Chapter 148: The Curse of the Black Flame (2)
Chapter 148: The Curse of the Black Flame (2)
The Breast Festival had ended, and Joanna had joined the party, but our activities continued as usual.
The most prominent of those activities was, of course, raiding the Infinite Labyrinth.
Since Joanna was now a comrade, it was only natural that we head into the labyrinth to test her strength.
[In that sense, call me Lewd Man.]
"Le... wd Man?"
[Don't say it with a pause like that, it's hurtful. Call me Lewd Man. Like there's a slight 'ew' sound in the middle, like L'ew'd Man.]
"Understood. Ew Man."
[No, wait. Lewd Man is the name.]
"My apologies. Lewd Man."
[That’s actually better. Anna.]
When Joanna joked around, I fired back with some nonsense. She let out a little giggle and rested the shaft of her spear against her shoulder.
"You really are an interesting person, controlling that Living Armor. Is it because you don't have a cock right now?"
[No. It's just that I've entrusted my cock to someone else for the time being.]
I pointed toward the members of the knight order who had come down to raid the Infinite Labyrinth.
Vanguard: Lewd Man Ruji.
Captain and Ranged DPS: Laura.
Frontline: Serica.
Mid-guard: Joanna.
Porter: Shiro.
Rear-guard: Astarotte.
The others—Yurdias and Charlotte—were busy handling other duties and sat this one out.
That’s right.
For the first time, Astarotte had joined the labyrinth raid as a member of the knight order and a mage.
[Usually, Asti is in charge of emitting my cock's signal, but someone else is handling that right now.]
Currently, in the Young Lord's office, Zenith was gripping my cock.
[Since Astarotte became the Succubus Queen, the signal going to the Living Armor has become much stronger. So, it's not a big problem if someone else takes over the task of transmitting the signal.]
Thanks to the Succubus Queen's sex magic, Astarotte no longer needed to stay in the office constantly.
[One mage capable of handling sex magic always had to be up there, managing the mana of my cock.]
If the power I emitted were anything else, it might be different, but as long as I was using sex magic to convert essence into a signal, it didn't matter which mage held onto my "cock-antenna."
[That's why I'm planning to go a bit deeper this time. Even if we don't reach the deepest part of the Infinite Labyrinth, we'll conquer it step by step.]
It looked like we’d be able to descend much further underground, and we headed to this floor to test that theory.
The 20th floor of the Infinite Labyrinth.
The final floor of the labyrinth region and the location of the Succubus Queen Desmonica's hatching grounds.
[Joanna. We all know each other's skills. Now it's your turn to show us what you can do.]
It was also the perfect place to verify Joanna's prowess.
[There's no one else here.]
Ahead of us.
I could see succubi wandering the labyrinth corridors.
They seemed to have already drained some human essence; they were leaning against the walls with satisfied expressions, yellowish fluid leaking from their lower bodies. Nearby lay the emaciated corpses of humans.
[Succubi who killed people by draining their essence, I see.]
The deal with Desmonica was already finalized.
As long as it wasn't inside the hatching grounds, we were free to kill the succubi or make them slaves.
[They are succubi who have killed humans. You can kill them or subdue them. I'll leave the choice to you.]
"Then, I shall return shortly."
Joanna held her spear at a low diagonal angle and dashed forward.
With light footsteps, she sprinted toward the succubi in an instant. Startled, the succubi tried to deploy barriers to counter the attack.
But they were already too late.
"Perish, Black Flame!"
The moment the tip of Joanna's spear erupted in black flames, a hole was punched clean through the succubi's barriers.
"Kyaaaak!!"
The black flames clung to the succubi's bodies.
"A mere barrier cannot stop the Black Flame."
Despite being stabbed in the collarbone, the succubus screamed in agony as the black flames began to spread across her entire body.
"It is futile. The Black Flame consumes all. The moment it touches you, there is nothing left for you but to burn and vanish into nothingness."
At Joanna's declaration, the succubus crawled along the floor before collapsing face-forward.
"When you reach the afterlife, tell them. The one who slew you was I, Joanna of the Black Flame."
It looked like the succubus was genuinely suffering from the pain of being burned alive, which made me a bit tense, but more than that, I started to feel a strange anxiety regarding Joanna's condition.
[Captain Laura.]
"Yes? What is it?"
[I... I think I have a hunch about the side effects of Joanna's Curse of Black Flame.]
What exactly were the side effects?
"Phew. I've burned away something useless again..."
The probability was extremely low, but perhaps the Black Flame was...
"Lewd Man. The succubi have been dealt with."
