Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: The Succubus of Kitten Village
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"Hoo."
Eirin let out a shallow breath and shook her head.
'Focus.'
Now wasn't the time to think about Max.
Thinking of him always stirred up the human desires she'd suppressed.
Not as a saintess, but as a female.
As per the saintess's vow of chastity, she needed to uphold the purity promised to the goddess to maintain her power.
'This isn't the time for this.'
She had come here to work, hadn't she?
She needed to concentrate.
People had gone missing, after all.
Kitten, a small village in the southwestern part of the empire.
Once a peaceful rural hamlet, it had become an abandoned ghost town after the war with the demonkin.
A few years after the war with the demonkin ended.
By the emperor's order to slowly rebuild even the empire's outskirts, the church had dispatched priests and followers to purify this place called Kitten.
It wasn't land overflowing with demonic energy, nor had it once been occupied by demonkin.
It was simply a village abandoned by its fleeing residents amid the threats of war.
And then, in the forsaken church, the dispatched priests and followers began disappearing.
Incidents like this didn't usually warrant a saintess's personal visit.
People vanishing in the empire's outskirts happened all too often.
Even after the demon king was subjugated and the demonkin eradicated, bandits still lurked between cities, and monsters prowled remote areas.
Security around the capital, major cities, castles, and direct territories was solid, but perfect coverage all the way to the borders was impossible.
Sudden disappearances? Perfectly plausible in the outskirts.
Yet the saintess had come here with the Holy Knights for one reason.
Out of the five missing in Kitten, two were priests dispatched by the church.
And one of them was a pilgrim traveling the empire, spreading the word of the gods.
In a world with imperfect security, solo pilgrims needed exceptional prowess.
Only those who could handle bandit gangs or even mid-tier mercenary bands alone became the church's pilgrims, venturing into remote lands to preach.
Such a pilgrim had vanished.
Without any warning signs.
Kitten wasn't known for bandits or monsters.
A quiet mountain hamlet, ignored since abandonment because there was nothing worth looting.
Disappearances like that were rare here.
With such a skilled individual gone without a trace, dispatching Holy Knights was natural.
Saintess Eirin had come along with them, preparing for any unforeseen events.
Reports suggested it might be the work of a lust demon.
Or perhaps a demon had been newly summoned.
"The air feels ominous, permeating the entire church."
At the Holy Knight's words, Eirin eyed the church where people had vanished.
'It's not just ominous.'
A cold, chilling aura.
A power that felt repulsive even from afar.
Amid the prickling demonic energy unique to demonkin, a strangely sweet scent lingered.
Eirin, who had faced countless demonkin, knew what this fragrance signified.
'Lust energy.'
The power and aura emanating from dream demons, commonly called succubi.
That force was emanating from this church right now.
'It might really be a succubus.'
If this power was genuine.
Suddenly, she recalled Max's demonic form.
The blond-haired demon Max.
His body had exuded lust energy that drove women mad.
Clinging to him, climaxing countless times... it had been pure ecstasy...
'Ah.'
She was thinking about him again.
Max's illusions now clung thickly to her mind.
Just a whiff of lust energy brought him to mind.
"Hoo."
With a sigh, she scribbled on a piece of paper and showed it to the surrounding Holy Knights.
- It really seems like a succubus.
"Demons summoned? How could one appear in such a small village?"
- I'll start spatial purification first.
Eirin took a deep breath and clasped her hands together.
She closed her eyes and uttered a single word.
With her soft, beautiful voice.
Whoosh!
Divine power enveloped the church.
The structure, tainted by lust energy and demonic aura, was purified in an instant.
"As expected of the Saintess."
"Incredible..."
"To cleanse such a vast space in one go."
"Those chosen by the goddess are on another level."
The fully purified church.
Yet Eirin's gaze fixed on the spot still leaking faint demonic energy despite the cleansing.
Beneath the altar.
A thin fissure oozed demonic mist.
She pointed, and the Holy Knights rushed over.
Thud thud.
Stamping the floor elicited a hollow echo.
"There's a door. Seems connected to a basement!"
One Holy Knight pried up the floorboard at the seam.
Boom!
Stairs led down to a basement.
Eirin followed the Holy Knights down.
"Gasp!"
"G-Gods above."
"How horrific..."
Everyone who arrived in the basement could only gape in horror.
There lay the missing victims, stripped bare and desiccated.
Four men and one woman.
All drained of their life essence and dead.
"Succubus..."
The saintess's warning had come true.
