Chapter 23
Chapter 23
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Succubus (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Loves seeing men ready to die over losing one woman.
2. Loves seeing women succumb to desire despite having partners.
Go die you golden sun slowpoke bastard.
Just when I think I got her, party members get mind-controlled and shit hits the fan.
Is this bitch really level 19?
I'm level 23 and can't clear her?
Eron drew even closer.
Her gait had changed.
Her previously unremarkable movements now carried a more feminine allure, accentuating the curves of her hips and chest.
"Why no answer? I said let's have some fun."
"What kind of fun..."
"Playing dumb, huh? You know exactly what I mean."
Right. Rishir was playing dumb.
How could he miss the blatant signals from a naked woman?
But Rishir intended to keep pretending he didn't notice.
"Don't tell me my old form is still stuck in your head?"
Eron let out a hot sigh and twisted her body seductively.
Her thighs and chest pressed together helplessly, flaunting their softness.
"You're just an animal ruled by desire anyway, right? Don't get hung up on worthless things. Gender means nothing."
"...But it means everything."
Rishir spoke with the solemnity of a holy knight reclaiming a sanctuary.
That was it.
As Eron kept advancing, Rishir extended his hand to stop her.
Rishir prided himself on this.
I'm not the kind of debauched bastard who abandons his night watch duty and gives in to desire.
Especially not for someone with a soul and body as free-spirited as a rainbow.
Above all, Eron's vibe felt off.
No matter how he looked at it, she didn't resemble a woman seducing a man.
It was the look of a predator facing prey—
or a butcher eyeing livestock.
"Eron. Let me make this clear: I'm not the vessel to embrace a free spirit like yours. I haven't reached that liberated rainbow world yet. And what's with this sudden situation? Was there ever a signal like that between us? Did I miss it? Am I that oblivious?"
"I'm seducing you, and that's your boring reaction? Are you impotent? Or just inexperienced?"
Eron's eyes, now tainted purple, gleamed in the darkness.
Rishir's face was clearly visible even in the shadows. His expression showed clear rejection.
Not shyness—pure rejection.
For Eron, who had freely wielded the ugly desires of humans she met more readily than her own hands, this was an unfamiliar experience.
Soon, a sticky smile crept across her lips.
A smile mixing displeasure and intrigue.
"You know what? If there were ten women here, they'd all choose me over you. Same with ten men—they'd pick me, not you."
"...Wouldn't at least one pick me? From the women, I mean. Or two? Fine, take all the men—"
"I'm clearly more beautiful than you. Superior. And you dare reject me seducing you? You don't know your place. But... I think a bit better of you now."
Eron recalled the eyes of humans gleaming with desire.
Playing them like puppets was pitiful—and even uglier.
"At least you're better than those filthy worms."
But.
Eron emphasized that point especially.
"In the end, you're just another slave to desire like them. No different from beasts. But look at me."
Not even a hint of shame.
Eron proudly spread her arms wide.
Looking at her body, Rishir recalled a children's educational cartoon he'd seen once.
Her form lacked any sexual characteristics, just like the depictions of female bodies in those cartoons.
Like a mannequin.
"I'm not ruled by desire. I shape my form by my own will alone. I'm flawless. Thus, perfect. Nothing in this world is as beautiful as me. So... your sin isn't ugliness—it's ignorance."
"..."
Rishir took a step back, bracing for combat.
Something was wrong with Eron.
Her breathing grew ragged, skin glistening with moisture everywhere.
Her voice rose higher and higher.
"Your ignorance in not recognizing my beauty... But don't worry. Since you're a slave to desire...! You'll have no choice but to see it. You humans exist to prove my uniqueness... livestock...!"
Eron's voice spiked sharply.
She hugged her body and collapsed to the ground.
Her form trembled uncontrollably.
Finally, she let out a delirious sigh and reined in her emotions.
"It's here... this is it..."
Before coming here, Eron had dominated the sleeping adventurers with her power of enchantment.
Right now, they were likely lost to desire, ravaging each other mercilessly.
Even burning their own life force in the process.
The life force they lost in their blind lust became Eron's power.
That's how Eron's unique strength had accumulated.
This journey held special meaning for Eron.
A hunt undertaken with the 4th circle realm in sight. Just one step away.
One more step, and Eron could reach the 4th circle.
She'd worried things might go wrong due to the mana backlash from that woman—Fienne's—duke ploy.
That anxiety lingered until she dominated the adventurers and came to Rishir.
An unidentified unease had been gnawing at her body.
But—
Now, Eron's enchantment had completely vanished.
The unpleasant dissonance invading her body suddenly stabilized.
That sensation brought unparalleled liberation.
As if a diseased part of her body had been purified—
An unfamiliar feeling, but Eron instinctively realized.
This emotion. This sensation.
It was born from the breaking of a wall.
A realm breakthrough.
Nothing else explained this refreshing freedom.
