Chapter 108
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Scopophobia
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'Tired.'
Having cleaned nonstop without a break, I let out yawn after yawn as extreme fatigue washed over me.
'Well, yeah. I've been pushing myself way too hard lately.'
Not knowing when heroes might barge in again, I'd been buying monsters through the dungeon merchant, staying in regular contact with my other subordinate dungeons, and handling all sorts of other tasks lately. I hadn't gotten a proper rest in ages. The fruit Drigh gave me before had boosted my stamina enough to keep going without sleep until now, but...
'No way I can keep this up. I need a break.'
My original goal had been to drop the contamination level to 50 percent as fast as possible, but I was too exhausted. Time to hit the sack.
"Master. You heading to bed?"
"Yeah. You too."
Erzsebet, wearing the same sleepy expression as me, waved lazily from where she lay sprawled out. At this rate, she'd end up fused with the bed...
"Yaaawn..."
And so, overcome by fatigue, Eugene headed home to sleep, and soon Erzsebet drifted off as well.
-Step.
In one corner of the garden, the door to the house Lilith had built for herself—set up so she could harvest essence from the sleeping captives—creaked open cautiously. Moments later, someone stepped out from inside.
"Ah! Sis, perfect tim—huh?"
Rio, riding her hellhound as it bounded through the garden, happened to pass right by Lilith's house and spotted the woman emerging from within.
"Wh-who are you...?"
"........."
"Huuuuh..."
Her eyes went wide as she stared blankly at the figure from the house. The hellhound she'd been riding loyally obeyed and carried her along... until it suddenly started drooling, freezing in place like it was nailed to the spot.
And then, the Red Demon tribesfolk chasing after Rio and the demons stationed inside the dungeon began appearing one by one. Soon, they were all reacting the same way, rooted to the spot.
"Ahh, slept great."
Lately, with so many worries on my mind, I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in forever. But man, I felt refreshed now. It had been ages since I'd slept so soundly.
I slipped past Erzsebet, still sleeping soundly beside me, and stepped out of the room.
'...Huh?'
But the guards who were supposed to be faithfully standing watch outside the bedroom while I rested were nowhere in sight.
'No way.'
Those guards were Erzsebet's kin, posted there on her orders. Don't kin have to obey her commands unconditionally? How could they just leave their posts?
Not only that, but the folks who should have been farming in the distance, the monsters I'd scattered around the ruins—none of them were anywhere to be seen.
'What the hell's going on?'
A chill ran down my spine. I hurriedly opened the [Quick Travel] function to check where Erzsebet's other subordinates had gone.
'What? They're all in one spot?'
But when I pulled up the map, Rio, Pandora, Lil, and even Drigh were all clustered together in one location. Worried something had happened, I rushed toward the spot on the map.
And there...
"Sis..."
"Ahh... Look this way, please..."
"Hek... hek... whine..."
"...?????"
Regardless of age or gender, demons or monsters—every single resident of the ruins had gathered somewhere, their faces flushed red.
'That's... where Lilith lives.'
Every one of them knelt, wearing entranced expressions as they desperately longed for something, waiting outside Lilith's firmly locked bedroom door.
'No way... like last time?'
The moment I saw their faces, déjà vu hit me. It wasn't exactly the same intensity, but something similar had happened before.
'Did Lilith use her enchantment ability again?'
Back when Lilith was still confined underground, driven mad by hunger, she'd spread mist across the surface and enchanted every member of the ruins. The symptoms everyone was showing now looked a lot like that.
Of course, unlike back then, they were all wearing [Cleaning Masks] and such... but I had no idea why they'd still fallen under the effect. Or if this was even charm at all.
"Where's Lilith?"
Where was Lilith? Inside that room?
"Ugh... urk..."
Inside Lilith's room. A woman with a violently alluring figure—not her usual matted hair, but soft, wavy locks emitting a pleasant fragrance—retched, tears streaming down her face.
"Hah...! Haah...!"
Recalling the scene from moments ago triggered hyperventilation, making it hard to breathe.
It had started simply. Spurred by pride after Erzsebet mocked her serious concerns, she'd washed away all the grime hiding her natural scent, shampooed her tangled hair, stripped off the baggy rags that concealed her figure, and conjured form-fitting clothes that accentuated her charms.