Eirin swallowed hard at the sight.
Not a shred of vitality remained in their withered husks.
"......"
"We'll issue a wanted order immediately."
Even as the flustered Holy Knight spoke, Eirin closely examined the corpses.
'It wasn't a strong demon.'
Succubi ranked low among demons, but this one that claimed these victims was particularly weak even by those standards.
How did she know?
'The way it extracted essence was clumsy.'
Typical succubi were known for savoring prey over long periods, ripening them.
As dream demons, they couldn't force victims physically; they seduced for meals, so they kept successfully charmed prey alive longer.
Living beings produced essence steadily while alive.
They also turned enthralled victims into minions to lure more prey.
Strong succubi brainwashed so thoroughly that victims never realized their enslavement.
These corpses suggested essence sucked from multiple people in a short time.
Failing even that and killing outright meant...
'Either it was too weak to charm properly, or a novice demon that botched the job.'
A pilgrim falling to such a demon was likely...
Due to backlash from exhaustive pilgrimage.
Those pushing asceticism to extremes sometimes crumbled helplessly to dream demon assaults.
Pent-up desires bursting under succubus influence.
After tentatively assessing the demon's state from the bodies, she stood.
- No need to issue the warrant yet.
Everyone stared at her in stunned silence.
They should be dispatching inquisitors to hunt the demon now, yet no warrant?
"What do you mean...?"
- It's still nearby.
No sooner had Eirin finished writing...
- How did you know?
A seductive voice echoed from above, enchanting those below.
Eirin looked up and replied.
"Who do you think I am?"
- Oh dear, how scary. The saintess who can't kill even a single monster without her hero.
"I've seen plenty like you succubi. And I know exactly how to deal with them."
- Hehe, stuffy clerics always say that. But you know what happened to all of them?
A succubus with lavender hair burst from the wall's shadow.
A being of breathtaking beauty and form, hard to take in at a glance.
'It's grown stronger.'
Having devoured five essences—including two high priests—this succubus was a fully realized demon, contrary to her expectations.
So potent it begged the question: where had it been hiding?
Snap!
The succubus flicked her fingers.
"Gasp!"
"Hnng!"
The Holy Knights around her shuddered violently.
Frozen in place, they gasped wetly, eyes rolling back as they collapsed.
Not just charmed, but driven to orgasm.
However...
- Oh? Our saintess isn't all talk after all? Though you didn't climax.
Eirin stood unscathed.
She had felt it.
The succubus's charm reaching her.
A high demon's potent demonic energy had assailed her.
Her past self would have struggled against it.
But the moment the charm touched her, words from the illusion of Max surfaced.
- You are mine. Not the goddess's—mine.
- No one else can tempt you.
The enchantment attempting to dominate her mind vanished.
- Maybe you're more loyal to your desires than I thought? A secret chronic masturbator saintess?
It seemed to think the spell had partially landed.
Eirin decided to remind the sneering succubus—who hadn't prepared any defenses and still smirked—who she was dealing with.
A single short word.
But its power was immense.
-Guh!
A dying screech.
The succubus recoiled, clutching her chest.
Demonic energy leaked from her entire body.
- My charm didn't work? Why?
"Who do you think I am?"
As she clasped her hands to chant the finishing spell...
- Ta-da.
The succubus flashed a cute smile and shrugged.
No damage whatsoever.
The scream had been pure theater, her demeanor utterly calm.
"Divine Word didn't work?"
- Surprised?
"What are you...?"
- Hehe, can't tell you that. But our saintess...
The succubus flapped the wings at her waist and continued.
- Rely only on Divine Word, and you'll get hurt bad?
"......"
- Honestly, didn't expect you to resist my charm, so I'll call it here today. But you know...
She licked her lips with her tongue.
- Feels like we'll meet again soon.
Eirin glared at the succubus.
It melted back into the shadows.
She wanted to pursue, but couldn't leave the charmed, unconscious Holy Knights.
They could become its minions.
"I'll purify them."
Abandoning the chase, she clasped her hands and invoked purification with Divine Word.
The charm broke; the Holy Knights stirred one by one.
They stared blankly into space, legs wobbling as they rose.
"S-Sorry. We were inadequate..."
She shook her head.
It wasn't their failing.
'I relied too much on Divine Word and got complacent.'
For the first time, Eirin regretted her inexperience with it.
Meanwhile, Max was...
"Hero?"
"Oh, long time no see, Boss."
Greeting Niki, who had visited after ages.