86. Pacification Ritual (10)

“It’s here.”

The place Lohain brought them to was the building right in front of the Explorer Association.

It was quite a laughable situation that those who sought to profit by opposing the Association were actually located in the building right next to the Explorer Association, the safest place in Eden.

“If you’re going in right away, any time-”

“No. I don’t think we need to go in.”

Balkan, who had expanded his perception range and confirmed the presence of those in the building, waved his hand, saying it was fine.

He had heard they were stubbornly resisting the Association’s words, so he wondered how strong their preparations were…

“They’re just having a drinking party among themselves.”

It seemed like they could be dealt with more easily than he thought.

***

Most explorers who belonged to places other than the Explorer Association were individuals with greater ambitions.

Money, honor, power.

Temptations that were too alluring and beautiful for humans.

They might be willing to risk death and dive into the Labyrinth for those things, but public welfare tasks like city protection were of no interest, bothersome, and difficult for most explorers.

“If not for an emergency like this, when would we ever have the upper hand against the Explorer Association?”

Cassia, the Clan Leader of the Guildtier Clan and once an Advanced Explorer, smiled wryly and raised her glass.

In front of Cassia stood two Clan Leaders and two other Merchant Guild Leaders who had agreed with her.

They, too, raised the glasses in their hands and added a word each.

“We can’t keep crawling under the Explorer Association forever. As Cassia-nim said, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we make the 15th floor our territory, it will be a stepping stone to gain an advantage over the Explorer Association, no, even the Order.”

“When they’re cornered, they’ll eventually have no choice but to ask for our help. Time is on our side.”

They clinked their glasses and chuckled.

Outside, their clan’s explorers were staging a protest under the scorching sun, but inside the space they occupied, the luxurious scent of champagne filled the air.

“It’s a shame the Black Magic Faction didn’t join us.”

“They just can’t read the room. Ever since they were saved by Balkan’s Holy Party, they’ve maintained a friendly stance towards the Association.”

“I heard Necromancer Germi, Mage Fusillini, and Slime Aldente’s party are gaining value these days. It’s a pity we couldn’t recruit them…”

Though some regrets were occasionally voiced, they weren’t significant enough to cause major problems for the future gains.

“…?”

Just then, Cassia, who was tilting her glass, cocked her head.

“Why, is something wrong?”

“…Hmm. I felt a strange sense of incubus yang energy…”

Hearing that, the other Clan Leaders and Merchant Guild Leaders chuckled.

“At this hour, and in Eden of all places, why would there be an Incubus?”

“The champagne scent is quite peculiar, isn’t it? I wonder if you’re drinking too much this morning…”

“What does it matter! If we don’t have a drink on a good day like today, when will we?”

“Haha! That’s right!”

Seeing their nonchalant reactions, Cassia let out a sigh of relief, chuckling.

“Haha. You’re right. An Incubus… It’s impossible, with the Explorer Association building right in front of us.”

“Hehe. Exactly! And yang energy, that means it’s an Incubus, doesn’t it? There are five women here, so isn’t it like he’s coming to say, ‘Please devour me’?”

“Kuhuhu. Right.”

Perhaps it was because she had retired from the front lines and lived only by scheming and politicking as a Clan Leader.

Even with the dying gasp of survival instinct that her dulled intuition desperately spat out.

Cassia felt a small sense of relief as she watched the other Clan Leaders laugh and drink champagne.

Now she, too, had reached a level where she could laugh and clink glasses with such influential figures.

Money, status, power incomparable to her days as a mere explorer… If she successfully completed this task, she would gain all of it.

How many hours had passed like that?

Tipsy, they broke up the gathering, dismissed the protesters, and looked forward to tomorrow.

Perhaps starting tomorrow, the Explorer Association would demand negotiations even more desperately.

Since their clan’s explorers were a considerable force even in Eden, the initiative at the negotiation table was theirs.

The day they would claim their prey’s neck was not far off.

“Kuhuhu… Hehet…”

Cassia, grinning foolishly, returned to her mansion in Eden.

Though not as grand as Explorer Association Leader Idelbert’s distant mansion, it was a luxurious and extravagant estate with a dozen or so hired servants.

Of course, there were no men among them.

‘Once this is over, I’ll have to get myself a male sex slave.’

In Eden, where it was hard to find a single man, sexual desire accumulated too easily, and Cassia felt that her libido had reached its limit.

In that sense, she needed a dick slave for sexual release.

A symbol of a successful woman. A cunt wiper who would take care of her sexual needs anytime, anywhere.

As she received bath service, feeling tipsy, Cassia’s gaze turned to the female servant who was washing her body.

Normally, she would have immediately looked away.

Was it because she was pleasantly drunk, or because of something else she hadn’t even noticed?

Seeing that, her desire for males inexplicably surged even more.

Cassia, seriously contemplating whether she should visit a brothel first when she returned to the surface, went back to her room and flopped onto the bed.

It had been a truly worthwhile day.

Cassia, smiling pleasantly, slowly closed her eyes.

And woke up in a completely different world.

“……Huh?”

What was this, a dream? Had she fallen asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed?

She couldn’t help but think that.

Because what was reflected before Cassia’s eyes right now was this:

“It’s… me, from the past…?”

Because it was her younger self.

