opened her mouth very quietly.
"From the moment I was born, I was blessed with every condition a succubus could possess."
She glanced down at her own body and let out a wry chuckle.
"A beauty that instinctively captivates any man's gaze, near-perfect proportions, a voice impossible to forget.
All the succubi always said it: 'You were born a sacred vessel.'
"
"A sacred... vessel?"
"Yes. A sacred vessel of lust."
"...Ugh."
They've got quite the naming sense.
Succubi through and through...
My shoulders twitched ever so slightly.
"But at the same time—I showed overwhelming talent in barrier arts and greatsword techniques.
Even before I was very old, I could see the structure in battlefield barriers at a glance, and trace the paths of the lords' sword strikes."
She slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again, continuing.
"That was the problem."
"...The problem?"
"Succubi are a race that lives through their bodies alone, Hyun-sol. With nothing but flesh in their grasp,
their hierarchy is determined by how they sell it, use it, and grind it away."
Her voice cooled chillingly.
"What if a succubus who picked up a sword appeared in such a race? Would the upper demons be pleased, or displeased?"
"...Displeased, obviously."
"Correct."
Chae Yeon-hwa gave a faint smile.
"The moment the higher ones sense the lower ones preparing to strike upward, they grow uncomfortable.
And the moment discomfort sets in—they find reasons to eliminate it."
She let out a single sigh.
"So the succubi around me, the elders of my race, the upper demons... they all aligned their words.
'Put down the sword, learn barriers only for defense, and train in ways befitting your kind.'
"
"Training befitting your kind..."
"You know without me saying, right?"
The corner of her mouth twisted.
"Growing mana solely through sexual contact, sucking the life force from men to get stronger.
'Your body was made for that.' 'Swords will only upset the higher ones.'
'If you stand out alone, the whole race is endangered.'
"
"... "
A thick silence fell for a moment.
Unconsciously, I gripped the pistol in my hand a little tighter.
"...So you hated it?"
"Yes. Desperately so."
Chae Yeon-hwa's eyes slowly lifted upward.
"Why should I live the same life as everyone else just because I was born a succubus?
I couldn't understand why my talents had to be treated like crimes simply for sharing the same race."
A faint flicker of long-buried rage burned deep in her eyes.
"So I was stubborn. I didn't abandon greatsword techniques, and I kept pushing with barrier arts to the end.
I pretended to train sexually, just enough to avoid suspicion from the race."
"...That must have made you an even bigger thorn in the upper demons' sides."
"Naturally."
The corner of her mouth rose again.
"So they came one by one. 'Your talents are wasted—make a pact with me.'
'Weave barriers for my hunts.' 'Offer your body for my sword.' ...Saying things like that."
"And?"
"I dealt with them, one by one."
Chae Yeon-hwa's gaze settled quietly.
"That's when I started using barriers as weapons. They're said to be an art of protection and restraint,
but in the end—barriers are the perfect magic for slaughter, once you understand their structure and reverse the flow."
She moved her finger slightly.
The leg trapped in ice creaked faintly.
"The upper demons who approached to bind me to their beds—I trapped them in my barriers instead, suffocating them,
ground them down with my greatsword, pierced their hearts, severed their heads."
"...A succubus, killing upper demons?"
"I hate the phrase 'a succubus like you.' Be careful with your words from now on?"
"...Sorry."
Chae Yeon-hwa chuckled softly.
"Anyway, that's how I lived for 200 years. Without relying on men's power,
without depending on my race's unique training—solely through barriers and swordsmanship, battle after battle."
"And... that's how you became a lord?"
"Yes."
She answered curtly.
"Just 200 years since birth, by demon realm standards. The first succubus, treated as the lowest race, to rise to lordship.
They all said it was 'luck,' or 'someone pulling strings behind the scenes'... but the truth was simple."
"The truth?"
"I was just that good."
Her expression and tone didn't change a bit.
Which made it all the more convincing.
"When most demons become lords, they mix the authority granted by their apostles with their racial traits for new games.
How to kill more humans, how to corrupt them deeper, how to please their apostles... things like that."
She nodded.
"But that didn't amuse me."
"...So what did you do?"
"I kept researching barrier arts, honing my greatsword skills, and whenever meddlesome upper demons—
now lord-rank demons—approached, I dispatched them one by one or ignored them entirely."
The way she said it so casually made it feel like it was just her daily routine.
For some reason, I started feeling a bit sorry for her... Wasn't I an F-rank?
