Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Pigsty?
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"Is this a place where people live, or a pigsty?"
'This is...!'
Erzsebet immediately dropped into a combat stance at the voice that rang out the moment she opened the door. It seemed the culprit who had made her disgrace herself last night had appeared—the one responsible for turning her into a pathetic young blood demon, whining to her master like a child unable to control her urges and emotions.
'That sudden surge of desire just now... must be that woman's fault too.'
The moment she had locked eyes with her master while he fitted the 'mask' over her face, her vampiric impulse had flared up out of nowhere. It had to be because of the woman now before her eyes.
A woman with pink hair, flapping bat-like wings as she floated in midair. A captivating face that drew the gazes of men and women alike.
With every breath she exhaled came the natural seepage of a succubus's signature charm magic. Given that it could churn the mind of someone of Erzsebet's considerable caliber, the woman appeared to be a formidable demon... but it didn't matter.
She had the magic tools her master had given her.
'The staff, and so many other wondrous magic tools.'
The magic tool that had blocked the succubus's magic permeating the entire underground floor last night. Plenty of magic tools could block physical attacks, but when it came to a succubus's magic, that was another story. Succubus magic intervened with the mind rather than the body directly—a power that ordinary magic tools simply couldn't counter.
"Master. Please stay out of this."
If the magic tool from her master let her block the succubus's magic, the rest would be simple. Without waiting for his reply, Erzsebet unfurled her blood wings and slowly ascended into the sky, facing off against the succubus who gazed down at them so insolently.
Her master kept treating her like some walking disaster... It looked like today she'd have to properly engrave her true capabilities into his mind.
And... she was a little angry too.
"What a promiscuous woman. Even your attire is frivolously indecent."
Erzsebet, now airborne, first flashed a smile and pointed out the succubus's outfit—the skimpy clothes that left skin exposed everywhere, practically naked.
"Oh my. Jumping straight to criticizing someone's clothes... Not like some old hag. Or wait, with that white hair, you really are old, aren't you?"
"........."
The succubus, hovering in the air, laughed lightly and fired back sharply at Erzsebet's casual jab about her outfit.
Erzsebet, who had been testing the waters to gauge her opponent's strength, twitched an eyebrow at the succubus's words and slowly raised her staff.
"...Your speech is frivolous too. No more words. Withdraw all your magic."
"Hmm... Don't feel like it? I'm hungry right now. It's not like I did anything bad, right?"
"Ha! You shake the minds of demons including myself and claim you did nothing wrong?"
"I just made you a little more faithful to your desires. Wouldn't you all be the bad ones for forcibly suppressing those desires all this time? You have to let them out sometimes."
Seeing the succubus show no sign of withdrawing her magic, Erzsebet drew a massive scythe.
"Looks like words won't work. Don't regret it. The price for tampering with my mind is steep."
"Oh, listen to that tone. Unpopular with men, aren't you?"
"........I'll kill you!"
At the succubus's last nerve-grating remark, Erzsebet exploded in rage and charged at her.
"Erzsebet!"
She heard her master's voice calling from below, but up in the sky, it didn't reach her. Was he trying to issue a command?
But thoughts of her master vanished quickly, and Erzsebet lunged at the succubus, who was beginning to manifest illusions right before her eyes. Her first priority: shut that insolent woman's mouth.
"Master! Just wait a moment! I'll finish this quick!"
-Kwa-gagak!!!
"Hey! Erzsebet! Where are you going?!"
I cautiously cracked open the door to the underground floor, about to warn Erzsebet in case that succubus thing popped out at any moment, when I witnessed her attitude shift abruptly.
"Master. Please stay out of this."
"....?????"
Then she put on this solemn expression all by herself and flew up into the sky.
I squinted, wondering if something was up there, but she soared into empty air, drew her weapon—the [High-Pressure Cleaner]—and confronted... something invisible.
"Erzsebet? What's up there?"
Wondering if there was something my eyes couldn't see, I called out to her, but it was like she couldn't hear me at all. She chatted away at thin air, got mad like she was arguing with someone when no one was talking to her, and then formed blood into a massive scythe like she was about to fight.