About 20 years ago.

A fresh, young female in her vibrant twenties, with fair skin and firm breasts, was staring blankly into a mirror.

“What in the…?”

“Don’t be too surprised.”

“……!!! Ugh…!”

Cassia was startled by the heavy, low voice that came from behind her, sending shivers down her spine.

Even if she had grown dull with age, Cassia had once been an Advanced Explorer.

That meant she wasn’t someone a normal person could approach from behind without any sign of their presence.

But the reason Cassia was so terribly startled wasn’t just that.

The voice.

The moment she heard that heavy, deep bass, Cassia’s womb, which had returned to her vibrant youth, dropped with a thud.

“W-who are you!”

In the incomprehensible situation, she frantically swung her arm, but.

Paak!

The arm Cassia swung was too easily caught by a massive forearm as thick as her thigh.

‘What kind of strength…?’

No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t pull her arm free from the male in front of her.

‘Has only my appearance changed?’

Moreover, what she felt now wasn’t simply due to a difference in strength.

Deoldeoldeol…

Cassia instinctively tensed her trembling thighs and faced the opponent before her.

A giant man in strange attire, wearing a helmet with ordinary clothes.

Her very first impression was… he was huge.

Like his enormous height, which required her to look up for a long time just to see where his face would be.

Or his forearm, which looked like it could easily snap her restrained wrist.

Or his firm thighs, which looked virile at a glance.

……Or the absurdly large ‘thing’ situated next to his firm thigh.

“Th-this Incubus…!”

Cassia, seeing the ‘thing’ whose presence was clearly felt even through his pants, instinctively screamed.

She had never heard of an Incubus possessing a ‘thing’ of such size, even for an Incubus.

The yang energy she had felt while drinking with the other Clan Leaders was now emanating from the male in front of her so strongly it could make her nose bleed.

“I don’t know whether to call you quick-witted or slow-witted.”

He chuckled and affirmed Cassia’s words.

‘A mental image!’

Hearing that answer, Cassia recalled a possibility.

If the male in front of her was an Incubus capable of emitting such dense yang energy.

Then this space, where she saw her younger self, must also be the result of the Incubus rummaging through her past mental images.

“W-what kind of trick is this?! Do you even know who I am to pull such a stunt?! Let go of my hand before I go to the Tentacle Labyrinth and kill your kin-”

“Cassia Droltis. Current Clan Leader of the Guildtier Clan and former Advanced Explorer. Highest floor reached: 28th floor.”

“……!”

Cassia couldn’t help but close her mouth at the answer she heard.

Information that a mere Incubus, boiling with monstrous energy, couldn’t possibly obtain.

This was proof that he had come specifically for Cassia.

“…What’s your goal?”

“You’re quick to understand.”

The Incubus, nodding again with a satisfied voice, stated his business.

“I don’t ask for much. Cooperate with the Explorer Association to respond to the crisis.”

“You want us to stop the omen? You’re asking us?”

“That’s right. Don’t just test the waters like now and increase the damage later.”

“Ha!”

Cassia, who cried out in disbelief, asserted as if there was no room for negotiation.

“Don’t talk nonsense, Incubus. I don’t know why you’re demanding such cooperation, but why would we do such a thing now, after all this time-”

Jjaaaaaak!

“Kkeueueueueueuk…!!!”

She screamed, feeling intense pain in her chest.

The Incubus in front of her had delivered a heavy slap to Cassia’s tits.

A powerful blow, devoid of any respect or mercy for a woman.

The moment a firm, large palm print was etched onto her soft breast, pain and pleasure, mixed in equal halves, pierced Cassia’s brain like needles.

“As expected, you have no intention of negotiating properly. Just like the others.”

“U-ugh…! What, what is this…!”

Cassia’s eyes trembled as her legs gave out and she fell without realizing it.

Even if her body had returned to its prime in this mental image, her past self wasn’t such an utterly pathetic female to collapse from a male’s tit-slap.

Though she had never actually been tit-slapped by a male before, anyway.

‘Did he adjust the sensitivity in this mental image? Or was it just… because she was hit by a man like that for the first time?’

The moment she looked up at the Incubus, unable to hide her confusion, Cassia noticed something strange in what he had said.

“…Just like the others?”

Could he possibly be referring to the other Clan Leaders or Merchant Guild Leaders?

Were the other Clan Leaders also experiencing a similar situation to hers?

‘No, perhaps… something even worse…’

Had they all already gone through similar experiences, been persuaded in an ‘Incubus-like manner,’ and she was the only one left?

“……”

The man remained silent at Cassia’s murmur.

Though his face beyond the helmet wasn’t visible.

For some reason, it felt as if he was smiling wryly.

Sure enough.

Jjaak!!

The moment the Incubus clapped his hands softly, three masked Succubi appeared from behind him, exuding dense yin energy.

“Ah, to hunt five of Eden’s big shots in one day…!”

“If it were the cautious Lilith-nim, this would happen once a year, if that!”

“New master, the best…”

The elite Succubi, still showing signs of excitement, all looked at Cassia.

“A-ah…! These brutes…!!! U-ueueup…! Ueueut…!”

Cassia, who had swallowed her despair and tried to stand up and fight back, couldn’t resist the Succubi’s hands that instantly covered her mouth and eyes.