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When he came to his senses, he found his body bound with prison rope.
"Where...?"
His body was cold. In the piercing, warmthless chill, goosebumps rose on Geum-sam's skin.
Drip, drip, drip.
The distant sound of water was anything but ordinary. With effort, Geum-sam blinked his bleary eyes several times, regaining his wits.
"Why am I...?"
Geum-sam fumbled through his memories. Following the plan, he had joined the Scarlet Order and infiltrated the banquet. As instructed, he had released the Soul-Bewitching Incense, turning the martial warriors into Sex Demons.
Every martial artist had become a Sex Demon and run wild through the Hwangbo Clan's banquet hall.
The Sex Demons then slipped into the gaps among the hundreds of warriors. Taking advantage of the chaos, Geum-sam had intended to engage the Hwangbo Clan's fighters just enough to ravish the six sisters.
That was the 'role' given to Geum-sam.
That was the 'plan' given to Geum-sam.
While the other Scarlet Order Sex Demons caused chaos and physically blocked the Hwangbo Clan's forces, his 'mission' was to secretly slip outside and gang-rape the six sisters.
But he had failed.
Why? The plan had seemed perfect on the surface, with no apparent reason for it to leak.
'Could someone really have been so impatient they couldn't wait a single day and snitched...?'
Thud!
Geum-sam kicked the wall. He tried to summon his Inner Energy, but it refused to rise.
"It's useless, Prisoner 47."
A low, ordinary voice rang out from the darkness. Geum-sam dashed toward the corridor from which the voice came and shook the iron bars.
"You..."
"I'm Wang-sam. The one who was with you in that temple."
"Number 96?"
On the disheveled man's blood-crusted face and clothes was written the designation '色-九六'. It was clearly an inmate management number labeled by the Government Office.
But why was '色' (Lust) attached to it? Geum-sam frowned.
"What happened?"
"We're finished. Completely finished. The Hwangbo Clan responded as if they knew our attack was coming. I overheard the soldiers... someone tipped off the Government Office right at the hour of our raid."
"This—this—!"
Clang! Clatter! Geum-sam shook the iron bars violently.
"You goddamn cowardly bastards! You couldn't wait just one day, threw away the great cause, and then you dare inform on the comrades who shared that cause?!"
If that great cause hadn't been drugging men and raping women, anyone who didn't know better would have thought some righteous warrior had appeared—so aggrieved was Geum-sam's tone.
"The Hwangbo Seven Princesses! Do you know what happened to them?!"
"...They say they were never even attacked in the first place."
"What?"
"While we were throwing the banquet hall into chaos, the Hwangbo Clan's storehouse was raided. That bastard used us... to plunder the Hwangbo Clan's gold and valuables."
Wang-sam laughed self-deprecatingly, his voice hollow.
"We were used. By that bastard. We were such fools."
"This—this—! Aaaaarrrgghhh!!!"
Geum-sam erupted in rage, screaming.
"I won't forgive you, So Ju-ji, you son of a bitch—!!"
The curse hurled at So Ju-ji echoed emptily through the prison.
* * *
"Is someone cursing me?"
"Welcome back, Master. I have something urgent to tell you."
I slipped out of the Hwangbo Seven Princesses' rooms and rejoined Dokgo Yeon. She looked as though she had something to say, and I had something to tell her as well.
"So..."
"...Thunder Demon showed up?"
I was somewhat flustered by the appearance of Thunder Demon and the demonic practitioners.
"Why Thunder Demon?"
"I don't know. But one thing is clear: it seems they caught on to your plan beforehand."
Dokgo Yeon explained in detail how she had spoken with Thunder Demon.
She had introduced me as No Demon (無魔) and herself as the handmaid serving No Demon.
"I'm deducting points right there."
"Huh? Why?"
"I deeply regret that you didn't introduce yourself as my wife."
"......I'll introduce myself properly next time."
Dokgo Yeon had mentioned that the one executing the plan was No Demon, and Thunder Demon had readily revealed her own actions without prompting.
"So Thunder Demon was the one who burned the aphrodisiac into the food?"
"Yes. Thanks to that, the chaos seems to have lasted longer than expected."
"......Hmph."
Normally, I would have erupted in fury and gone to crush Thunder Demon. But because her aphrodisiac caused even more Sex Demons than anticipated, the Government Office had arrested everyone at the banquet and thrown them all into jail.