The result was a appearance strikingly similar to the illusory woman she usually cloaked herself in when venturing outside. Hesitating briefly, she'd stepped out of the room anyway.
"R-Rio."
The first person she ran into was Rio. Thank goodness. Meeting anyone else right away would have been daunting, but the child didn't scare her much.
She usually dropped her illusion around Rio anyway, so feeling a bit more at ease, Lilith cautiously approached to speak.
"Wh-who are you...?"
Rio's wide-eyed confusion at her cleaned-up look and new outfit was adorable, but only for a moment.
-Whoosh...!
Her innate pheromones—impossible to fully conceal—began wafting naturally from her body. Normally, the unwashed filth she caked on neutralized them somewhat, but now, nothing held back the sweet aroma spreading unchecked.
"Huuuuh..."
"Keng..."
Rio and her hellhound's expressions flipped instantly. Rio wore a look no child should make, while the hellhound panted as if suddenly in heat.
"Sleep now..."
Feeling guilty for affecting Rio like that, Lilith hurriedly induced a dream to put her to sleep. She checked her reflection in the bedroom window, gained a sliver of confidence, and stepped forward.
"Oh. Lady Lilith?"
Some patrolling minions recognized her. Ordinary minions only knew her illusory form, but her current look closely resembled that illusion.
"Y-yeah. H-hi?"
"...Lady Lilith? Are you unwell? You seem... different somehow..."
A wave of intense repulsion hit her, urging her to cloak herself in illusion, but she mustered her courage and awkwardly mimicked her usual illusory speech patterns. Using them in her true form felt mortifyingly embarrassing, but she gritted her teeth and greeted them anyway.
"As radiant as ever today..."
The demons who'd lusted after her illusory beauty were captivated anew. Though her vibe was different, she seemed far more stunning than usual.
-Thud.
"Eh...?"
"Truly... ahh... such a beautiful lady..."
"R-right... heh...?"
Seeing the minions blush and fixate on her one by one, Lilith regained some confidence. They liked her true self—not the illusion. It felt kinda nice, for some reason.
'Why was I hiding this...?'
Savoring their admiring gazes, she wondered why she'd pathologically hidden her appearance under illusion. When she'd awakened underground, her memories were hazy, but an urge not to show her true face and to avoid others had constantly swirled in her mind...
"Lady Lilith...!"
"Ahh..."
As she basked in their stares and advanced slowly, more monsters and minions drawn by the noise drank in her image, entranced.
-Drool...
Some began drooling, others leaking other fluids. More minions gathered, closing in bit by bit.
"......Huh?"
Slowly enjoying their attention—planning to show off to the mocking Erzsebet and Master—Lilith suddenly felt her heart pounding wildly. She glanced around.
"Huff..."
"Lady Lilith..."
Gazes. Gazes. Gazes. Gazes. Gazes.
No matter where she looked, eyes followed. Her dream demon ability to read desires and siphon essence activated, revealing the raw lust in their stares.
Lust. Greed. Hunger. Conquest. And lust. Lust. Lust. Lust...!!
"...Ugh..."
When cloaked in illusion, she'd sensed admiration for her beauty, reassurance from a powerful ally, and occasional fondness from her bumbling, punch-worthy antics around Lady Erzsebet.
But now, baring her true self, all those emotions were forcibly suppressed. Nothing remained in their gazes but lust—for everyone, regardless of age or gender.
Bombarded by stares and desires from every direction, her heart raced and breath quickened. Lilith cautiously backed away.
-Dash!
"Ahh...! Lady Lilith!"
Her enchantment hadn’t fully taken hold.—no one lunged at her outright—but they couldn't bear to lose sight of her, blindly pursuing.
"Hah...! Haah!!"
Lilith fled into her house and bolted the door. In a frenzy, she tore off her beautiful clothes, donned the discarded rags, scooped dirt from the floor, smeared it over her body, and muttered hysterically.
"Urk... d-don't look... don't look...!"
If Eugene had witnessed it, he'd have diagnosed her condition as:
Scopophobia.
Everyone who once smiled at her and gazed with admiration now moved like puppets, eyes filled solely with lust. Watching the attitudes of those she'd grown close to during ruin life shift drastically, Lilith frantically tried to erase her appearance.
"Hic...!"
Having revealed her always-hidden true form, faint memories from her subconscious began surfacing bit by bit.
Memories of why she'd hidden her true self and shunned others.