Chapter 61. < 27. It's Really Big >
Lumian's expression turned serious.
What kind of demon could be hiding in the hideout where the succubus was trying to break the seal?
Wouldn't it be right to assume there were fellow succubi there?
It seemed entirely possible.
Lumian asked the battered succubus.
"Hey, are the demons in the hideout the same as you......"
"In the next life...... with big breasts......"
Fzzzzz......
"She died. I guess she wasn't strong, just couldn't withstand the torture."
"Hmm......."
"What did you want to ask?"
"Nothing really."
"What do you mean nothing? You were going to ask if there were succubi in the hideout, right?"
"If you knew, why did you ask?"
"I've been influenced by you, brother. Now I want to see a proper succubus too."
Morgan said with an indifferent expression. Lumian nodded.
True, this guy was also quite the pervert.
He sprayed his Aura Sword and burned the spot where the succubus had died.
The demonic energy that had scattered as smoke was purified by the heat.
"This should be enough, right?"
"Yes. We'll need to sprinkle holy water on the hideout, but for just one...... I think fire purification alone is sufficient. But brother."
"What."
"If there's a really pretty succubus in the hideout......"
"And if there is?"
"You won't go easy on them or anything, right?"
Lumian made an expression of disbelief.
With a stern face, he spoke strongly to Morgan.
"Are you crazy? In my past life and in this life, I am a knight."
He was sincere. Lumian had never harbored such thoughts.
Though he lived with desires strong enough to make something explode at any moment, he had protected everything that needed protecting.
Not only did he care about the peace and tranquility of the continent, but he had never acted against the code of chivalry.
He continued his self-justification.
"Valor, honesty, honor, courtesy, humility, protection of the weak...... Even if I've been a bit lustful for women, I've lived while keeping the virtues of a knight."
"I understand. It was a joke. You don't need to make such serious excuses."
Morgan calmed his ruffled brother.
Having packed the torture tools in his backpack, he asked.
"We're returning to the territory first, right?"
"We should. We need to go in before morning and show our faces so they won't worry."
"Then, shall we rest for a day?"
"Are you tired?"
"No."
"Then let's go right after breakfast. We can't leave evil forces threatening the territory for long."
Lumian said with a grave expression.
However, to Morgan's eyes, he only looked like a man impatient to see a succubus as soon as possible.
'I miss the old brother sometimes.'
Of course, only very rarely.
Compared to the old, taciturn and lonely-looking brother, the current lively brother was much better.
Morgan answered energetically.
"Understood. Let's go right away!"
***
"Then, we'll be off."
"Alright. I doubt there's anything to see but......"
"Be careful, son!"
"Oh my! Didn't you see the duel? Lumian is an Expert now! What danger could there be!"
"Hahaha...... Then, we'll be back carefully."
Lumian bowed deeply to his parents and left the lord's manor.
Morgan, who had already finished preparing, joined him, and the two headed toward the territory's abandoned mountain at a fast pace.
Arriving at the mountain's entrance, Lumian muttered.
"It's definitely very different from what I saw when I was young."
"It does feel lifeless."
"Hunters stopped coming here since two years ago, but who would have thought it was because of a demon hideout."
"Well, it's not common. But it's not unheard of either."
Lumian nodded.
The day when they would be completely free from demon invasion would never come.
Quite a few demons that came with the Demon King remained, and cases of demons appearing by breaking through dimensional gaps due to negative emotions were seen often enough.
Recalling that fact after a long time, Lumian wore a serious expression.
'This life prioritizes my happiness, but as long as I have the capacity......'
He should also do his duty as a knight.
Of course, right now he was far from such noble thoughts.
His body heated up as he walked quickly.
"Here it is."
"Another cave. They really love caves."
"It feels artificial. The interior seems quite large."
"There'll be many, right?"
"The more the better. Higher chance of having proper succubi."
Morgan answered.
Now the two didn't even bother with the formal excuse of 'for the territory.'
They were simply faithful to their desires. They expressed their thoughts without hesitation.
