Hostages for the Glutton
Chapter 157. Should Use It on Someone Who Even Eats Hostages.
Now the only plan left was to grab Jung Ayeon and slip out quietly. The moment we reached the first floor, a scream suddenly rang out from the direction of her room. Probably one of the succubi had noticed she was missing and panicked.
[No time left.]
'Tch. We need to get out fast.'
The succubi turned pale and began rushing about in a frenzy. They were clearly searching for Ayeon, so we tried to move as quickly and naturally as possible. Just as we reached for the mansion's front door—
- Thud.
"......Who are you?"
"Ah..."
Four actual delivery workers stood there, struggling under the weight of their delivery bags, staring at us in confusion.
We decided to improvise.
"Thanks for your hard work. Looks like someone else ordered too."
"Really? Was it a group order? We didn't expect this many."
"Nah. Some pig just decided to eat everything by herself."
"By herself? No way......Ah! You're right!"
The delivery worker suddenly looked like he understood. He pointed behind us and asked,
"Is it that person?"
".......Huh?"
A chill ran down my spine as I turned around. There she was.
"Where the hell is my delivery!!!"
A massive woman, easily 0.82 tons, came charging straight at us. The security succubi had called her Nakadashi, but that wasn't important. She was a walking disaster. Her eyes had lost all reason—her pupils weren't even visible. Her enormous body was a weapon in itself; anything she touched was instantly destroyed. The once-elegant mansion, already damaged by intruders, became a complete ruin wherever she passed.
"O-our house..."
"Shut up. We're screwed right now."
Jeong Bia muttered under her breath, trembling as she watched. Then the woman's gaze locked onto the two delivery bags. She suddenly dove toward us.
"Delivery!!!!"
"S-save us!!!"
"Ha, I knew things were going too well."
The four delivery workers dropped their bags and bolted out of the mansion at top speed. We tried to follow, but the bags—now full—were far heavier than before.
- BOOM!!!!!!!!
The impact from the woman landing alone sent out a shockwave. The only saving grace was that none of us were directly crushed. We were all knocked off our feet by her weight, and our helmets shattered from the force. We tossed the broken helmets aside and assessed the situation.
"Shinu, we're fucked, right?"
"Totally fucked, meow..."
"That damn pig..."
Completely ignoring us, the woman began devouring the spilled food with ravenous hunger. Meanwhile, our own delivery bag had burst open, spilling out the stolen ornaments, Elsia, and Jung Ayeon all at once.
To make matters worse, the mansion's succubi had heard the commotion and were gathering. They took one look at us and screamed.
"Over here! We found the bride!"
"Kyaaah! Kidnappers! They're kidnappers!"
"Ah! That ornament—I had my eye on it! You thieves!"
Once aggro was drawn, more and more people swarmed in. This was the worst possible situation. Preparing for a forced breakthrough, I materialized weapons through my Mana Tattoo and handed them to Hye-ji, Caersi, and Elsia. They looked at me with worried eyes.
"Shinu, you sure about this?"
"Husband. How are you going to write the report later?"
"The backlash is going to be brutal, meow."
"It'll probably be fine."
I wasn't entirely confident, but I figured we wouldn't get caught. After all, this was just an extension of physical enhancement through the Mana Tattoo. Even if we were discovered, only I would suffer the consequences, so it didn't matter.
I tried to hand a weapon to Jeong Bia as well, but—
"Looking for this bitch?"
"Ugh!"
At some point, a blond, blue-eyed male mage had grabbed her. He wore a nasty smile.
"That's far enou—"
"Sokomateda! (That's far enough!)"
"That's my line!!!"
This time it's my turn, you bastard.
The man looked annoyed for a moment before smiling again. He pressed a wand glowing with blue mana against Bia's neck and shouted,
"Drop your weapons! Otherwise, this bitch dies—"
- Fwoosh!!!
Without the slightest hesitation, we hurled our weapons straight at the man holding Bia hostage. The man, whose number above his head had increased, quickly dragged Bia out of the attack's path. Our weapons embedded themselves exactly where they had been standing moments ago.
"Are you insane?! What the hell are you doing?!"
"You told us to drop them, didn't you?"
"What the hell do you think a hostage is?!"
We answered the flustered man in rare unison.
"Ah. That doesn't look like a hostage to me. More like luggage."
"Only the ones who are meant to live will live."
"Honestly, at this point we figured we didn't need her anymore!"
"Don't worry, meow. Even if she dies, she'll go to heaven."
"You bastards! I'm going to kill every single one of you!!!"
[Please, just die already. I'll give you ten Nopia Coins each if you do.]
'That won't even buy Novelty Coins, so no thanks.'
[You fucking bastard.]
The man pressed his wand harder against Bia's neck, but she was too busy screaming and trying to lunge at us to care. Then—
"Stop."
Silence fell instantly. An overwhelming pressure that made our skin prickle. In that suffocating space, only one presence moved, approaching with deliberate steps.
