Ch.112Liberation – 3

Regardless of the nuance in Elysiere’s words, it seemed that was the only way to resolve the current situation without killing Nika.

It would certainly be easier and faster to just kill her, but the fact that she was a succubus who hadn’t done anything wrong yet made that option feel rather unsettling.

“Hnngh… hic… slurp…”

I looked down at Nika, who was trembling with pleasure while frantically licking my fingers as if they were candy. She had been licking so enthusiastically that not just my fingers but even the back of my hand was covered in sticky saliva.

“Then do you also know how to awaken her as a Queen?”

“Of course. The quickest way would be to awaken the succubus’s instincts through energy absorption, but I assume you would not permit her to absorb energy from your body.”

“That’s right, for now.”

“Good. Even if you had no objections, I would have tried to dissuade you. Then there is only one option left: taking her to other succubi. She will resonate with her own kind and naturally awaken the Queen’s blood. It might take a bit longer, but it’s a method that doesn’t require energy absorption.”

“Succubi… where can I meet them?”

“They are all imprisoned on charges of treason against the Queen. It would be an extremely distant and treacherous place for you to go alone, so I shall escort you there. Where shall we meet?”

“It should be somewhere out of sight of people.”

After exchanging a few more opinions, we decided on a meeting place, and I took off the necklace and put it in my inner pocket. Nika, still licking my fingers with a face steeped in pleasure, pleaded pitifully.

“M-master… I’m so hot… put it in? Please, put it in… please…”

“It might be painful, but bear with it for a little while.”

“Keh?!”

Ignoring her pleas to put it in, I bound Nika with magic. The binding spell tightly constricted her entire body—arms, legs, shoulders, everything.

At first, Nika seemed to be in pain, but before long, she apparently enjoyed the tight sensation and began moaning ecstatically, drooling profusely. Though that wasn’t my intention when binding her, it was extremely erotic.

Only after gagging her as well could I return to where Beatrice was waiting. Beatrice’s eyes widened at the sight of Nika.

“Young master, that appearance…”

“There’s no way to resolve this here. I need to go out for a while, and I had to do this or she wouldn’t let me move. I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry.”

“…I understand. You don’t intend to take me with you.”

“It would be too dangerous for you.”

No matter my presence, it was still the demon realm. I couldn’t take Beatrice to a place where anything could happen.

“I don’t want to see you getting hurt or in danger. Can you understand that?”

“Of course. How could I, as a maid, refuse when you care for me so deeply, young master?”

Nodding calmly, Beatrice insisted on driving the carriage herself instead of using a coachman, saying we needed to maintain secrecy, and took me to the location I had specified.

“When should I return to pick you up?”

“One day later. And if I don’t show up, please wait just one more day. Don’t worry about anything after that. I’ll definitely return within that time, no matter what happens.”

“Yes, young master.”

After Beatrice left, I was alone in the forest with Nika, who was still tightly bound. I waited for Elysiere to arrive, continuously dispelling the pheromones Nika was emitting.

The forest was extremely quiet. Only pitiful yet lewd moans consistently echoed through the air.

“I find you quite impressive anew.”

“What do you mean?”

I answered without turning around to the voice that suddenly came. Elysiere, who had appeared at some point, sat down demurely beside me, pressing her shoulder against mine.

“You’re showing no signs of lust despite having something like that next to you. An ordinary man wouldn’t have lasted even a few seconds before revealing his desires. Even with purification magic, I didn’t know humans existed who could maintain their sanity while looking at a succubus in such a state.”

Well, it certainly was an extremely lewd sight.

The gag in her mouth had long been soaked with saliva, and as she writhed, she emphasized her already large breasts, while the tattoos on her chest and lower abdomen glowed pink.

I answered with silence. Elysiere didn’t press further. Instead, she opened a dimensional gate to the demon realm. Stepping through it, we were greeted by a barren land and a red sky.

“Mmmmph…! Hnnngh…!”

Nika, who had been making lewd moans while struggling, seemed to finally come to her senses upon seeing the Demon Lord. She jumped in surprise and clung to me. Then, as if noticing something strange, she tilted her head in confusion.

I could explain after she awakened as a Queen. I took Nika and followed Elysiere. A large castle appeared in the direction we were walking.

“That is the place.”

“Didn’t you say they were all imprisoned? Why a castle? I thought it would be a prison.”

“The First Legion Commander argued thus. That it was unreasonable to treat all succubi as traitors when Astaroth had not yet been found. Being typically rigid in his principles, everyone seemed to accept his reasoning.”

The First Legion Commander would be the knight Duran.

He was the type who was so obsessed with honor that he had invaded with thousands of legion soldiers but then engaged in an “honorable” one-on-one duel with the hero, ultimately dying satisfied after his defeat. So his reaction made sense.

“Accepting that request, we confined the lower-ranked ones to specific areas, while the executive-level succubi were imprisoned there. I brought you here because those lacking in power and ability would be of no help anyway.”

“So to awaken her, I just need to go inside and leave her among the succubi?”

“That’s right. You need not worry about the succubi. If you subjugate the Queen, the others will naturally follow you. I would like to assist you personally, but… I still have duties as the Demon Lord. It wouldn’t do for others to discover this.”

Elysiere gave me a gallant smile.

“I will come to retrieve you when it’s done, so just contact me. Until then, absolutely nothing except you will be allowed to leave that place. Finally, prioritize your own safety above all. I do not wish to see you injuring yourself needlessly like last time.”

“I understand. I’ll do that.”