Like brother, like brother's junior.
"The sealing stone is here."
"Yes. I'll break it."
Morgan nodded, drew his sword, and let out a spirited shout.
Then, an intensely bright Aura Sword sprayed forth. Immense power could be felt.
He raised it high to the sky, then struck down hard.
A tremendous roar loud enough to burst eardrums echoed.
Kwang!
Kwang!
Kwaaang!
Kwaaaaang!
Rumble—!
The sealing stone broke in just four strikes.
The place that had been disguised like ordinary rock transformed into a dungeon entrance.
If it had been ordinary soldiers, they would have had to spend days breaking the sealing stone, but for a Sword Master like Morgan, this was nothing.
From the start, the fact that just the two of them came to conquer a place teeming with demons was proof of their confidence in their abilities.
"Let's go."
"Let's go."
After exchanging a look, the two entered the dungeon.
Of course, they weren't careless at all.
Morgan in his 40s who had become a mercenary king, and the boy Lumian who possessed the experience of a 60-year-old veteran knight—both were veterans among veterans.
They maintained composure while never letting down their guard. Several traps prepared for intruders were useless against them.
They walked for about 5 minutes, and finally encountered demons.
"Skeletons?"
"Skeletons, yes."
The two muttered briefly and swung their swords without a word.
Slash!
Crack!
Kieeeh—!
Twenty skeleton soldiers turned to ash and vanished in an instant.
They had no interest in such bones at all.
Not these guardians at the dungeon's entrance, but the real demons lurking deeper inside.
For example, succubi with great bodies and beautiful faces—they wanted to see those kinds.
Lumian and Morgan thought the same thing as they continued advancing without hesitation.
And finally.
"What! Humans!"
"Tsk, tsk! How did they find out we were here?"
"Succubi?"
"Succubi, yes."
They were able to achieve their long-desired goal.
Moreover, there wasn't just one.
One, two, three, four...... at least ten succubi were glaring at them with vicious eyes.
But Lumian and Morgan couldn't smile satisfied.
Because the succubi's appearance was very different from what they had thought and hoped for.
"This is......"
"Worse than that one yesterday?"
"Hard to even call human form......"
Lumian muttered with a dejected face.
A stubby height barely reaching 2-head proportions.
Dainty-sized horns, and wings tiny enough to compare to a pigeon's.
It was like a small animal, no, a corrupted fairy.
Succubi with luscious, voluptuous bodies were nowhere to be found even if they washed their eyes and looked.
"Eeek! Die, humans!"
"Succubus Punch!"
"Succubus Kick!"
"Take this, charm! Be bewitched, by my charm!"
"Become my slaves, foolish humans!"
The succubi, about the size of squirrels and rabbits, attacking them looked quite cute.
An ordinary person might not know, but Lumian and Morgan possessed trained bodies and immense aura, so they took almost no damage. So they could leisurely enjoy the creatures' dainty actions.
But this was definitely not what they wanted.
Lumian, deflated, looked at Morgan and spoke.
"Why are these ones in this state?"
"It seems they've weakened while in the hideout. They couldn't absorb vitality or demonic energy and hid for a long time......"
"Then...... even if more succubi appear later, they'll all look similar?"
"......Probably?"
"Phew."
Lumian sighed and strongly drew up his aura.
Soon, a dense Aura Sword sprayed forth.
He swung it powerfully and swept away over ten succubi in a single exchange.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Kueehng!"
"Heeeing!"
"To escape my charm!"
"What humans with tremendous mental strength!"
"You look like a virgin......"
"Looks like you've never done it once, yet you endured my charm......"
'These bastards?'
Lumian ground his teeth.
Seeing the succubi scratching at his insides even while dying, his composure seemed about to break. Though he was a possessor of solid mental strength, this type of attack was a huge blow.
As expected, Morgan was looking at him and laughing.
Lumian frowned even more.
'I need to become a Sword Master quickly so that guy can't crawl up...... wait?'
Suddenly, Lumian, who was moving forward, stopped walking.