However, not everything was clear yet.
Backlash from the breakthrough?
Instability.
She couldn't feel her power of enchantment or the strength accumulated through it.
It's fine.
It had to be temporary.
A common phenomenon.
Advancing a realm meant elevating class and transforming essence.
Confusion was natural.
Eron rose from her crouched position.
Confidence filled the void left by the vanished enchantment.
"By the way, it was ridiculous—your so-called escort bitch."
Eron spoke of her with an excited voice.
An irritating existence that used to give her headaches, but no longer.
"...Escort? You mean Fienne?"
"Who else? I was racking my brain on how to peel that bitch off you. And get this? She leaves you on night watch and chills in the solo tent you made for yourself. Lucky her."
"...Well, I volunteered for night watch."
"Still haven't figured it out? What I'm saying is, no bitch is here protecting you. You might sense something's off now, but too late. You're already in my palm, right?"
Heh.
Eron grinned with pure delight and anticipation.
"I'll watch quietly without interruptions. How a human with one ego degenerates into a mere beast surrendering to desire. That process. That sight. And I'll tell that bitch every detail of what I felt watching. Can't wait to see it? What face that haughty bitch makes. Will she realize her incompetence and feel humiliated? Or rage when her secret crush on you gets crushed?"
Ah!
Eron snapped her fingers.
"Great idea. Once this power stabilizes, I'll take you right in front of that bitch. Then I can savor her reaction live."
Rishir didn't play along with Eron's words.
To her, drunk on herself, others' reactions hardly mattered now.
Mumbling to herself.
Eron's rapture showed no signs of ending. In that state, she resumed her steps, closing in on Rishir.
"..."
Discomfort appeared on Rishir's face.
The aura from the approaching Eron felt markedly different from moments ago.
Suspicious. Ominous.
The sinister elements that made her up had vanished.
And in their place—vulnerability.
Unlike Eron's attitude that feared nothing in the world.
In that moment, Rishir spotted the cause of the change.
"Mana... I can't feel it?"
"Puhahaha!!!"
Confirming Rishir's expression, Eron burst into laughter.
Not from amusement, but sheer joy she couldn't contain.
"Yeah! That's how it'd feel to you right now!"
Arm's reach away.
Eron looked up at Rishir, her gaze arrogant as if looking down.
"Try resisting if you want. You'll learn I haven't hurt you yet simply because I didn't feel the need."
Eron raised her arm, pointing her index finger at Rishir's forehead.
"..."
Rishir's hand grabbed Eron's arm.
A firm grip that could easily snap her slender arm.
Eron ignored it. She just smiled leisurely and drew out her power of enchantment.
Full power, to test and refine her new strength.
"W-wait. Eron, you—"
Rishir's eyes widened in shock right then.
Too late.
"You, that— what is it, it just appeared...?"
Eron paid no heed to the man's words as his ego faded.
"Weren't you just bragging about not having that? Why the sudden—"
Eron paid no heed to the man's words as his ego faded—
"..."
—or tried not to.
But Rishir's ego didn't fade no matter how long she waited.
"What the—"
And her power of enchantment didn't work no matter how long she waited.
Eron strained to draw out her power of enchantment.
No response.
No. She couldn't even feel it.
Why?
The power of enchantment was distinctly different from ordinary magic.
More turbid, more impure, more intense.
Its source was like a swamp.
Eron couldn't fail to find the swamp within herself.
In fact, she precisely located where it was and drew her power from there.
The problem was—
"..."
Eron realized too late.
The true nature of the change in herself.
The identity of that liberating sensation, like a diseased body part being purified.
[Skill is dispelled]
▷ Skill: Power of Enchantment [Mental Interference (Low)]
[Elements linked to the dispelled skill are reset]
[Related stats are deactivated]
The eerie glow in Eron's eyes returned to their original hue.
Her sky-blue eyes, once pursuing goals with intent, now wandered lost.
Then, Eron felt Rishir's gaze lingering on a certain part of her.
Her eyes followed it.
"...?"
An unbelievable sight awaited her.
Like adding the final pupils to a portrait to breathe life into it—
Two new dots drawn on her body had given life to her form.
It was reflexive.
Eron screamed and tried to cover herself with her arms.
"Let go!!!"
Rishir's hand, still gripping her arm, blocked it.
Eron struggled to shake off his touch.
Her now ordinary woman's slender arms couldn't manage it.
Only after Rishir released his grip could Eron finally cover herself freely.
"Hah... hah...!"
Eron stumbled back hastily.
Away from the man she'd dismissed as inferior moments ago.
His touch marks remained vivid on her arm.
Thinking it might come at her with malice made her vision blur.
She shuddered at this first taste of true vulnerability.
"What did you do to me!!!"
The effect of his innate Unique Color.
Rishir answered.
"Norma...lization?"
▷ Event 17: Defiled Relationship - Deactivated
🎁 Corresponding privileges granted.