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The Sex Demons who had resolved to target the Hwangbo Clan gathered in one place and held a meeting.
"Can we actually trust this?"
"Trust or not, we have to do it. Other bastards have already joined in—haven't you heard? You want them to snatch it away?"
Even among the prospective Sex Demons, opinions were divided, but they all shared roughly the same thought.
If I can't have it, no one else can either.
I have to have it.
Even if it means splitting the prize, I must at least get a taste first.
"You heard Ju-ji's plan. While the feast is in chaos, we just split up into our different squads and take our share."
"Will Hwangbo Yeom really get drunk?"
"I have it on good authority. That man may not have the slightest interest in lust, but he's said to be quite fond of wine and women's company."
One by one, the prospective Sex Demons began joining So Ju-ji's scheme.
First, get Clan Head Hwangbo Yeom dead drunk and passed out.
Second, So Ju-ji handles the Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist.
Third, while the 'decoy squad' and the 'sacrificial pawn squad' run amok inside, the 'dining squad' secretly takes the Seven Princesses.
The plan, which fit together seamlessly within these three broad strokes, was so terrifyingly well-prepared that it seemed long in the making.
The more people involved, the more a plan tends to leak, yet every prospective Sex Demon who learned the scheme kept their mouth firmly shut.
So they might claim even one more of the Hwangbo Seven Princesses and become a true Sex Demon.
'The one who marks the star... is me...!'
The prospective Sex Demons joined So Ju-ji's scheme.
* * *
"...that's the plan."
Hwangbo Hye-ji closed her eyes at Dokgo Yeon's words. Dokgo Yeon merely fidgeted, watching her reaction, neither forcing a choice upon Hwangbo Hye-ji nor pressing for an answer.
"Yeon."
"Yes."
"You said the one called the Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist is the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon, and that he entered the Martial Tournament at your request to violate me."
"Yes."
"...Then why are you asking for my permission?"
At Hwangbo Hye-ji's question, Dokgo Yeon took a sip of tea.
"Because I hope your love will continue, Hye-ji."
"What do you mean by my love?"
"With the wish that you may share love with the one you desire, Hye-ji, just as you once cheered for me."
Hwangbo Hye-ji sighed inwardly.
Dokgo Yeon was clearly misunderstanding.
Since she had never revealed exactly whom she held in her heart, Dokgo Yeon thought of her as a tragic woman bound by family orders to serve a husband.
She didn't know it was a love that could never be fulfilled.
"...So you plan to widely announce that I was violated? Telling me to find my love and leave?"
"...Yes."
And so she had concocted this absurd plan.
"If we deceive the world into thinking I was violated, then certainly this Martial Tournament will no longer continue. Since the tournament's participant was a Sex Demon, after all."
A man who strode into the family on his own two feet as a groom candidate, only to take a woman's virginity and vanish?
The Martial Tournament would be finished forever. The men pestering Hwangbo Hye-ji would decrease exponentially in the future, but the Martial Tournament, the very foundation of the Hwangbo Clan's growth, would also vanish.
"Th-that's only one of several plans! I mean, uh, one method is mobilizing lust-crazed men to raid the clan, and another way is for Hye-ji to pretend to be ravished even if she actually wasn't, and spread the word! There was also a plan where another groom candidate pretends to be a Sex Demon and attacks, then Gaga rescues you, but that was scrapped because Gaga knocked them all down. Besides that...."
"...Just how many plans do you have for violating one woman?"
"This is all for Hye-ji's sake!"
Faced with the countless plans—all premised on her own violation—arranged for her benefit, Hwangbo Hye-ji found it so absurd that laughter slipped out on its own.
"You want to help me that badly? Enough to come up with these ridiculous ideas."
"Hye-ji said it yourself. A life of love with the one in your heart is a woman's true happiness. I chose that path. That's why even now, Dokgo Yeon is known to the world as a woman kidnapped by a Sex Demon, pregnant with his child."
"......To be honest."
Hwangbo Hye-ji moistened her parched throat with tea.
"I never dreamed Yeoni would make that kind of choice. Because a bird in a cage doesn't know how to escape on its own and fly away."
"A kind-hearted Sex Demon personally plucked me out of the cage."
"Kind-hearted? ...Pfft."
Could the words Sex Demon and kind truly coexist? Dokgo Yeon seemed to have her vision thoroughly blinded by love.
'I wonder if he is kind.'
Though she hadn't told Dokgo Yeon, Hwangbo Hye-ji had already prepared her heart, ready to spend the first night with the Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist at any moment.
A supreme master who defeated a hundred men and collapsed the martial arena!