Elysiere embraced me lightly and left after a few seconds. After confirming her departure, I entered the castle with Nika, who still looked confused about what was happening.

“…Ugh.”

As soon as I opened the main gate, an intensely sweet and hot scent wafted out. Despite the purification magic working properly, it was so thick and strong that it made me wrinkle my nose.

The reason was immediately apparent. The entire central hall of the castle was a spectacle of flesh tones, accompanied by lewd sounds too indecent to describe.

Squelching wet noises, female moans, desperate pleading sounds—it was like witnessing the very concept of lewdness given form.

“…A male.”

The lewd noises didn’t last long. Someone appeared, and as soon as they confirmed I was a man, the sounds abruptly stopped.

“A man.”

“A human man…”

“And what’s that beside him? A succubus, but why such a pure scent…?”

“Is that important right now? It’s a man, a man! And he looks absolutely delicious!”

Dozens of succubi who had been clinging to each other, tangled in groups, or pleasuring themselves alone began approaching with gleaming eyes. They started flirting with me in their own ways.

“Hey, do you need a woman? I’ll make it really good for you. Promise.”

“One isn’t enough, so you came looking for more? Right?”

“We can do better than that one. Want us to show you?”

“Got any positions you like? We’ll let you do whatever you want, so come with us, okay?”

They seemed so desperate for energy that they didn’t even question the simple fact that a human man was in a place supposedly managed directly by the Demon Lord.

Ignoring the succubi desperately trying to seduce me, I released the magic binding Nika. As soon as she was free, Nika hid behind me, shrinking back.

That behavior showed no signs of the heated state she had been in before. It seemed Elysiere’s words were proving true.

“Wait a minute. That girl, I think I’ve seen her somewhere before…”

One of the succubi trying to get my attention stared intently at Nika. Nika shrank back even more.

“Ah! I remember. That’s Nika, isn’t it? The one who used to eat scraps.”

“That’s her? Wasn’t she dead?”

“Astaroth summoned her, remember? No one’s seen her since then.”

“Even if it is her, why is she here? And with a human man?”

Judging by how they referred to their Queen as Astaroth, they seemed completely disillusioned. This might be an opportunity.

I lightly stomped my foot, channeling mana. As the blue wave passed by, the succubi fell silent with surprised expressions. Dozens of pairs of round eyes turned toward me at once.

“Since you all seem to know, this will be quick. I’ll get straight to the point. Astaroth betrayed you and abandoned being Queen. That’s why Nika, who carries the Queen’s bloodline, is about to awaken as the next Succubus Queen.”

“What? Master, what are you…?”

Both Nika and the succubi who had been slowly gathering around me gaped in unison. It was understandable that they would be shocked to hear that a succubus who had only ever eaten energy scraps and never even performed absorption would be the next Queen.

“The reason succession hasn’t happened until now is also because of Astaroth. When potential Queens like Nika appeared, she prevented them from absorbing energy and instead absorbed their power in reverse. For a very long time. So now that Astaroth is gone, I’ve brought her here to create a new Queen.”

The murmuring grew louder. They seemed unable to either readily believe or disbelieve my words.

“How do you know about ‘succession,’ human male? That should be a secret passed down only within our clan, except to the Demon Lord.”

A succubus with a relatively calm demeanor, who seemed to be suppressing her aroused state, growled as she questioned me.

But it was merely a pretense of composure; her gaze, like the other succubi, was fixed on my lower body.

“And how did you enter this place, which is directly managed by the Demon Lord? Answer me. If you don’t, I’ll consider you an enemy.”

“You caught on quickly. After trying to seduce me, now you’re saying this?”

“…”

The reason she threatened to consider me an enemy was obvious. If I were an ally, things would be ambiguous, but if I were an enemy, she could legitimately subdue me and absorb my energy.

“My identity is none of your business. Whether you know it or not doesn’t really matter to you. What’s important now is creating a new Queen as quickly as possible. Am I wrong?”

“What are you plotting? If the Queen is born, she’ll enchant you first. Do you want to become a human pig?”

“Seeing you babble nonsense, you must still be doing okay. Wasting time here only hurts you…”

Click. The sound of high heels interrupted my words. Simultaneously, the succubi looking behind me froze with pale expressions.

Someone had clearly arrived, despite being told no one could come. Given their terrified reactions, I wondered who it could be. Curious, I turned around.

“Oh, hello? Hello, e-everyone?”

The owner of the high heel sound was right in front of the castle gate.

Slightly wavy brown bob hair that just barely touched the shoulders, an outfit close to a naked apron, and high black stiletto heels.

If that were all, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. The demons of this world have a crazy culture where the more powerful they are, the more scantily they dress, regardless of gender.

“Oh? A-a g-guest is, is already h-here?”

But what shocked the succubi wasn’t the owner of the high heel sound, nor the stuttering speech that sounded mentally disturbed.

It was something tentacle-like, resembling tongues, writhing from her mouth and between her legs. Scarlet, elongated appendages protruded from her throat and between her legs, standing erect and writhing like parasites.

“Lady Circe…? What in the world happened to you…?”

One succubus muttered in shock.

‘The Second Legion Commander? Here?’

I was equally surprised. Why had the Second Legion Commander, who was reported missing recently, appeared here, and what was with that appearance?

“Q-Queen. Must t-take, must take a-away. Queen, take away…?”

Circe, who convulsed whenever the tentacle protruding from her mouth writhed mid-sentence, raised the staff in her hand. Her mouth corners split almost to just below her ears.

“Found you. Mira Crate.”

Green mist erupted from the tip of her staff.