episode_0071

After the pork belly party ended, I had a brief one-on-one conversation with Geum Taeyang.

“What do you want to talk about that you called only me?”

“What are you planning to do now?”

“I’ll finish my work first.”

“Work?”

“You asked me to take down one mid-boss each, didn’t you?”

Well, that was true.

In Prophecy RPG, there are eight kingdoms, and in each kingdom, there are eight mid-boss-level executives of the Demon King’s army.

Our hero party was responsible for taking down four of them, while the other four were left to the East, West, South, and North guys.

But.

Did we have to do it right away?

“It’s fine.”

“I’m the type who prefers to finish my work before playing around.”

“And after that, you’re going after the mother-daughter pair?”

“That’s the plan, but I’m not thinking of going right now.”

“Because it’s not the right time yet?”

“Because they’re not at the point where they’d fight me desperately enough to want to run away. I’ll wait a little longer before making my move.”

“Well…”

“That’s fair, I guess.”

The mother-daughter pair Geum Taeyang is targeting will eventually grow to hate the husband enough to want him dead.

But.

They’re not at that point yet.

Before ‘that incident’ happens, they just dislike him as a husband and as a father.

Of course.

Even that much is enough to drive a wedge between them—enough to manipulate them.

But to fully break them, it’s better to wait.

At their most desperate moment.

He’ll appear like a prince on a white horse and extend his hand.

…That’s Geum Taeyang’s plan.

So.

He’s the type to laze around for a few months before getting to work.

“I don’t plan on sitting around doing nothing, though.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’ll keep an eye on our lovely heroines and prepare things one by one.”

“Prepare?”

“Even if left alone, things will eventually explode. But if I intervene a little, they’ll explode faster.”

“So you’re planning to trigger events sooner so you can save them faster?”

“That’s the idea.”

“How much faster?”

“If I start working in about 2–3 months… everything should be over in 4–5 months?”

“So until then, you’re just going to play around?”

“Pretty much.”

“The mid-bosses in each kingdom can be dealt with in just a few days anyway.”

“Then you won’t have much to do for a while, huh?”

“Well… yeah, but… why are you laying the groundwork like this? What do you want me to do?”

“To screw over the Pope and the Succubus Queen more thoroughly, it’d be better to have one more person on board.”

“Is it a difficult task?”

“It’s easy.”

“What’s the reward?”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He pulled out the items he had prepared one by one.

100 bottles of 500mL cola.

5 containers each of ssamjang, doenjang, and gochujang.

50 vacuum-sealed packs of Geum Taeyang’s grandmother’s legendary doenjang jjigae—one serving each.

“This should be enough, right?”

“I’ll do anything for you, boss!”

“Good.”

“But what exactly do you need me to do?”

“Hmm…”

He explained it simply.

“So?”

“Can you do it?”

“That’s easy!”

Geum Taeyang and I shook hands, sealing our alliance with a smile.

Great.

Now, time to wreck the Succubus Queen.

The Succubus Queen, Vestiara, visited the dark mage’s hideout to retrieve her horn.

‘First, get my horn back. Then I’ll think about the rest.’

Cain.

The things he does are demonic, but his face is handsome.

Once this is over, I’ll kidnap him and turn him into my sex slave.

But.

I can’t kidnap him right away.

Getting my horn back doesn’t mean I’ll regain my full strength immediately.

It’s not like gluing it back on—

I need to absorb the power of sacrifices through dark magic to restore it.

I needed sacrifices.

But.

That’s not a big problem.

I’m the Succubus Queen, after all.

Just seducing a few men would be enough to gather the necessary sacrifices to restore my horn.

So.

I’ll get my horn back, restore it, and then kidnap Cain.

…That’s what I was thinking when I arrived.

“You’re here?”

Cain was waving at me with a smile.

So handsome.

I can’t forgive him for cutting off my horn,

but imagining a man like that writhing beneath me, whimpering—I could forgive him a little.

No.

Actually, no. I can’t forgive him.

I’m really pissed.

I won’t feel better until I squeeze him dry without mercy.

‘Besides, I was already disgusted after dealing with that ugly old Pope.’

Even if it was for work,

seducing an ugly bastard was just too revolting.

So.

I’ll play with this handsome man and relieve all my pent-up stress.

…Thinking that, I waved the contract.

“I finished everything written in the contract.”

“You sure?”

“You saw me selling those random indulgence tickets, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“The probabilities were exactly as written in the contract.”

“The S-grade indulgence tickets that supposedly had a 0.1% drop rate—their actual rate was 0%, right?”

“Right.”

“And you anonymously auctioned them off to maximize profits, just like the contract said?”

“Everything was done exactly as written.”

“Good.”

Cain took out the horn.

“Here you go.”

He handed it over with an indifferent expression.

Nothing suspicious.

It wasn’t a fake horn,

nor was there any magic cast on it.

