Chapter 93. Slut
Chapter 93. Slut
"......Hrrk! M-My neck! My neck!!"
Morgana clutched her throat and screamed as the attack struck home.
But Katarina didn't let her guard down. She simply retrieved her torn garment and adjusted her equipment.
"Don't play games with me. I already know physical attacks can't kill dream demons."
"...Ah, caught me?"
Morgana grinned and pulled her hand away from her own throat.
The dagger that had been lodged there dropped to the floor with a wet squelch as the flesh rippled around the wound.
A characteristic of the dream demon race. Their bodies are nothing more than avatars — constructed purely from psychic energy, they can regenerate no matter how badly they are damaged.
"Honestly, you won't even play along. Our dear captain is still no fun at all~"
"......Fun?"
She'd assumed the rage she'd poured into the dagger would at least register with Morgana.
"You pull this kind of shit, and you expect me to have fun?"
The instant Katarina's grip tightened on the dagger and the blade sharpened again with mana, Morgana studied it with an expression of regret and began to turn away.
"Fufu, if you'd just accepted my power, you could've enjoyed yourself without a thought in your head."
"Where do you think you're going...!"
"Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now? Something entertaining's about to start, and it'd be such a waste to miss the chance to watch it from the best seat in the house, don't you think?"
The "entertainment" could only mean the scheme targeting the hero party.
But the situation had deviated from the original plan. The demons had apparently had a change of heart, ignoring even their cooperation with Katarina's people to pull this stunt.
There was no chance things would proceed smoothly from here on out.
'Then Lord Dave, who returned to the party...!'
The moment belated understanding struck and urgency surged through her heart, she found her path blocked by her own subordinates — their minds already seized and under control.
"Well, I'll be off then. Our dear captain can enjoy some quality time with her subordinates here~ Bye-bye~"
Morgana slipped away without ever releasing the mental restraints on them.
As if filling the space she left behind, the subordinates took their positions and soon began moving toward Katarina.
"Violate... violate her..."
"The woman... violate..."
No guilt over having turned their backs on humanity, no sense of betrayal toward her, no noble sense of purpose for the organization.
They were nothing more than pitiful subordinates, reduced to sex-crazed puppets after falling victim to the dream demon's schemes and having their minds dominated.
"Forgive me. I have no means to restore you..."
Katarina suppressed her bitter rage with cold composure and slowly began channeling strength into the dagger in her hand.
"...Please, forgive me."
With that low murmur, her body melted into the darkness.
-Shhhk!!
An instant later, a flash of light erupted, and a whirlwind of blood began to rage through the underground storehouse.
***
By the time I'd parted ways with Katarina and returned to the original meeting place.
"What the..."
I let out a gasp of shock at the scene laid out before me.
I couldn't help it.
Because what greeted me upon arrival were the three of them — sprawled unconscious all across the dining room floor.
Serika, Heira, and even Ymir.
"What the hell happened while I was gone?"
True, I'd slipped away to make contact with Katarina, but I'd been gone for less than an hour.
After finishing the meal, they should have been having tea and discussing the request. Sure, the lord himself was already under mental domination, but to keep up the pretense for the operation they'd planned, they would at least go through the motions until bedtime.
The idea was to lull the hero party into complacency, then seize control of their minds once they were asleep and implant suggestions to turn them into puppets.
My counter-plan had been to apply my own power strongly beforehand — to weaken the domination's hold so their minds wouldn't be too deeply eroded.
Finding all three of them unconscious like this before any of that could happen... that was never part of the script.
"Oh my~ Look who we have here."
At that moment, a voice I knew all too well sounded from behind me.
The instant I registered it, goosebumps erupted across my entire body, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.
I'd been steeling myself against it all this time. It was a voice I could never forget even if I tried.
And the moment I recognized it, I understood. Why all three of them had been lying there so helplessly on the floor while I was away.
"......You can't be serious."
Shit. Looks like I miscalculated.
No matter how much of an empty-headed bimbo this bitch was, I'd assumed she'd at least exercise some caution when approaching the hero party.