Seeing him close his eyes, Morgan asked a question.
"Why do......"
"Wait. Just a moment."
Lumian, still with his eyes closed, raised his hand to silence Morgan.
With an extremely serious expression, he felt the place where the succubi had died, the flow of demonic energy.
And he could know.
That the demonic energy created when they died wasn't staying in place, but was being sucked toward the end of the dungeon.
'Someone is absorbing the demonic energy!'
And that someone was probably this hideout's boss.
It was certain.
Lumian, having finished his thought, opened his eyes with a flash.
Then he stepped forward quickly.
"Let's go."
"Brother? Why suddenly?"
"Let's just go first."
Lumian didn't feel like explaining.
The fact that since it was confirmed to be a succubus hideout, the boss was also likely to be a succubus.
The fact that succubus was absorbing demonic energy through her subordinates' sacrifice.
The fact that a succubus strengthened that way would be reborn with an excellent body just as he hoped...... these thoughts came to mind, but he felt a bit ashamed to say them out loud.
'Let's just pretend it was a misunderstanding.'
Having made that resolution, Lumian walked even more hastily.
Meanwhile, dozens of succubi launched attacks, but it was useless. No one could stop Lumian now.
"Virgin bastard......"
"Die without ever doing it your whole life!"
"Ugly one......"
All kinds of abusive language could be heard, but he ignored it.
His chest didn't hurt anymore.
'No matter how much those 2-head proportion bastards babble!'
Thinking of the proper succubus he would soon face, there was no damage at all!
"Euaaaah!"
Finally arriving at what appeared to be the end of the dungeon.
Lumian shouted loudly and kicked the stone door.
With a crash, stone dust scattered. In the hazy vision, something like a human figure stood up.
"Human intruders. You're strong. But I've grown stronger through my subordinates' sacrifice."
A chilling voice that stimulated humanity's fundamental fear.
Considerable dignity could be felt.
It seemed the original power was also quite considerable. Added to that was absorbing even the residual demonic energy left when subordinates died, so the momentum was even more ferocious.
'My prediction was right.'
Lumian nodded.
But despite his thought being correct, Lumian's expression was not good at all.
'Damn it.'
Actually, he had sensed it from the moment he heard the boss's voice.
But due to a slight possibility, he had waited until the end. It won't be, it won't be. He repeated to himself internally.
But as the dust settled and the boss's appearance was revealed, it shattered his hopes entirely.
Morgan spoke.
"It's really big."
"......."
It was true.
As Morgan said, the boss had an incredibly big thing. Up to here was fine. Lumian had also thought it would be good if what was attached to the boss's body was big.
But the fact that the hideout's boss was not a succubus but a male-type demon, an incubus.
The fact that the incredibly big thing wasn't on the chest but on the crotch, made his heart ache.
Shhhlrup......
Even at this very moment, that thing was swelling.
The incubus hadn't absorbed all the demonic energy from the dead succubi yet.
So he was absorbing the remaining demonic energy in real-time, and accordingly, both that thing and his power were growing bigger.
Lumian muttered with an empty expression.
"I was...... growing a male demon bastard's thing until now......"
"What does that mean?"
"Shut up."
Lumian poured out rough words.
Morgan closed his mouth without understanding the situation.
He too was in a very bad mood having failed to achieve his desired goal, but it couldn't compare to Lumian's anger.
Toward him, the hideout's boss, the incubus, spoke.
"You, how audacious. You slaughtered my lovely subordinates endlessly yet wear such an expression. I should rather be the one angry......."
"......."
"How could you do that? Is it because you're a virgin? Because you're an inexperienced boy, could you brutally slash those cute children?"
Having spoken words full of rage, the incubus slowly walked forward.
Then the giant thing dangled around.
Seeing that, Lumian spoke quietly to Morgan.
"Morgan."
"Yes?"
"This fight. Absolutely do not interfere."
Zzzzing—!
With those words, Lumian closed his mouth. And he drew out his Expert's Aura Sword.
Holding tremendous rage, he charged strongly forward.