Joanna pointed toward the succubi before her, looking perfectly normal.
There were three succubi.
Two of them had been incinerated by the black flames, leaving not even ashes behind. Only one succubus remained, trembling violently.
"Why did you spare this one?"
"I couldn't confirm whether she was a virgin or not, Captain."
Joanna's attitude as she answered Laura's question was, without a doubt, perfectly normal.
Look at those golden eyes.
They were the eyes of a soldier who had simply done her job and followed orders accurately.
But what about when she was fighting just now?
The look in her eyes as she swung the black flames, pierced the barriers with her spear, and set the succubi ablaze?
No, more importantly, what was with that 'speech' earlier?
"Lewd Man. What should we do? We don't have a proper way to determine if this succubus is a virgin right now."
[Ah, right. Hmm. It would be a waste to kill her if she's a virgin.]
Basically, the probability of capturing a virgin succubus is about 1 in 8.
If there are eight succubi, seven are non-virgins, and the last one might barely be a virgin.
Since they're that hard to catch, it's a problem to kill them recklessly.
However.
[This is when we need that power. Help me, Asti-emon!]
"What on earth are you talking about?"
[Just a figure of speech. Asti, is there such a thing as a virginity appraisal spell?]
"There is, but please just call me Asti."
She seemed to dislike being called Asti-emon.
"Sigh. Honestly..."
Astarotte, who had been concealing her body in a black robe, pulled back her hood.
Red horns sprouted from her head, their shape very similar to the horns on the succubi's heads.
"Uh...?"
The surviving succubus stared in a daze, shocked.
She looked bewildered, as if she were seeing something that shouldn't exist, but Astarotte mercilessly grabbed the succubus's horns with both hands.
"E-Eeeek?!"
Snap.
The moment mana flickered from Astarotte's hands, a seal of sex magic glowed on the succubus's lower abdomen.
"...Verification complete. She doesn't have a hymen, but she's a virgin. What should we do?"
[How did she lose her hymen?]
"It looks like she masturbated with her tail."
[Hmm.]
That’s ambiguous.
How should one judge a case like this?
If a woman breaks her own hymen while masturbating, should she still be considered a virgin?
[A tricky question. Captain, what do you think?]
"If we take her along as a virgin, Shiro will have to drag her around. Wouldn't that be inconvenient?"
"I-I'm fine!"
Shiro answered with a vigorous voice.
"I can easily handle restraining and dragging one succubus around!"
[Hmm...]
"What shall we do, Lewd Man?"
There was no risk, of course.
We had Serica, and for now, Joanna was proving to be quite skilled.
[It's a hassle to take her, but a waste to kill her. It can't be helped. I'll have to conduct an experiment.]
It was a pity, but it seemed like a good idea to run an experiment here.
[Joanna. Can you infuse the succubus with the Black Flame?]
"Into the succubus?"
[Yes. I want to see what happens when the Curse of Black Flame is applied. Is it possible?]
"It is possible."
Joanna lightly swung her feathered spear to force the succubus to her knees, then placed a hand on the succubus's head.
"I, Joanna, Apostle of the Black Flame, command thee. Cast off the limits of thy sealed flesh and be reborn in the black fire. Thou shalt shine alongside the black sun that rises from the earth."
Whoosh.
Along with the mysterious incantation, black flames erupted across the succubus's entire body.
"Aaaah..."
There was no scream.
The only major changes were the succubus's hair turning pitch black and her pupils narrowing into vertical slits.
"...Hehehe. Ah, this refreshing feeling. It feels as though I have been reborn through the black flames... Please, give me a new name, O Incarnation of the Black Flame."
The succubus knelt on one knee and bowed her head to Joanna.
Despite the presence of Astarotte, the Succubus Queen, the fact that she showed such reverence toward Joanna gave me a 99% gut feeling.
I knew what the side effect of the Curse of Black Flame was.
"Very well. From this day forth, as a devotee of the Black Flame, you shall live here in Fermaton, inciting the desires of humans and feeding upon their dreams. In that spirit, I shall name you 'Lapadonia of Dream-Reality Phantasm'."
"A-Ah...! Thank you. Thank you for granting me a new name...!"
[No matter how I think about it, that has to be the side effect.]
I could be wrong, but...
I was 99.99% certain.
[Joanna. What would you think about wrapping a white bandage around your left hand?]
"......Hmm."
Joanna...
"......That would look quite cool."
...showed interest, her vertically slit pupils sparkling.
Perhaps.
The Curse of Black Flame was actually the Curse of the Black Flame Dragon.
Or maybe not.