In the process, innocent victims arose—people like Bang Do-rim and Baek Bo-jun, who hadn't even heeded my invitation.
"It's self-evident that Thunder Demon's meddling in my plan without my knowledge caused unintended harm."
"What shall we do? Shall we go after her now?"
"No, let her be."
Thanks to Thunder Demon, I had acquired the desire to devour not just the six sisters but also one more woman intoxicated by the aphrodisiac, so I decided to give Thunder Demon a single chance.
"If fate brings us together again, we'll meet someday."
"...My lord, you're awfully indifferent. Did I not mention that Thunder Demon is a woman? Thunder Demon is a woman. A real beauty."
"I know. But Thunder Demon has a colossal flaw."
Even if I came face-to-face with Thunder Demon, my Baby Sex Demon would not react. Knowing the future as I do, I can certainly get hard for Thunder Demon, but I feel no urge to actually thrust into her.
'I know what that tastes like.'
I've experienced her as a Blood Jiangshi, and she has a defect far too great. I've bedded Flame Demon, who prostituted herself countless times, and I've bedded Ice Demon, whose Inner Energy was so extreme that a man's member would freeze upon entry—but I have no desire to bed Thunder Demon even on purpose.
"Did she say anything else?"
"......No."
Dokgo Yeon was clearly hiding something. I clasped her anxious hand and met her eyes.
"Yeon, don't be anxious. Who am I? Between husband and wife there should be no secrets."
"......It's what Thunder Demon said. Please hear me out without misunderstanding."
With an expression that showed she truly hated to repeat it, Dokgo Yeon opened her mouth.
"Thunder Demon says her type is a complete piece-of-trash man."
"......Huh?"
"Master. I'm absolutely not saying that you're a piece of trash, but to Thunder Demon, No Demon looks like the kind of trash who takes a woman and then throws her away. So please don't misunderstand—"
"But I am trash. That's why I'm a demon."
"Master!"
Dokgo Yeon shrieked, her face crumpling.
"Hye-ji isn't enough? Are you trying to take on Thunder Demon now too?!"
"I'm not sure about Hye-ji, but no, not Thunder Demon. That woman is..."
Just speaking of it made me feel disgusted, so I held back my words.
"Hearing it would only harm your spirit. Let's drop the subject of Thunder Demon here."
I had a rough idea of the background behind Thunder Demon's pursuit of us, so there was no need to dig further.
Only one thing needed consideration.
Thunder Demon wanted to draw No Demon to her side.
'More precisely, she's weighing whether I'm a master worth serving.'
She is a twisted woman who feels pleasure when she devotes her utmost loyalty to a man stronger than herself and then is discarded like a worn-out pair of shoes. A pitiful woman who sees herself as the tragic heroine of her own story.
'But honestly, that personality is whatever.'
Why hide it? Her age, this year she's tw—
"Master. That 'not sure about Hye-ji'—do you mean you're thinking of bringing Hye-ji along too?"
"...No?"
I soothed Dokgo Yeon's latest worry, reassuring her.
"Listen for a moment. The Hwangbo Clan, you see, long ago..."
I unfolded the past story entangled between the Hwangbo Clan and Grand Duke Ju-ji.
A man named Wi Ji-ju entered as a dependent and shared a fresh, youthful romance with Hwangbo Hye-ji. But at the same time, he was having a steamy affair with her older sister, two-timing them. He deliberately reversed the safe-period information—telling them they weren't fertile when they were—then ejaculated inside. He attempted the same on Hwangbo Hye-ji and failed, was eventually discovered by the Hwangbo Clan's martial warriors, and fled through a waterfall while being chased.
'Wi' Ji-ju. It's probably Grand Duke Ju-ji. First of all, if the name contains 'ji' and 'ju,' there's a high chance it's that bastard. If a young man is committing immoral acts? It's a hundred percent him.
"So that's why you pretended to be So Ju-ji?"
"That's right. So the blame doesn't fall on me."
Even if someone came to investigate this incident, they would suspect Grand Duke Ju-ji. I had executed the plan in a style befitting the Eldest Prince, and I had deliberately used the name 'So Ju-ji' to flaunt that it was, of course, his own doing.
I had aimed every arrow toward Ju-ji, so that the Sex Demons captured by the Hwangbo Clan would direct their resentment at him.
"Uh... then isn't this a huge problem? Since Thunder Demon found out."
"It's fine. Thanks to you, Thunder Demon won't be able to easily tattle to the Eldest Prince."