As a fellow martial artist, admiration stirred within her, and at the same time, Hwangbo Hye-ji could not ignore the heated gaze directed at her. He was looking at her with eyes that seemed to desire her more intensely than anyone else.
If it were a man like that, even 'he' would understand. In fact, he would clap his hands in congratulations for her own future ahead.
And as she nursed him, she found he wasn't so bad. Honestly, the moment she entered the room, Hwangbo Hye-ji had resolved to accept him willingly even if he took her.
But as it turned out, he was Dokgo Yeon's man.
But as it turned out, he was the Sex Demon who kidnapped Dokgo Yeon.
But as it turned out, he was full of nothing but thoughts of taking Hwangbo Hye-ji's body and fleeing.
Hwangbo Hye-ji felt indignation and displeasure, but more than that, the sense of deflation and absurdity was far greater. It would be a lie to say she wasn't displeased, but seeing Dokgo Yeon's pitifully cautious expression, her anger melted softly away.
If there was fault, it lay with the man who had dyed the innocent Dokgo Yeon in lust, and the woman who had created the opportunity with a few careless words. At least, that was how Hwangbo Hye-ji saw it.
"Yeon. Suppose, just suppose. If I said I wished to share a bed with the Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist, would you permit that?"
"U-ugh...."
Dokgo Yeon fidgeted with her teacup and made a tearful face.
"If Gaga wishes it... and if Hye-ji is truly fine with it...."
"What if I, sincerely, said I would welcome the Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist as my husband?"
"What?"
"He's the man Yeoni loves. Not a bad one at all—rather decent, actually? Honestly, as a husband—"
"......."
Dokgo Yeon's expression turned icy. In that instant, Hwangbo Hye-ji recalled the Dokgo Yeon she had faced at the Henan Murim Alliance's Martial Arts Arena.
"Hye-ji......."
The pressure of a Transcendent Peak expert was unmistakable killing intent. Hwangbo Hye-ji knew better than anyone how much Dokgo Yeon had held back during the Two Phoenixes Decisive Battle.
"Hoo, hoo."
How often in life does one feel a Transcendent Peak expert direct genuine killing intent at them? Hwangbo Hye-ji's body gradually stiffened.
"......I'm sorry."
Dokgo Yeon released her pressure and bowed her head. With the deathly tension gone, Hwangbo Hye-ji drew rough breaths through her nose.
"I... I already have so many rivals, and if even Hye-ji became a love rival, I think it would be too hard...."
"What? You have many rivals?"
"Yes. Because Gaga is a charming person. Of course, I may be suited for the position of wife now, but there are already two others I'd say are on equal standing with me, at least...."
"Who?"
"......."
Dokgo Yeon fell silent. She seemed unable to open her mouth beyond that point, but Hwangbo Hye-ji didn't feel the slightest disappointment or anything of the sort.
"Ah, I see. Yeon, you have your own struggles."
In fact, the atmosphere suggested that digging deeper would only cause harm, so she deliberately refrained from pressing. What mattered now was not how many wives the Sex Demon had, but rather the question of how much of the Sex Demon couple's proposal she would accept.
"Yeon, let me sort this out for a moment. First, Hwangbo Hye-ji will be known outwardly as having been violated, no matter what. Whether it actually happens or not, Hwangbo Hye-ji chooses."
"Yes. ...Gaga also acknowledged this. After all, he came to Shandong because of my request."
"So if you hadn't requested that he violate me, I wouldn't have been targeted by a Sex Demon at all?"
"U-ugh...."
Dokgo Yeon's face crumpled, and Hwangbo Hye-ji reached out and stroked her cheek.
"I'm joking. Yeoni was thinking of me, that's why you came up with this, right? It's very... outlandish, though."
Even calling it outlandish, the reality was irrational and bizarre. Nevertheless, the reason Hwangbo Hye-ji didn't lecture Dokgo Yeon on common sense and ethics was that she herself had provided the catalyst that turned the girl before her into the irrational wife of the Lust Demon.
Who could have known it would turn out like this?
Hwangbo Hye-ji, who had been blaming herself, soothed Dokgo Yeon and continued speaking.
"I'll think about that. Then second. What do you mean by mobilizing Sex Demons to attack the Hwangbo Clan?"
"May I explain that?"
The window frame.
The man in question had appeared without a sound or presence.
"If word spreads that a Sex Demon is targeting the Hwangbo Clan, what do you think people will feel?"
"A resolve to stop it at all costs, and at the same time, constant trembling and anxiety over never knowing when they might be violated."
"Correct. But at the same time, it has the effect of removing you from other Sex Demons' target lists."
"...What kind of absurd nonsense is that?"
If not for Dokgo Yeon, Hwangbo Hye-ji would have spewed vulgar curses at him. The Soul-Seizing Crashing Fist—no, the Sex Demon—unfolded his fingers one by one as if counting something.