I never imagined she'd personally show up here with the intent of making a serious play for them.
"Hmm, wait, wait. What was your name again? I remember the face, but the name just isn't coming to me... Gabe, was it?"
But whatever the reason, if she'd come here in person, the situation had just veered into worst-case territory.
So for now...
Right, for now, playing along to get a read on the situation came first. As long as my true intentions hadn't been exposed, there might still be room to maneuver.
"...It's Dave, not Gabe."
After a deep exhale, I pulled myself together. Swallowing the fury boiling up from inside, I quietly painted a smile onto my lips.
Then I calmly turned toward the source of the voice and spoke.
"It's been a while, Lady Garbonia. Have you been well all this time?"
Pale skin, eyes of an uncanny hue.
The horns on her head and the pointed, slender ears were common features among the demonic race, but she possessed one trait that set her starkly apart from other demons.
Raw sex appeal.
It's the weapon and survival tool of those commonly called dream demons — or succubi — and the lingerie-like garment barely concealing her voluptuous body was designed to accentuate it.
But for anyone foolish enough to be drawn in by that allure, only utter ruin awaited. The mountain of countless corpses she'd devoured over the years was proof enough.
"Mm~ Right, Dave... Yes, that does sound like the name~"
Pata Garbonia.
The highest-ranking succubus queen among the distinct race of dream demons within the demonic species. A figure whose fearsome reputation had earned her a commission as an officer leading one of the factions under the Demon King's army.
"Still, isn't 'Dave' a bit off? If you ask me, 'Gabe' has a much better ring to it."
"...Ahaha, whichever you prefer, please use it. From the position of a mere lowly human such as myself, simply being remembered by you is an honor."
The moment I faced her, rage had begun boiling up from deep inside me, but I suppressed it and kept that affable smile firmly in place.
My opponent was the queen who represented the entire dream demon race, a being whose fearsome name had elevated her to an officer's rank in the Demon King's army. I knew from the start that fighting her head-on was impossible — that was exactly why I'd planned to use the hero party to corner and kill her. So how could someone like me, who'd merely inherited a witch's bloodline, possibly let my real feelings show in front of this creature?
"Heh, you've gotten pretty good at knowing your place~ You've changed quite a bit since I last saw you, haven't you?"
The moment I put on that humble act, Garbonia let out a pleased little chuckle.
She closed the distance between us and, with a sly grin, began looking my body up and down.
"Well, you did get fired and chased out after getting too cocky leaning on that secretary post. All that hardship must've finally made you realize what a worthless little speck you really are. So would it have killed you to run your mouth a little less back then?"
"...Haha."
What I really wanted was to hurl a torrent of abuse right back at her, but I clenched my fist behind my back and channeled every ounce of my will into suppressing the urge.
Right. Calm down. This creature is nothing more than a beast driven solely by lust. I'd already heard from Katarina that the organization was in complete shambles. I was already sickeningly aware that this bitch had no self-awareness whatsoever about the shit she'd been pulling.
"Yes, well. It's been a period of... considerable reflection. I've also endured a great deal of hardship with the party I've infiltrated."
"...Party you infiltrated?"
The whore's eyes widened at my words.
Then, as if belatedly registering the detail she'd overlooked, she slowly glanced back at the three figures collapsed on the floor.
"You don't mean... these are them?"
"Yes. Under your orders, I was to infiltrate human society to gather intelligence. As part of that, I've been operating mixed in among the adventurers. But... I'm quite astonished that you personally intervened with the party I'd infiltrated."
My throat went bone-dry.
But right now, I couldn't even afford to swallow. If I let my focus slip for even a moment, my mind would be warped by the aphrodisiac aura this bitch exuded simply by existing.
"......Why."
Having reined in my inner turmoil as much as possible, I once again put a smile on my lips and met her eyes.
"May I ask why you, Lady Garbonia — an officer who ought to be issuing directives from headquarters — have personally graced a place like this with your presence?"
