Did the box have an effect?
Stimulus and play were the most powerful weapons for making one forget reality.
Lune Eclipse lifted the box and immediately pressed down on its lid with his hand.
“Then you… you’re planning to use that dangerous thing on your subordinate?”
“Yeah. I’ll refine it to fit the purpose I want to use it for.”
If he had simply wanted to make ordinary perfume, he could have used a normal scenting tool.
But the target Lune wanted to use it on was an undead spirit knight.
The scenting materials were also mana-infused.
‘Because it’s an artifact, not only the fragrance but every magical effect can be preserved perfectly. There’s no better thing.’
That was it.
What Lune had thought up was nothing but the scent itself.
He wanted to turn the inedible food for Dullahan into a mana-scented fragrance that emitted magical effects and make him smell it.
However, there was one thing Lune had not told Perdikion.
Namely, the method to deal with the addiction symptoms.
‘There’s no way I can turn that old man into a useless body by letting him sink into the pleasure the box gives.’
By refining it, he planned to make the more the scent is smelled, the stronger the loyalty to Lune becomes.
‘If I’m going to use it, it would be better to make it useful to me, right? As his subordinate, Dullahan has no reason to think that way, but I can’t guarantee it will only be used on that guy.’
Lune’s lips curved up as he pondered the effect the finished item would have.
“Is this all right? Your face looks like someone who’s just thought up a scheme.”
‘Tch. Like a nosy little brat.’
It was true that he had selfish motives.
But if he hadn’t done it this way, there were sure to be guys who would go crazy trying to steal the box from Lune.
To keep those from challenging Lune, the owner of the box, the subordinates could be trusted with it.
‘And if I try it on Perdikion after it’s done, I’ll know how effective it is.’
That was the reason he had allowed Perdikion to accompany him for the method that worked on Dullahan.
Someone who was not a subordinate and had strong mental fortitude.
‘That guy would be perfect. Given the flashy nature of the item, this much should be safe enough.’
Using the abilities of a Black Dragon, the leader of darkness and curses, was no difficult task.
Lune scratched his cheek with his index finger.
‘Ah. Even I think this thought is a bit evil right now.’
It was an adult’s dark inner thoughts that he could never say to a pure little dragon hatchling.
“Then I’ll be refining the box. Brother, please watch over Dullahan.”
“Fine. It’s a promise.”
Dullahan, who had been staring with gloomy eyes, rose to his feet.
Perdikion looked at Dullahan and lifted the corner of his mouth with an interesting glint in his eyes.
“You’re a guy full of strong fighting spirit.”
Perdikion, faintly sensing the flames of Dullahan’s spirit and heart, released his own fighting spirit toward Dullahan, who radiated a gloomy aura.
Bang!
The clash of flames.
Both sensed the other was a formidable expert and carefully lowered their lower bodies, taking their stances.
“If we fight here, the whole room will be flipped upside down. If you want to do it properly, go outside the lair.”
Lune’s voice had stopped the two right away, who were more than enough to fight on the spot.
“Hehe! I really wasn’t planning to fight.”
Hearing Perdikion’s answer as he withdrew his fighting spirit, Lune clicked his tongue inside.
Because Dullahan could not freely leave the Black Room, Perdikion taking him away would be a chance for him to see outside the lair.
‘What a waste. But Dullahan shows no displeasure at all.’
Both Dullahan and Perdikion started exchanging light conversation near Lune.
They seemed to have something that connected them.
Not really conversation, but rather one-sided advice from one side.
“You know I have the life force of the phoenix and the spirit of fire, even though I surround myself with darkness and death. Is it maintained without bias toward either?”
The green eyes blinked once.
“You seem to be a fully formed warrior and knight. Is there any part of the combat sense you’ve built into your body that you’d like to improve?”
Clang!
Dullahan clapped his two fists together and shook his head.
Perdikion nodded in understanding.
“Ah, it’s a little difficult for your kind, isn’t it?”
Interestingly, the conversation flowed better than expected.
‘I’ve thought about it before, but he reads the other’s feeling very well.’
Although the guy had a simple nature, he was secretly good at sensing others’ expressions and mind.
As Perdikion delved into a deeper talk about talents with Dullahan, Lune also concentrated on his own task.
Lune’s scales, the Happy Fragrance Box Stained with Darkness, the oil paint tools, and several other magical elixirs.
He filled them with various materials and used the Curse Tool Crafting Kit. The white pearl of the artifact turned into a black pearl.
The name and description were also changed to match.
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• If the target has a strong defense, its power weakens or the magic breaks depending on the target’s mental strength.
• Can contain Lune Eclipse’s will. (When using Word of Power)
• The more times the recipient experiences the effect, the stronger the domination over the recipient becomes.
• The more times the recipient experiences the effect, the stronger the loyalty to Lune Eclipse becomes.
• Probability of being taken by darkness mana increases.
