Chapter 4
Translator: IPO
Chapter 4
Looking at the flock of lambs that had died with their stomachs bursting from being overfed, it almost felt as if they had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
“Mary had a little lamb. Sleep well. Sleep well. Sleep well with your belly burst.”
What I did was simple.
Did I pour magic into sound and burst their organs?
No.
I merely sang a lullaby to the pitiful, jealous flock of lambs, and shoved into their bellies all the vital energy and life force that overflowed from me and was being unnecessarily wasted around us.
“Mary had a little lamb~ No, she had an ugly lamb~ She had an ugly lamb~”
The Succubus Empress can freely handle energy as if it were her own.
Energy is, in essence, life force, a word that encompasses all energy of life.
The flock of lambs, with their endless regeneration, were not creatures I could deal with easily either.
They were not beings that could be handled through physical means.
However, the sole natural enemy of those lambs with endless regeneration was, ironically, that very overflowing regeneration itself.
Their overflowing regeneration.
In other words, I forcibly reversed life and energy into their bodies and simply fed them until their bellies burst.
Singing them a lullaby was… well. Instinct.
The instinct of a Succubus Empress.
Killing enemies with an elegant gesture would be pretty too, but wouldn’t singing them a lullaby with a gentle voice be even prettier?
That was the instinctive thought that drove my actions.
Of course, objectively speaking, someone could say, ‘Is this some middle-school chuunibyou nonsense? Who does this in real life?’
But a Succubus’s instinct has nothing to do with such things—if something looks beautiful, even if it is childish, she will do it without realizing.
Still, combined with my face, it was undeniably a beautiful sight.
So to put it simply: ‘I’m pretty.’
“One left~ The old lamb is left~ A dying, being-torn-apart old lamb~”
The flock of lambs was not beautiful.
Yet they loved beauty more than anyone.
Even with nearly degenerated eyesight, they loved nature and the sky.
The drifting clouds and the natural world.
Humans and beasts mingling within it.
They were a peaceful flock that perceived everything in the world as beautiful.
But what was not beautiful was themselves.
Even through my eyes—
No, even excluding my personal tastes, from an objective aesthetic standpoint that even inhumans and beasts would avoid, they were beneath standard and grotesque.
The lambs had hideous forms, as if their skin had nearly been peeled away, and despite having so many eyes, they could see nothing, reacting only sensitively to the gaze of others.
When their gaze met that of a human, it seemed as though they went berserk from jealousy toward others with intact vision, but in truth, the lambs did not envy beings with proper sight.
They could only see the world through the gaze of those whose eyes met theirs.
More precisely, they recognized their own bodies through another’s gaze.
Beautiful nature and the world.
Beautiful beasts and humans.
And within it, a floating, grotesque flock of lambs.
Isn’t it truly hideous?
“Pitiful.”
That is why the lambs scream when they meet someone’s gaze.
Not being able to see the world themselves did not matter, but they could recognize only their own selves reflected in another’s gaze.
The form they recognized with eyes that could not see was that of a hideous four-legged beast, nearly skinned, with dozens of inorganic eyes trembling pitifully.
How could one not believe such a thing to be cursed by a god?
“A hideous lamb that perceives everything as beautiful yet rages and envies because only itself is not beautiful.”
Thus, the pitiful flock that believed it had been abandoned by the world and by god screamed in sorrow and resentment.
Why am I so hideous?
Though all wounds heal, why does my skin not grow back?
Do you too see me as this hideous?
Having recognized their own miserable and grotesque appearance, the lambs raged.
All ordinary beasts and humans have intact fur and skin—so why are they alone so hideous?
Jealousy toward the ordinary, the beautiful they could not possess surely turned into the lambs’ hunger and rage.
Why do I know this?
Because beauty shines brighter when one recognizes what is lacking.
Recognizing lack itself is also an instinct of the Succubus Empress.
Ugly desires and instincts born from deficiency can become beauty and ideals once fulfilled, so for a Succubus Empress who loves beauty and is sensitive to it, sensing that unconsciously is nothing strange.
Well, perhaps it is simply because the old lamb is a monster, and I too am something close to a monster, that I can understand its heart.
“Oh, are you falling into a pleasant sleep now that you’re full?”
As I stepped lightly forward, I saw the flesh of the young lambs and lambs slowly rot and melt away.
In the transparent eyes of the dying lambs, I was reflected as the final sight, without exception.
“Are you full? Your belly is full, so full it could burst. That’s good.”
[MEEEEEEEE….]
