Evil spirits that stalked prey in dreams.
The beings most commonly known to people were succubi and incubi.
They were said to drain human vital essence through dreams, but throughout history, humans had not always been abundant in number.
There had been worst-case situations, such as when plagues and frequent wars drastically reduced the human population.
At times like that, they, too, resorted to preying on their own kind like other monsters.
A succubus would take an incubus, or conversely, an incubus would take a succubus.
And now that everything had stabilized, those who would go out of their way to prey on their own kind had disappeared.
After all, when they could simply deal with weak humans, there was no reason to struggle against one another.
“I’m looking forward to this.”
But there was one who intended to carry out that same-kind predation, something that had not been done in a long time.
It was the incubus, “Lucaros.”
Lucaros was the master of an incubus dungeon.
It was not a large dungeon, but neither was it a small one.
He possessed a dungeon of just the right size, with a reasonably established force.
And just a little while ago, Lucaros had received a message from the person in charge at the Demon Realm Trading Company.
It was a request to deal with a single succubus.
Lucaros accepted without much thought.
The one in charge of him, Juwel, was someone who held a decent position within the company.
Considering future dealings, it would not be bad to grant him this sort of help now and put him in his debt.
That debt would later give him an advantageous position in transactions with the company.
If that happened, he would be able to hasten the development of his dungeon a little more smoothly.
Above all, when a dungeon developed, the power of its master rose as well.
In a structure where, when the dungeon master’s power rose, the rank of the minions beneath him also rose, there was no being who would refuse dungeon development.
And dungeon development required the Demon Realm Trading Company.
In the end, it was a story that kept cycling back to the same point.
That was why Lucaros readily accepted Juwel’s request and was now on his way.
It was not solely because he wanted to put him in his debt.
Lately, Lucaros had been bored, so he had needed a bit of change.
“It’s been far too long since I last had a succubus.”
Lucaros’s expression was cold and arrogant.
From what he had heard from Juwel, the succubus was the master of a small, newly formed dungeon.
In other words, it meant that he could easily subdue the succubus and take her essence.
“Is this the place?”
Before long, Lucaros entered the mountain range.
Though he was disguised in human form, he was fundamentally a monster, so he had no concerns about stamina.
Rather, because he wanted to take his target as soon as possible, he was sprinting at full speed toward the location Juwel had told him.
“……”
Then, at the sudden breeze that blew past, Lucaros stopped in place.
The pleasant wind made the flowers and leaves dance with freshness.
The chirping of birds delighted the ears and even lifted one’s mood.
It even felt as though they were breathing passion and vitality into him.
“Ha… Should I get a dungeon in a place like this too?”
If it came down to it, seizing the succubus’s dungeon would be one way.
This place was so beautiful and enchanting that such a thought naturally came to mind.
While Lucaros was briefly lost in thought,
“Oh my, are you perhaps an adventurer?”
Someone spoke to him.
Lucaros turned his head and looked at the other party.
“An adventurer?”
Her attire was that of an adventurer.
And most importantly, she was a woman.
A woman with an extremely pretty appearance, at that.
“She must be low-level.”
Unlike her appearance, she seemed to be an adventurer with no real ability.
Seeing as she had failed to notice that he was disguised as a human, she was likely nothing much.
But Lucaros was an incubus.
There was no way he would politely let go of prey that had walked in on its own two feet, and such fresh prey at that.
He smiled and spoke to the adventurer.
“Haha, I was just on my way to subjugate a dungeon nearby. If you don’t mind, would you like to accompany me?”
A sticky quality seeped from Lucaros’s words.
It was a conversation that seemed both comfortable and forced, and yet at the same time, it stirred some unknowable emotion.
“Yes, I’d love to!”
The adventurer smiled and agreed.
“Not bad.”
The woman before him could be used as the finishing touch after he took the succubus.
With a lewd smile, Lucaros had the adventurer, who was already as good as his, follow him.
Soon, he arrived near the dungeon he had been aiming for.
“Is this the place?”
A cave was hidden among the trees.
Judging only by its exterior, it looked truly shabby.
To the point that he wondered whether it was right to call this a dungeon at all.
“Too small, isn’t it?”
At this level, it looked as though it would fall quickly even without his involvement.
Perhaps that would be better for the succubus instead.
If she were caught by him, at worst, her essence would be stolen and she would be defiled, but if she were caught by humans, it would not end there.
If she were lucky, she might be able to die cleanly.
“Lucky bitch.”
For that reason, Lucaros considered himself practically a savior.
“Is this the place?”
The female adventurer spoke to him.
Thinking about it, he still did not even know the other party’s name, but that did not matter anyway.
After taking the succubus, the next would be that woman.
She was nothing more than amusement for a brief pleasure, not even for a single night, and he had no feelings beyond that, so he did not particularly want to know.
“Now then, let’s go in.”
At Lucaros’s words, the female adventurer moved first toward the inside of the dungeon.
No matter how small the dungeon was, entering first was a foolish thing to do, so Lucaros slowly followed behind her.
“Hmm.”
Unlike its exterior, the interior seemed well maintained and clean.
More surprising than anything was the fact that the dungeon was larger than he had expected.
“Is this really a dungeon that was only recently created?”
Juwel had definitely said so.
He had said it had not been long since it was made.
But this was large. Far too large.