"Erzsebet!!"
I shouted loudly, but she started battling... nothing. Dodging attacks that weren't coming, firing blood droplets wildly into empty space.
-Ku-gu-gu-gung!!!
'Is she hallucinating or something?'
I recalled what Erzsebet had said about the succubus's powers before entering and hurriedly evacuated to avoid getting caught up in her rampage.
I'd given her the Level 1 [Cleaning Mask] earlier, and since she said it blocked the sweet smell, I'd thought we were good... but nope. Guess Level 1 gear wasn't enough after all. Damn it, if I'd known, I'd have scraped together points no matter what and upgraded it...
No use regretting now. My voice clearly wasn't reaching her anymore. And I sure as hell didn't have the confidence to get close to her while she was thrashing around like that.
Approach while cleaning up the blood with [Detergent (Blood)]? Nah, one stray blind shot and I'd be checking out of this world for good.
Use the [Quick Movement] function to relocate her first? No, it only works on fully cleaned areas. Sending her upstairs could cause an even bigger catastrophe. Rejected.
I figured maybe using the 'Status Recovery' function under [Staff Management] would snap her out of it...
Insufficient points!
'Damn it.'
Unlike recovering the 1-star staffer Rio before, restoring a 5-star like Erzsebet guzzled points—a notification popped up saying I didn't have enough.
Of course. If I'd had the points for that, I'd have upgraded the [Cleaning Mask] first before coming down.
Anyway, with even my trusted Erzsebet in that state, things looked bleak. From our chats before, recovering the groaning idiots upstairs and getting her back to normal meant taking down the culprit directly. But with her like this, that meant I'd have to solo the succubus.
Bringing others would just end the same way... Ugh, this is insane.
'Succubus or whatever, judging by everything that's popped up in these ruins so far, it's definitely not some average pushover.'
And I had to take it down solo?
'If it was just cleaning, fine, but how the hell am I supposed to...'
-Rustle!
"...Hm?"
Didn't I just hear... something from over there?
"......."
I'll check it out.
Standing around doing nothing wasn't getting me anywhere. Worst case, I could [Quick Movement] out... At least I'd get a look at the succubus or whatever it was.
-Step. Step.
Gripping my [High-Pressure Cleaner] like a rifle for self-defense if needed, I advanced slowly. Unlike Desmond's area with its undead presences, this space felt empty aside from that distant sound.
'What the hell are these?'
Instead, my feet kept tripping over massive, purpose-unknown lumps scattered haphazardly across the floor.
Given the situation, I tried to ignore them and sneak past quietly, but they were too annoying.
'Clean up and live like a person... How can it be this filthy?'
Kicking through the assorted trash soured my mood naturally. No time to fuss over this crap, but it reminded me of a mom staring at her son's messy room. My cleaning-obsessed life had me itching to tidy this dump first, succubus be damned.
'Hold it in. Calm down...'
Suppressing my bubbling irritation, I cautiously headed toward the earlier presence. It grew stronger, now accompanied by faint voices.
"...Hee hee... Got 'em good, didn't I? Heh heh..."
"....?"
A sinister mutter from someone. Puzzled by the voice—so unlike what I'd braced for—I rounded the corner and came face-to-face with its source.
And there... was the succubus...?
"Eek. She wears skimpy stuff herself... had a guy with her too... Did the guy run off?"
".....?"
Succubus... succubus, right?
The figure from the direction of the voice matched the description: bat-like wings, a pair of horns sprouting from her head.
'Succubi steal essence through dreams or direct acts. So their usual appearance is...'
Erzsebet had trashed them as flashy, utterly promiscuous types in near-naked outfits...
-Scratch scratch.
Her face, visible only in profile, was indeed pretty, but her hair was a total matted, greasy mess. And zero skin showing—baggy black clothes hanging loose.
White flakes rained from her scratching scalp, surrounded by trash strewn everywhere where she lay...
"......Hey."
"Eek? Wh-what?!"
Seeing her like that, any thoughts of going on guard or ambushing flew out the window. I just couldn't hold back and let out a shout.
"Clean up and live like a person. Is this a place where people live, or a pigsty?"