"It's already been four months, now approaching five, since I sent a notice to Moyong Ran. In all that time, have you ever heard that Moyong Ran was raped?"
"No...?"
"Truth is, I never even went to Liaodong. I did say I'd go someday, but whether that's a year from now or ten years from now, nobody knows."
Hwangbo Hye-ji's expression twisted beyond her ability to hide it.
"Now, Miss Hye-ji. Let us think about this. What if a Sex Demon sends a notice declaring he will violate all of the Hwangbo Seven Princesses? The Sex Demons who gathered to run their foul mouths would leak information, fall into the Hwangbo Clan's trap, and instead be repelled. And peace would return to Shandong."
"While the Hwangbo Seven Princesses get violated?"
"Only Hwangbo Hye-ji. Outwardly. In reality, well...."
The Sex Demon smirked and sent a glance toward Dokgo Yeon. Hwangbo Hye-ji read that look carefully, then partially rejected the Sex Demon's proposal.
"Sending a notice to all Hwangbo Seven Princesses is out of the question. That would block the marriage paths of my older sisters and younger sisters. I can't harm all of my sisters just to benefit myself."
Hwangbo Hye-ji shook her head in a resolute voice.
"You said the choice is mine, didn't you? Then respect my will."
At Hwangbo Hye-ji's bold words, the Sex Demon grinned.
"Why should I? If you don't obey, I could violate you this very moment and force you to follow my orders. What reason do I have to respect you?"
"Because then I'll cooperate willingly."
Hwangbo Hye-ji tilted her head back with an equally confident smile.
"Once you hear this, won't you end up listening to me?"
"Try saying it."
"I am currently on my period."
Flinch.
The Sex Demon's hand, which had been reaching to drink the tea from Dokgo Yeon's cup, froze. Hwangbo Hye-ji smiled brightly and spoke to him in a low voice.
"If you violate me now, I will conceive your child with absolute certainty. Even if it's only one chance in ten... if I carry a child, can you handle it? Not I, nor the Hwangbo Clan head, but...."
Hwangbo Hye-ji pointed at Dokgo Yeon.
"It seems that Yeoni is the one who wants a child."
"Hye-ji... before me... Gaga's child first...?"
With a pale expression, she looked about to cry at any moment, as if tears would drip drop by drop.
"The tears of a woman who wishes to carry the child of the one she loves."
"Gng...."
The Sex Demon pulled Dokgo Yeon into his own embrace and patted her. Dokgo Yeon shot a genuinely wronged glare at Hwangbo Hye-ji.
"That's too cruel, Hye-ji."
"You're blaming the victim, and there's a limit to that. If a woman other than Yeoni had done this, I would have slapped her. Where in the world is there someone who says she's thinking of a friend while telling her to be raped by a Sex Demon?"
"......."
Dokgo Yeon became a mute who had swallowed honey.
"Hm. I'll acknowledge that. And I understand. I will respect your will."
The Sex Demon smiled bitterly.
"Any more talk and Yeoni will cry. Do as you wish. I shall respect it as much as possible."
"Good. Then let's reach a conclusion."
Hwangbo Hye-ji pointed her thumb at herself.
"The violation ends with me alone. Understood?"
"Hye-ji...!!"
"Yeon, you listen well. It's precisely because it's me that you're getting away with this insane plan. If it were any other woman, our friendship would have ended that very day."
"I'm sorry. And thank you."
Dokgo Yeon scurried to Hwangbo Hye-ji and nestled into her embrace. Hwangbo Hye-ji patted and comforted her just as the Sex Demon had done.
"The same goes for you. Don't go seducing innocent girls with lust and making them reach strange conclusions."
The Sex Demon nodded heavily. Hwangbo Hye-ji calmed Dokgo Yeon and spread a sheet of fine paper upon the desk.
"Now then, let's hear this plan of yours."
"Very well."
The plotter, Dokgo Yeon.
The perpetrator, Sky-Soaring Lust Demon.
And the victim, Hwangbo Hye-ji.
People whose composition could never normally assemble gathered in one place, and the <Hwangbo Hye-ji Violation> plan began to take concrete, detailed shape.
"Hye-ji. The final choice is yours. What will you do?"
"If we're doing it, let's do it properly. ...My period will be finished by then."
That meant Hwangbo Hye-ji would be "actually" violated before the eyes of her six sisters.
"While the feast is underway, violate me, release your seed inside me... and then leave Jinan immediately afterward."
Hwangbo Hye-ji reddened around the eyes.
"I'll let you violate me seven more times or more, so please... just let my sisters give their first time to the betrothed husband or beloved one they love."