He just handed it over normally.

“Hmm…”

The contract glowed before disappearing.

Contract terminated.

Now, nothing binds Cain and me anymore.

‘What an idiot.’

If I leave like this, I can regain my power as the Succubus Queen

and take my revenge.

…That’s what I thought,

but for now, I smiled.

To hide my true intentions of revenge, I waved with the most natural expression possible.

“Let’s never see each other again, you handsome trash~”

The insult was natural.

He suddenly cut off my horn,

then blackmailed me into working hard if I wanted it back.

Calling him handsome wasn’t wrong either.

He is trash,

but he is good-looking.

But.

Saying we’d never meet again was a lie.

I will see him again.

I plan to cast a tracking spell on him,

confiscate all the Pope’s assets, and then kidnap him.

I’ll turn him into my sex slave,

toying with and tormenting him for the rest of his life.

But.

I won’t let him know that.

That’s why I said we’d never meet again—

so he’d stay defenseless, unaware I’d be coming for him.

“Let’s meet again soon.”

“?”

What did that mean?

Does he know what meeting me again would entail?

‘I have no intention of answering any summons, though.’

I learned my lesson last time.

I realized how dangerous it was to carelessly travel through summoning circles.

So.

I won’t be using summoning circles to move around again.

If summoned, I’ll fly there myself.

…Thinking about it,

I won’t get caught in a space-time rift like last time, leaving me helpless as my horn gets cut off.

I won’t let my guard down again,

and next time we meet, I can easily kill a mere human.

Does he not realize that?

‘Don’t tell me…’

‘Has he fallen for my beauty and wants to see me again?’

That must be it.

I became the Succubus Queen because I was the strongest and most beautiful among succubi.

I’m the most beautiful in the world.

It’s only natural for humans to fall for me just by looking at my face.

‘Heh.’

‘He’s kinda cute.’

A human enchanted without me even using seduction magic.

I’ve decided.

I’ll deal with the Pope as soon as possible and capture that man.

I’ll make him my toy,

my sex slave.

I’ll squeeze him until he begs for his life, then laugh as I watch him cry.

But.

For now, I hid those thoughts and winked at him.

“If you miss me that much, I’ll come see you again sometime~ Cute boy~”

Of course.

I don’t plan to meet him in this state.

I need to reattach my horn first—only then can I use seduction or binding magic.

So I tried to leave quickly, but—

Thud!

“?”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

An invisible wall blocked my path.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

I took out my whip and struck it, but the barrier was so tough it didn’t even scratch.

“……”

A bad feeling crept in.

A very strong feeling that I’d regret it if I didn’t break this thing.

So I used my last resort.

Whoosh!

A magic tool I’d been storing mana in whenever I had free time.

Only once,

but it lets me unleash an attack on par with my full-powered horned state.

Fwoosh!

A whip wreathed in black flames.

With this, I could easily shatter any flimsy barrier a human made—

Clang!

“……?”

The barrier remained intact even after being struck by the black-flame whip.

What?

Why is it fine?

That attack was strong enough to break even a demon-made barrier!

‘Th-This isn’t right!’

Succubi specialize in mental magic—

direct offensive magic isn’t our forte.

But.

We’re not so weak that we can’t fight at all.

It’s just not our specialty,

but we’re stronger than most humans or monsters.

And I’m the Succubus Queen.

The Queen!

A being capable of attack power on a completely different level from regular succubi!

So how?!

How can my full-powered attack not even leave a scratch?!

That’s impossible.

There aren’t many beings who can overwhelm me to this degree.

The Demon King.

Dragons.

The World Tree.

The Goddess.

The Hero.

I mentally crossed them off one by one.

The Demon King?

I heard he’s resting after casting a massive spell to block the celestial realm.

Dragons?

They’re a race of bystanders who don’t care about anything as long as you don’t disturb their territory.

The World Tree?

It’s an immobile tree. No way its power reaches here.

The Goddess?

Thanks to the Demon King, their power is blocked—they can’t even speak. Useless idiots.

The Hero?

“……?”

The only possibility left is the Hero.

The Demon King’s rival.

The ultimate weapon created by the Goddess.

A being like that could erect a barrier strong enough to casually block my attacks.

…The moment I thought that—

Figures began appearing one by one behind Cain.

“N-No way… The Hero’s party?…”

“Correct.”

“The Hero’s party stole a demon’s horn and made me work for them?!”

“Correct.”

“The so-called Heroes made me commit corruption like selling random indulgences for the Pope?!”

“Correct.”

“You trapped me in a barrier so I can’t escape, and now you’re going to kill me?!”

“Incorrect.”

“?”

“First, hand over the horn.”

Cain cheerfully gestured with a bright smile.

Bring the horn.

“We need to recontract.”

He held out a contract, grinning like a devil.

This is the Hero’s party?