I was certain of it.
"That woman is probably weighing right now which line to grab onto—No Demon or the Eldest Prince."
Just as Flame Demon and Ice Demon had done, Thunder Demon, too, would be plunged into agonizing over two choices.
* * *
Meanwhile.
Squelch.
Thunder Demon drove her dagger into the heart of the last remaining demonic practitioner.
"Why in the world...?"
Eyes filled with disbelief, the demonic practitioner collapsed, spewing a fountain of blood. Around him, countless other practitioners lay bleeding on the ground.
"Who knows."
Thunder Demon threw daggers into the demonic practitioners, not bothering to forgo the coup de grâce. After confirming the kills twice, then three times, she laughed with a refreshed smile, not a drop of blood on her.
"The price for getting on my nerves?"
Thunder Demon sneered at the dead practitioners. She had killed them simply because they 'got on her nerves,' and she waited vacantly for someone to come.
After about an hour, a large force of black-cloaked warriors surrounded Thunder Demon, forming a cordon. Among them, the only middle-aged man who didn't conceal his identity cupped his fist and saluted with a rigid expression.
"...Lady Thunder Demon, did you bring my men here just to do this?"
"Hmph. They were dogs who bit their master after being poisoned by an aphrodisiac."
Thunder Demon pointed at the corpses with their rigid erections and raised her Demonic Energy.
"Shouldn't I be the one to hold the man who failed to train his subordinates accountable, Namgung Sal?"
"...Did my men truly dare point their swords at you, one of the Ten Demons, Lady Thunder Demon?"
"Yes. They aimed their swords at me—very stiff, hideous slabs of meat. Look at this."
Thunder Demon indicated the corpses; all had died erect.
"If I had my way, I'd petition the Heavenly Demon myself to replace the Anhui Rear Fortress Lord instead of letting the Eldest Prince handle it."
"My apologies, Lady Thunder Demon."
Namgung Sal obediently bowed his head. The expressions of the warriors who had followed him twisted, but Thunder Demon laughed lowly and patted Namgung Sal's shoulder.
"Right. You should be sorry. What kind of demonic practitioner in the world gets poisoned by the very drug he's supposed to be spreading?"
"Of course. I shall correct it. ...However, Lady Thunder Demon."
Namgung Sal asked in a cold tone.
"If there is any business that must be hidden from those beneath me, at the very least, allow me to handle it with my own hands. Whether they are incompetent or not, they are subordinates I trained myself."
"...Hohum."
A strange light flickered in Thunder Demon's eyes as she patted Namgung Sal's shoulder. Then she placed a book into his hand.
"I've copied the Hwangbo Clan's Thunder Divine Fist. Use this to talk things over nicely with the Shandong Rear Fortress Lord."
"Thank you, Lady Thunder Demon."
"...Ah, and one more thing."
In a voice too low for the other subordinates to hear, Thunder Demon whispered into Namgung Sal's ear.
"Hey, Baek. Keep your son in line. Is he really going to stay at that level?"
"......I shall strive even harder."
Namgung Sal ground his teeth. Thunder Demon patted his shoulder and swiftly departed.
"Sharp-eyed, aren't you."
The black-cloaked warriors never even thought of chasing Thunder Demon as she vanished like lightning. Running along the mountain path, she clicked her tongue.
"Even so, I can't let anything about Lord No Demon spread. Hee-hee, I'll be the only one who knows..."
No Demon, the one said to be second only to the Heavenly Demon.
Even if one became part of the Earth Qilin Nine Demons, if No Demon became Flying Heaven No Demon, all hundred thousand demonic practitioners would follow the Little Princess.
That was how weighty the seat of No Demon was.
So she couldn't even tell the Eldest Prince.
"To think he would be that kind of... trash-like person."
Step, step.
Thunder Demon stopped walking and leaned her back against a tree. Then she flicked her own fingers, sending an electric current coursing through her body.
Bzzzzt!
"Ah..."
Each time the blue sparks snapped, Thunder Demon let out moans. She crossed her arms and began trembling, her body pressing into the dirt.
"Haaah... after the Heavenly Demon and the Eldest Prince, a man like this is a first..."
Unconcerned whether soil clung to her body or anyone was watching, Thunder Demon immersed herself in her own act.
"A good piece of trash or a bad piece of trash... haah, which one should I make the Heavenly Demon?"
Her delusions only deepened by the day.