Chapter 81
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: I Don't Want to Kill
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-Whirrrrr...!!
The suction port on the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] let out a fiercer roar than ever before, greedily pulling in some unidentified substance. It had detected a foul "contaminant" through its sensors and was cleaning it up.
"Urk?!"
And in that instant, a startled cry escaped the lips of the half-demon woman who had clutched her head in pain and collapsed momentarily. The noxious curse aura blanketing her entire body—an aura so fused with her that it was no exaggeration to call it one with her—was being sucked toward that bizarre object.
'I... I have to get away...!'
Feeling the curse her master had imprinted on her begin to waver, she desperately tried to pull away from the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner]. But the intellect she still retained, not yet fully consumed, and her primal instinct for survival held her body in place against her will.
She couldn't grasp exactly what was happening, but something told her she had to stay put.
-Whirrrrr...!!
And as if it didn't care what she did, the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] vigorously began sucking in the ominous, filthy curse covering her body. The curse clung so tenaciously that it didn't come loose easily...
'...Something's off here?'
I was watching the scene unfold through the camera feed.
"An enemy?"
I'd sent out the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] hoping its camera might spot Dray or Lil somewhere outside. Just as it captured some woman and what looked like her demon underlings, the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] suddenly started powerfully sucking in the black something-or-other attached to her body.
All these demons wandering the forest at this time were probably enemies. So why was the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner], meant to clean up contaminants, sucking in the aura on that woman's body?
'...This could be an opportunity?'
But as I watched the woman clearly deteriorating the more it sucked in her energy, I started thinking this might actually be my chance. Without hesitation, I opened the system window and rapidly leveled up the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] I was monitoring via camera.
'Good thing I can remotely level it up while watching through the camera.'
[Robot Vacuum Cleaner] has reached Level 4. Cleaning range and sensor functions have been further expanded. Cleaning power has increased.
[Robot Vacuum Cleaner] has reached Level 5. It can now move regardless of terrain and can be supplied with [Cleaning Solution] separately. Cleaning power has increased.
The [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] shot up to Level 5 in an instant. Along with the message about new functions, its suction power strengthened dramatically as it continued drawing in the black energy.
-Crack-crackle!!
"...Ah...!"
Finally, the stubborn energy clinging to her body was forcibly ripped away and sucked into the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner]. As the curse slowly lifted, the half-demon woman gradually felt her sanity returning.
"I... I'm...!"
She wasn't some underling of that man. She had been captured by other demons and sold off against her will. That man wasn't her master either. He had inflicted a horrific curse on her and forced her own hands to kill her kin.
"...Urk!!"
As her intellect returned, long-forgotten memories resurfaced, making her retch and vomit. Even under the curse that had stripped her reason, the images of her kin dying by her hand were too much to bear.
The mental shock and the backlash from the curse being torn away made her lose consciousness.
-Whirr...
With its task complete, the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] puttered along, slowly approaching the curse thralls scattered around. Now that their controller had passed out, the thralls stood dazed in place like puppets.
"Hiiing... Tree Spirit, I'm at my limit..."
With her fingers and ankles badly swollen, Lil set down her bow and arrows and hugged Dray. Dray too felt the lingering bento energy around her body finally dissipate.
"Hah... hah... Got 'em finally. You little rats."
The werebeasts, having lost a significant number of their kin, surrounded the girls with bloodshot eyes.
"Don't let your guard down. These bitches killed over ten of our own...!"
"Damn it... The venom demons were so cocky, but they dropped like flies to that poison, and where the hell did that cursed bitch go?!"
The united force from three different dungeons—underlings and numerous demons—had set out brimming with confidence that a newborn dungeon would fall easily to their might. They never imagined they'd be so thoroughly trounced by just two opponents.
Regular demons not under the dungeon's control had been swept away by the trees Dray manipulated. The werebeasts, boasting superior physical prowess, had fallen in droves to Lil and Dray's guerrilla tactics darting through the forest. The venom demons crumpled pathetically to mere [Insecticide].
And the minions from the 'Garden of Curses' they had pinned their hopes on had vanished at some point...
"Damn... What do we tell the Master?"
"Grab these bitches first. Make 'em breed to replace the ones they killed."
"Eek...!"
Judging it impossible to subjugate the newborn dungeon at this rate, the werebeasts reluctantly closed in on Lil and Dray, aiming to at least capture them alive...
"Filthy males."
"Wh-who...!"
-Slash!!!
A white-haired woman burst from the forest, swinging a massive scythe at speeds they couldn't react to, harvesting their necks.