A woman appeared. Even though her outfit covered far less skin than fabric, she looked more like a beautiful work of art than something vulgar. But her mood was clearly foul, and her green pupils seemed to radiate killing intent.
"I am the Succubus Queen and Queen of the Night. Lilith."
Lilith introduced herself without being asked the moment she appeared. She pointed at us, her voice soft yet extremely threatening.
"Who exactly are you people?"
"Mother..."
Jung Ayeon stared at Lilith and murmured "Mother." Her eyes held a complicated mix of emotions—longing, and sorrow.
Meanwhile, Lilith radiated pressure as if she would attack us the moment she received an unsatisfactory answer. I clenched my teeth to keep from shrinking back and spoke.
"Just someone she knows."
"You kidnapped Ayeon with only that level of connection?"
"The kidnapping happened when Ayeon was dragged here in the first place."
"You know this is for the sake of marriage, right?"
I met Lilith's gaze head-on.
"Do you really think a forced marriage will make her happy?"
"......."
Lilith's expression didn't change, but her eyes seemed to soften slightly. Now was the time to push.
"Are you really her parent? What kind of parent forces their child to do something they hate?"
"...That person insisted it had to be done."
"Do you know how much blood she shed just to avoid this marriage?"
".......I see."
Lilith slowly lowered the finger she'd been pointing at us. At the same time, she looked at Jung Ayeon with eyes full of sorrow. Ayeon simply lowered her head, unable to meet that gaze. For a short yet endless moment, a one-sided exchange of looks continued.
But Lilith's resolve hadn't changed. She looked back at us with a gentle expression.
"Can't you just leave? If you do, I'll pretend this never happened."
It wasn't even worth considering. If we left now, nothing would be resolved for Ayeon. I'd rather die than accept that.
Instead of answering, I materialized the rest of my weapons. Lilith looked at us with a mix of admiration and regret.
"Everyone, drive them out. Try not to hurt them too much."
The surrounding succubi began slowly approaching us. Hye-ji, whose number above her head had increased again, grinned viciously at them.
"You sure you want to do this nicely? It's not going to end well for you."
Several succubi looked confused before their numbers suddenly rose. They began trembling and collapsed on the spot. They must have seen a future where Hye-ji dealt with them.
"Hye-ji, if you step in, this really becomes a war. The retaliation could be severe."
"Then we just beat them so badly there's no one left to retaliate."
"As expected of Hye-ji unni! An assassination isn't complete until you've wiped out all the witnesses!"
"Want to become a refugee in the Beastman Kingdom, meow? I'll grant you citizenship immediately."
Caersi, impressed by Hye-ji's combat prowess, offered her a scouting proposal. But none of that mattered until we got out of this situation first. I was thinking about breaking through alone when—
"What's all this commotion?"
A man suddenly appeared before us without any warning. He had navy-blue hair reaching his shoulders and wore nothing but a shabby robe. Though he looked to be in his twenties, an air of experience clung to him. But the most unsettling thing was his unfocused, hazy pupils. He looked like a doll without a sense of self. His face showed no emotion as he stared at us blankly.
"The wedding is about to begin. What exactly are you doing?"
It felt creepy, like a machine forcing itself to imitate a human. I quietly asked Ayeon,
"Hey, Ayeon. Who is that guy?"
"......Jeong Siyun......A pathetic existence not even worth calling 'Father.'"
Jeong Siyun looked toward Jeong Bia in the distance and spoke calmly.
"Useless bitch. You still managed to crawl your way in."
"......"
"I don't want to see your ugly face any longer, so disappear quickly."
Then he turned his gaze back to Ayeon.
"Where do you think you're running off to, bride?"
"I clearly kept my promise! And yet you—!"
"That doesn't matter. You lot, get lost already."
Jeong Siyun reached out as if to forcibly drag Ayeon away. Ayeon gritted her teeth but looked completely resigned, as if she couldn't refuse. However, his attempt failed.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"You said he was Ayeon's father, right?"
I had grabbed his outstretched arm mid-motion. I squeezed hard enough to crush his wrist, but Jeong Siyun showed no sign of pain. He simply tilted his head in confusion.
"Do you want to die?"
"Since when does being a father mean—"
"Gongja..."
I stared straight into Jeong Siyun's empty, unfocused eyes, my hostility clear.
"—that you get to do whatever you want with your own child?"
"Move if you don't want to die."
Jeong Siyun spread his other hand and conjured a strange magic circle, extending it toward my head.
"Dear! Stop!"
"I told you to move."
"Gongja! I'm fine, so just step aside!"
"Go ahead and shoot."
I stood in front of Ayeon, facing Jeong Siyun. I even leaned my head closer to his hand.
"Die."
"Gongja!"
"No matter what happens—"
The ominous white light from the magic circle grew stronger. I looked at that light and smiled.
"I'm not moving."