As the young lambs died and the lambs died, all that remained was the old lamb.
The old lamb was not yet completely dead.
The shabby old lamb stared quietly at me with eyes filled with misery and sorrow.
It had been that way from the start.
Young lambs, lambs, old lambs.
With their degenerated sight, all they could see at best was my silhouette, yet every lamb that saw it was captivated by me.
I had removed my veil, but to think it would be this effective.
Ah, my beauty can be a bit overwhelming.
“Oh, you think I’m beautiful? Thank you. But I’m not happy. It’s something I’ve heard so often that it’s not new anymore.”
[….]
Though it did not speak in human language, for some reason I felt its will.
Of course, it might just be my imagination.
“A lullaby before you die? You want to hold beautiful me in your eyes one last time?”
[Me…e…ee….]
I smiled and gently stroked the old lamb’s eye.
Then I grabbed it.
—THUD!!!
[…!]
The old lamb could not even scream properly in pain.
“No.”
[Me…e?]
“Because you’re ugly.”
[….]
At those words, the old lamb’s eyes shook violently.
Ah, I can feel the sorrow.
Such a delicious, stimulating sorrow.
“What are you so resentful about? You raged and grieved over your ugliness with twisted jealousy, stole other lives, and tried to devour and kill everything nearby for the sole reason that your gaze met theirs. Did you not expect this outcome?”
[Me…! E…!]
“Your inside is ugly as well as your outside, so why should I give you a beautiful farewell?”
The stimulating taste isn’t usually to my liking… but it’s like junk food.
Something I rarely eat, but every once in a while—
About five days out of 365—
There are days I crave it intensely.
Today might be one of those days.
“Ugly lamb. Ugly lamb. Old, ugly lamb with both an ugly inside and outside.”
[Me… gurgle, gk…gk!]
“Die with your belly bursting. Die with your eyes bursting. Die with your flesh bursting.”
—THUD!
“Ugly lamb whose ugliness lies within. Do not hold beautiful me in your eyes. Burst and die.”
—THUD!THUD!
As I injected excessive life force through my grip, the old lamb let out a sorrowful scream.
A violent surge of life that regeneration could not suppress.
The dim eyes swelled all at once and burst.
The stomach burst, yet it continued to swell until the belly exploded completely.
Flesh and blood scattered everywhere, but it was fine.
Not a single ugly piece touched me.
Even for an old lamb, its life force is truly immense.
Letting it wander off would be a waste.
“Be grateful. Even if you’re old and shabby, beautiful me will accept what you leave behind.”
Well.
You can’t hear it anyway.
‘Drain.’
Countless strands of life and energy floating in the air flowed into me.
Ah, I’m full.
So full… so very full.
So full that even a Succubus’s instinct leaked out unconsciously.
Energy and life force are life itself to me, but at the same time, they also seem to blur the mind strangely, like alcohol or drugs.
If I eat too much… it feels like the Succubus’s mentality tries to take over my body more than human reason.
It seems the shabby old lamb had more energy than I expected.
“Haah….”
To put it simply, it feels like eating pizza and fried chicken—greasy, calorie-packed food—for three meals a day.
Without cola, radish, or pickles.
Ah, how greasy….
“J-Jaehee!!”
A refreshing sound just from hearing it.
A voice with a hint of teasing.
The face of someone cute and slightly airheaded.
I hurriedly put my veil back on.
Even if Officer Dan is a high-rank Awakened, seeing my bare face might be a bit much.
Is there anything disheveled about me?
Sleeves.
Hair.
Face, expression, eyes.
Mm-hm, all fine.
Turning around, I saw Officer Dan, much smaller than me, bowing repeatedly at ninety degrees.
Like a penguin.
An Adélie penguin.
No, maybe an emperor penguin that hasn’t grown up yet?
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so so much for coming despite the sudden emergency call!”
“Ah, the greasiness is gone.”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing.”
I almost patted her head without thinking.
If I had, Officer Dan might have vomited because of the ugly lamb flesh on my hands.
Ah, I touched it unnecessarily.
Bursting the old lamb’s eyes on impulse…
So ugly inside and out that I couldn’t help myself….
Officer Dan saw my blood-soaked hands and quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her clothes.
“Um, if it’s not rude, please use this….”
It looks like a clean towel that’s never been used.
No, it was used.
That’s fine. No, it’s good.
“Thank you.”
“Y-Yes…!”
When I smiled back, Officer Dan bowed again.
She really is like a penguin.
Hehe, greasy.
I think I can eat more.