"Tch. If I only had my Lord's staff... To think I have to waste Formation Blood on trash like this."
Lil's face lit up upon spotting the newcomer from the forest. The werebeasts, having lost two comrades in a blink, bared their feral instincts and charged as one.
"Tch. Allies of these brats?"
"Cowardly ambush!"
"Cowardly?"
Unlike Lil, who had scampered about in evasion, Erzsebet stood boldly before them. Nearly ten werebeasts lunged at her in unison, but she sneered and crooked a finger.
-Spurt-spurt-spurt-spurt-splurt!!!
"Gaaahhh..."
All the blood drained from the two werebeasts she had slain first, morphing into sharp thorns that shredded the rest. The remaining blood slowly absorbed into her body.
"Hmph. Beast blood isn't really my taste... but it'll do."
"...Whoa..."
By the time she absorbed all the blood, only withered husks remained on the ground.
"Listen up."
"Urk..."
"Dray. No snacks for you for a while either."
"Huuung..."
Inside the ruins.
I was disciplining Lil and Dray, whom Erzsebet had brought back by the hand. Watching them stand side by side with hands raised as punishment, I let out a sigh of relief.
'...Well, honestly, part of me wants to praise them.'
Who would've thought these troublemakers, who snuck out on their own, would wipe out most of the enemies? I'd paired them deliberately, knowing Lil's and Dray's abilities synergized powerfully, but this exceeded expectations.
Dray's [Big Eater] talent is impressively potent—I hadn't thought much of it before. Stacking five meal buffs that normally only apply once, plus Lil's buffs on top, turned her into a walking disaster.
Of course, praising them might encourage more unauthorized outings, so no way I'm doing that.
"We captured all the ones who surrendered, Master."
"Tell Lilith to put them all to sleep for now. Pull aside anyone who seems like they might know something important."
I had the other captured demons locked up and ordered Lilith to extract info using her dream manipulation and such. Then I approached one prisoner whose condition stood out as particularly odd.
"What's up with her?"
A black-haired woman. Though mistaken for a half-breed multiple times, unlike me—a human from another world—she was a native here, so her black hair marked her as a true half-demon.
Anyway, after the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] sucked out her energy, her state had seemed off, so I came to check. She was locked up, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed.
"M-me... With my own hands..."
Her vibe was totally different from the other demons, who had resisted a bit before capture. The ones locked with her said nothing, their eyes glazed like dolls.
But then Erzsebet, who had come along, glanced at the doll-like demons and hardened her expression coldly.
"...Curse thralls?"
"...What's that?"
I always think this, but is Erzsebet some kind of living wiki? She knows everything about whatever we discover. Dryads, elves, venom demons—she knew all those races, and now curse thralls?
"Is that a race too?"
"A race... Not entirely wrong. Much like how I create kin, curse thralls also have the effect of overwriting the target's race."
For some reason, her face twisted in anger, as if even speaking the words disgusted her.
"Curse thralls are... soldiers created by curses, my Lord. The curse compels the target to perform specific acts, accumulating karma in the process, which the caster devours to grow stronger. Once the curse completes, the victim becomes a marionette obeying only the caster's commands."
"Oh... Similar to your kin-making?"
Hearing about the puppet obedience, I thought of her kin, but she scowled fiercely.
"Don't compare that filth to my kin-making, my Lord. My ritual preserves some intellect, grants obedience to my commands while allowing autonomy, and the process is clean. But curse thralls..."
"Why? You mentioned specific acts earlier—what's that about?"
Thinking her own method seemed plenty ruthless, I tossed out the question casually, and she explained in a low voice.
"...Kin-slaying."
"...Insane."
Now I got why she showed such disgust. Especially since she often expressed pride in her own race.
"Hm? But she's a half-breed. How does that work for her?"
"Killing other half-breeds fulfills the curse thrall condition."
"...Sob... S-sob... H-half... half-breed?"
I'd casually asked how it worked for a half-breed like her, and the answer was killing fellow half-breeds. Right on cue, the sobbing woman turned her eyes to me, staring at my hair.
'...This feels ominous.'
Would she mistake me for a half-breed and try to kill me? At least she's locked up, so...
"G-get away! Stay away from me!"
"...Hm?"
But contrary to my fears, the still-weeping woman urgently shouted at me to stay back and fled to the corner of the makeshift cell.
"Aaah... No! I don't want to kill again!"
"...Hmph."
She looked at me with despair and began wailing madly. Not that she didn't want to die—but that she didn't want to kill.