Those who already know are drawn closer to it, develop affection even without ever seeing Lune in person, and feel as if they’ve seen it somewhere.
‘The box’s name has turned a bit dark… but its performance is great.’
Seeing that domination and intimacy had risen because part of the body was included, Lune felt proud.
“It’s done.”
Hearing Lune’s words, Dullahan and Perdikion, who had been talking, came closer.
“Is this it?”
Except for the color change in appearance, there was nothing different, but Perdikion swallowed a short sound.
“It’s become something hard to touch recklessly.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The box was still beautiful and luxurious.
And with the power of darkness, an innocent charm that made one want to dive in swirled around.
Since there was no one else who could use it besides Lune anyway, he held up the box and looked at Perdikion.
“Want to take a look? It seems Brother was curious too.”
“Hmm, good.”
Lune, who had been staring at Perdikion without any suspicion, took out a lemon-flavored candy he had prepared earlier from his spatial pocket.
It was the most plain mana cuisine, a lemon-flavored candy that gave vitality to tired bodies.
Troll.
He opened the box lid and the candy rolled inside.
He closed the lid again. A faint yellow light spread around, carrying the scent of lemon.
Clear, fresh, and bursting with freshness that dyed the air with mana.
The lemon-colored mana touched Dullahan’s skin. The mana was absorbed by the spirit body and fatigue began to recover.
‘Good. The effect of the mana cuisine has been perfectly implemented.’
Dullahan looked at it with wonder and repeated clenching and unclenching his fists.
After a while of silence, he slowly bowed his head.
To him, Lune was the savior who had opened his eyes to new sensations he could feel in the world.
Lune, sensing success, smiled.
‘It was applied properly.’
The remaining thing was Perdikion’s reaction, who was not a subordinate.
Perdikion was somewhere staring blankly into space and accepting the light of mana.
“Oppa.”
“Hm?”
“Do you know that I think of you as my true brother?”
‘What the hell is he suddenly talking about?’
Lune blinked at the unexpected words and a serious gaze reached him.
“To be honest, I’ve always wanted to share everything I have with you, brother. Maybe I wanted to give it all away. Because I couldn’t do it since I had such a good brother who does everything alone.”
“Hey, no. Perdikion… oppa?”
While Lune barely managed to stop himself from slipping into casual speech, Perdikion let out a big sigh.
“Even this mana-scented fragrance. How could someone think up and create such a wonderful thing? I can’t not know that it’s your consideration for your subordinate, brother. Even your appearance today is more handsome than my father’s.”
“……”
Lune felt a cold sweat as he looked at Perdikion and secretly took a step back.
The lemon candy’s effect was only to recover fatigue and give a little vitality, but Perdikion’s appearance was hard to see as simply from the scent effect.
Goosebumps rose, but upon thinking carefully, it was close to an increase in affinity.
‘This… must be the box’s effect.’
The only thing that could be estimated was one thing.
Namely, that the box’s benefit strengthened loyalty to Lune for the recipient.
‘Dullahan is already my subordinate, so no problem, but since he’s not one of mine and the affinity is personal, it seems to apply differently.’
If used well, there was a thought that enemies could be turned into allies.
‘High loyalty’ effect that had shown moderate affinity to Lune would be effective enough for an enemy with a strong mentality like Perdikion.
‘And if it’s the box’s effect, there should be a way to bring them back to their senses.’
Clap!
Lune clapped his hands to focus his gaze and gave a firm command.
“Brother. Snap out of it.”
“……huh?”
Domination that strengthens along with loyalty.
That also meant the command was received much better.
Perdikion immediately came to his senses and coughed awkwardly.
“What did I say just now?”
“Don’t remember?”
“…… I remember the nice lemon scent. It was a mysterious feeling like I was drunk.”
“There was nothing else.”
Lune stored the box back in his spatial pocket while leaving a slightly uneasy-looking Perdikion.
He didn’t know if it was embarrassment making him act like he didn’t hear or if he had truly forgotten, but his eyes also looked genuinely puzzled, so Lune didn’t feel like digging deeper.
‘Because he originally had good will toward me, the loyalty reinforcement effect came out stronger. If I have to say, it’s a kind of admiration.’
Since it was the first time using an artifact, more experiments would be needed to know the exact difference in domination and loyalty.
Meanwhile, Perdikion also secretly changed the subject, as if something felt awkward.
“Anyway, did the box have an effect?”
“Yeah. It worked well on Dullahan.”
“You really made him smell the scent. That guy… doesn’t even have a nose.”
To Perdikion’s bewildered expression, Lune answered as if it was nothing.
“Because it’s a scent made of mana.”
A scent that dyed mana rather than being absorbed by the nose.
That was also the reason Lune had chosen the cursed box.
‘Even though he’s a hatchling, if it had this effect on Perdikion, it would have a stronger effect on a normal human.’