When they walked a little farther, even a three-way fork appeared.
At this level, it was absolutely not small.
Anxiety slowly began to bloom in Lucaros’s heart.
“The opponent is a succubus anyway.”
No matter the size of the dungeon, its master was a succubus.
At the very least, she should not have the power to do anything to him.
He believed that.
Lucaros changed his strategy.
It was a waste to have come all this way, but he decided to give up on Juwel’s request.
Instead, should he not receive some compensation for coming here?
Lucaros decided he would at least take the adventurer walking before him.
The dungeon master probably wanted that as well.
If he gave the sign that he would quietly take the human and leave, she would surely not touch him.
The adventurer before him kept walking down the path, then at some point stopped in place.
“Lord Lucaros. Shall we do it here?”
The other party made the demand first, in reverse.
Just like Lucaros, her words were sticky with desire.
“Ha…”
The corners of Lucaros’s mouth rose.
It was something that happened from time to time.
A woman in the company of an incubus becoming aroused and making the first demand, that is.
“But did I tell her my name?”
He could not remember.
But since he intended to quickly take the human before him and leave the dungeon, he decided not to pay any attention to such things.
Lucaros snatched the adventurer’s hand.
The sensation of the adventurer’s hand was conveyed to Lucaros.
It was warm.
And rough.
“Rough…?”
Yes, this was not a soft sensation.
It was more like something prickly.
Like touching skin covered in fur.
Lucaros’s head tilted slightly to the side.
Human women did have hair, but the sensation he was feeling was on an entirely different level.
Lucaros let go of her hand and placed his hand on the body of the being before him.
“This is strange.”
It was neither smooth nor soft.
This truly felt like something covered in fur.
“How is it?”
The still-sticky voice of the female adventurer reached Lucaros’s ears, which were filled only with questions.
“Do you like it? It is a monster brought from a dungeon that Sir Death Knight personally subjugated.”
Monster? Death Knight?
What was she talking about?
The way of speaking coming from the adventurer’s mouth had changed.
And more importantly,
The adventurer’s voice was not coming from in front of him, but from behind him.
“Huh…?”
Strange. She had definitely been in front of him.
Then what was the being in front of him now?
Lucaros squeezed his eyes shut, then slowly opened them.
The one he had been fondling greedily with his hand was not the female adventurer.
“…A spider?”
It was a giant spider.
Transparent liquid dripping from the spider’s mouth was flowing down onto his hand.
“Hiiik!”
He tried to pull his hand away in horror, but his body would not obey.
“Who was it? Who dared tell you to target Master’s dungeon?”
The adventurer, no, the being that had been an adventurer.
No, the being that had never been an adventurer from the very beginning.
Lucaros’s mind turned completely blank.
He was rambling, unable to tell what he was thinking or what he was saying.
But one thing was certain.
The one caught in the trap was himself.
And the other party was no mere succubus.
“Please…”
Lucaros pleaded.
“I was foolish. Please, spare my life at least. My queen!”
Judging by her presence alone, she was a being who had already surpassed a succubus queen.
That was why Lucaros wailed and begged even harder.
And begged for his worthless life.
At the same time, he cursed Juwel, who had dragged him here.
“If I spare your life, what can you do for me?”
A sweet offer flowed out.
Lucaros immediately opened his mouth.
“The one behind this! I will tell you who is behind this!”
Lucaros struck his head against the floor as he pleaded.
“If you only spare me, I will never come out of the incubus dungeon again! I beg you!”
Not coming out of the dungeon was an impossible thing, but what could he not say in this situation?
That was how desperate he was.
“An incubus dungeon… Well, fine. I will accept your proposal. But I must ask Master for permission.”
Hope settled over Lucaros’s face.
For a moment, he wondered at the mention of a separate master, but it did not matter.
Hope that he could leave alive.
Hope that he could keep his life had arisen.
* * *
Ding—
A smartphone alarm rang.
“Phone.”
The skeleton soldier who had been cleaning quickly brought the smartphone over and offered it to me.
“What alarm is it this time?”
- Lieutenant Celia has made a request of Master.
A request?
If it was something Celia requested, I intended to grant all of it for now.
“Let’s see what kind of request it is.”
I checked the request Celia had sent.
The gist was this.
It was a request about what to do with a lost incubus.
“Ah!”
If it was that, it was not difficult.
He was, after all, a truly pitiful incubus who had lost his way.
“Now that I think about it, weren’t there some guys who followed me?”
I immediately checked the dungeon support lists.
There was one incubus dungeon that had sworn loyalty to me after I dispatched Celia there last time.
I was able to confirm that it still existed.
Since they had offered me their loyalty, I could support that dungeon at any time.
“It would be good if he made friends with many people, right?”
I dispatched Celia to that incubus dungeon and ordered her to guide the lost incubus.
* * *
“Ahh, to think Master would concern himself with even this…”
An incubus dungeon located on Earth.
The master of that dungeon, Azmo, looked at Lucaros, whom Celia had brought with her, in admiration.
Those here were beings who were always starving.
They were in no position to be picky about food.
“Master is always merciful, Azmo.”
Celia smiled as she handed Lucaros over to Azmo.
With this, Lucaros was able to keep his word.
His promise that he would not come out of the incubus dungeon, that is.
The night that would come today was deep, and tomorrow, another night would come.