I played the part of the rational, ideal subordinate to the hilt, so this moron wouldn't even entertain the thought of trying to dig into my true feelings.
"Party you infiltrated, huh..."
Showing not a flicker of suspicion at my words, the whore let her sentence trail off and burst into a soft laugh.
"From the sound of it, our little Gabe has been completely in the dark~ Keeping his head down and just doing his job even with a golden honey-pot right next to him."
I knew.
I knew that Serika was the Hero of this generation. I knew Ymir was the Grand Archmage assigned to support her. And I knew that Heira, though not an official party member, was an elf who possessed the skills to substitute for the one who still hadn't returned.
So why the hell are you sticking your nose in and stirring up shit with them when they're diligently doing their duty? You goddamn worthless whore.
"...Well, if you don't know, it's a superior's job to teach you."
As if ready to explain her reasoning, the whore moved away from my side and approached the three collapsed figures.
The first one she reached out to was Serika.
When the whore's hands limply lifted Serika's still-unconscious upper body, I felt a wave of nausea rise up from inside me — a kind I'd never experienced before.
Where the fuck does this goddamn bitch think she's putting her filthy hands?
"To cut to the chase, this young lady here is this generation's Hero."
And yet, as if she couldn't care less about what I was feeling, the creature simply placed her hand on Serika's face and whispered.
"I decided it'd be nice to dominate this Hero and use her to slaughter every single one of those annoying officers who keep meddling with me~"
The target was the only difference.
She'd approached them with the exact same idea I had.
"......The Hero? You mean Serika is?"
"That's right~ You might not have known, but this little lady is the Hero of this generation~"
When I feigned ignorance and put on a shocked expression, a playful grin crept across her lips.
"See, a little while ago, the elves were getting on my nerves, so I went to burn down the World Tree. But then some damn orc got some kind of wild idea and picked a fight with me halfway through, and the whole plan fell apart. So I was trying to figure out how to deal with that bastard, and... fufu. Right. It occurred to me that the hero party was just the right tool for the job, sitting right there in plain sight."
"......I see. So your plan was to enthrall her and use her as a tool to kill the officer who interfered with you?"
"At first, that's all I had in mind. But I decided to tweak the plan a little. I mean~ if I'm going to lay hands on the Hero anyway, why settle for just killing one bastard and then tossing her aside? Why not just make the Hero completely mine?"
A thick smirk spread across her lips.
It was the kind of smile you could only wear if you believed your plan was utterly flawless. Or rather, the kind you wore when you believed that even if there were flaws, once you succeeded, every last problem would resolve itself.
"She might be a rookie, but she's still the Hero. Given a little time, she'll develop enough power to slaughter officers or even the Ten Greats of the continent. Sure, if they all ganged up and attacked her at once, it might be a problem. But then, plenty of people want the Hero dead too. Just threaten to kill her if they move, and they'll back off on their own~"
Ah, right. That's exactly the kind of creature she is.
Greedy like any demon, living a life driven by pleasure and instinct like any dream demon who survives by exploiting lust.
Her innate power as a dream demon was so overwhelmingly strong, and she'd resolved everything she'd ever set her sights on so effortlessly, that she couldn't comprehend what a thoughtless, idiotic scheme she'd just concocted.
"What do you think? A brilliant idea, right?"
So it was by this imbecile's hand that the one place I believed I could still belong had been violated.
No — the moment this bitch had personally come out here, it was safe to say the organization was effectively finished.
More than anything, I simply couldn't tolerate seeing that disgusting whore's hand touching her face.
"......Gabe?"
"Ah. Yes. Truly."
The instant my patience hit its limit.
I beamed a radiant smile at her and let out the true feelings I'd been suppressing all along.
"...Everything's gone exactly according to my initial expectations, to the point where I'm not even surprised anymore, you goddamn worthless whore."
Immediately after, my hand lashed out.
The power radiating from it began surging outward — intent on seizing control of the mind of this bitch who still hadn't developed any hostility toward me.