"Then one day, the Apostle of Lust, Belsein Alma, summoned me."
At the mention of that name, Yu-bin—who had returned after checking the ice crystal—snapped her head up.
"The Apostle of Lust? You're...?"
"That's right."
Chae Yeon-hwa smiled brightly.
"That's how I officially became the Apostle of Lust's successor and the Lord of Obsession.
Rumors started circulating in the demon realm that the first succubus apostle might be born."
"...Rumors, but probably mixed with some serious speculation."
"Yes. There were lords who feared me, and others who anticipated it."
She caught her breath for a moment.
Blood pooled in her mouth again, staining her lips red.
"But the problem was..."
"..."
"It started around then."
Chae Yeon-hwa's eyes drifted to some distant place.
"My body began burning uncontrollably hot."
I watched her silently.
"It was the limit of the succubus race catching up. By racial trait, once you reach a certain level—
the desires you've suppressed inevitably backflow. Once mana surpasses a threshold, the racial traits demand their due."
"...In a sexual sense."
"Yes. Even if I hated it, my body knew. 'You're a succubus, so you must grow stronger this way.'
'Suck men's essence dry, throw your body into it to get even stronger.'
"
Her finger twitched weakly.
"Up to that point, I had been incomplete as a succubus. Because I hadn't lived by the racial norms."
"So... it hit even harder?"
"Yes. The more I ignored it, the more I suppressed it—the more my body filled with maddening impulses.
Impulses screaming, 'Grab any man, drain them completely, extinguish this insane craving.'"
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
She closed her eyes and forced a smile.
"Still... I endured to the end. And that's when I started dreaming one dream."
"A dream?"
"Yes."
She looked at me again.
"Not the lowly way of growing bit by bit by surrendering my body to this man or that.
But devoting everything to one being with the most brilliantly shining talent—"
Her eyes gleamed with sharp clarity.
"Absorbing only that man's power to grow stronger."
"..."
"And ultimately, becoming an apostle who fights for that man.
Not as the successor to the Apostle of Lust Belsein Alma, but as the Apostle of Obsession for one man alone."
...Fitting for the Lord of Obsession—a strangely convincing dream.
"So from then on, I imagined it. A future searching for one man whose sword edge, mind, heart, and talent wouldn't fade even after centuries.
A being I could offer myself to completely—as a lord, as a succubus, as a barrier master, as a swordswoman."
She panted for breath briefly.
Then added very quietly.
"But in the end, I couldn't find such a one in the demon realm, so under orders from my apostle,
I descended to the human world, was carrying out an infiltration mission at the academy... and met you."
"...I see."
"At first, you seemed quite lacking."
"Ah, yes. I'll admit that much."
"But—"
Chae Yeon-hwa narrowed her eyes, as if carefully recalling recent memories.
"Before the artificial dungeon evaluation, the moment I met you."
"..."
"I could be certain from the emotions I felt then."
Her lips trembled ever so slightly.
"My heart had never pounded like that. It wasn't racial instinct—it was me wanting it, me choosing, a trembling sensation."
Her red eyes pierced through me.
"This isn't succubus heat—it's the choice of the Lord of Obsession.
Ah, I've chosen this human as my mate."
"... "
For some reason, my breath caught again.
Guilt? No, it was just the Oath of Indulgence's influence.
Thinking I couldn't tell her the truth, couldn't ever say it, made my chest tighten.
"So I tested you in every way. How weak you were, how easily you'd break, how long you'd endure."
"Pretty bold."
"The result— I liked it very much."
Chae Yeon-hwa smiled.
"If a human who seems like he'd shatter at this level can hold out to the end,
then maybe he could withstand the full weight of my racial limits."
She swallowed blood one last time and concluded.
"So everything I've said up to now is why I betrayed the demons. Why I slew a lord right here. And finally—my goal."
"Your goal."
"Yes."
She was still looking up at me from below, but her gaze didn't waver an inch.
"Planting the seed, teaching barriers, watching over you in battle—I convinced myself.
'Ah, this is the one I can devote everything to.'
"
"... "
I couldn't say a word.
The underground air was cold, the ice crystal kept vibrating—but oddly, my mind alone grew unbearably, fiercely noisy.
"...So."
After a moment of silence, Chae Yeon-hwa asked.
"Now, Kang Hyun-sol."
The lord in a succubus's body.
The traitor who betrayed the demon realm and personally cut down a lord.
And... the Lord of Obsession who chose me.
"What do you plan to do with me?"