Knights and soldiers lay strewn across the grounds surrounding the mansion, where part of the formation had crumbled. Figures dressed in black uniforms stood like grim reapers.At the heart of the chaos stood the terrified lord.
As part of『Operation Close Nest Entrance』, the Extermination Squad confronted the lord, who ruled over the Elmest territory, questioning him about the strange occurrences and the presence of succubi in his domain. After a violent scuffle, they won.
Now backed into a corner, the lord flatly denied every accusation and adamantly refused the Extermination Squad’s request for a full investigation of his territory.
Even when presented with a warrant bearing the Second Prince’s seal, he shook his head, claiming it could easily be a forgery. He insisted that he would only believe it if the prince himself came to deliver it in person.
It was nothing more than stubborn defiance.
Cold sweat trickled down the lord’s spine as he felt the crushing pressure from the Extermination Squad members stationed on either side of him.
Given his stubbornness, there was a strong likelihood that he was colluding with the succubi. After all, they were almost certain—90% at least—especially after he dared to attack the squad.
Yet without solid proof, it remained only a possibility. The opponent was a noble, and the Extermination Squad operated with limited authority. Pushing further without evidence would cause problems.
Seris quietly asked:
“What should we do⋯⋯ senior?”“We need someone to act on their own initiative. Any volunteers?”
At Yuri Lanster’s words, a few members of the Extermination Squad raised their hands. Among them was the one-eyed old man who had given advice to the boy.
Yuri singled him out.
“Rat. Are you ready to retire?”
“Yeah, I have already accomplished everything so it was starting to get boring. And I’m tired of mentoring the rookies as a hobby. It’s about time to leave.”
The one-eyed elder unsheathed his dagger and stepped forward.
He had lost his family to a brutal serial killer, only finding peace after avenging them a decade ago. With his life’s mission complete, all that remained for him was a long, heavy existence without the loved ones he had lost.
He no longer had the strength to build new relationships or rediscover happiness. A fire burned to ashes cannot reignite. The old man was worn out.
But no matter how long the suffering lasts, everything eventually comes to an end. It seemed his time had finally arrived. He approached the lord of Elmest while some advice to his junior.
“Pink-haired Lanster.”
“Yes, Rat.”
“You⋯⋯ left the Extermination Squad once. It shocked me. At the fact that the most venomous bitch of us all could escape this place⋯⋯ I felt joy.”
Her leaving had given them all a glimmer of hope.
If someone as ruthless as Yuri Lanster⋯⋯ could leave and pursue a peaceful, happier life, then maybe there was a chance for the rest of them, too.
It suggested that even those who had given up on themselves for the sake of revenge⋯⋯ if they were given one more chance, maybe they could still reclaim the parts of themselves they had abandoned. That they could still find happiness.
“But⋯⋯ you came back. Why did you come back?”
“Because the opportunity arose.”
“You shouldn’t have returned. Seeing your face again made me lose my will to live.”
“I won’t apologize for it. Everyone, turn around.”
Shick.
All the black-uniformed figures turned their backs simultaneously. The group now looked like a thick, black curtain.
Behind that dark veil, the one-eyed old man began his ‘spontaneous individual action’.
“W-What are you planning to do⋯⋯?!”
“Unless you confess everything you know and surrender all authority, until you become that free of your burden, you won’t find peace in the afterlife. Let’s start with your fingers.”
“How dare you lay a hand on a n-noble! S-Stop him! Stop this bastard! This out-of-sight, out-of-mind nonsense is outrageous!!”
A scream tore through the air.
While the rest of the Extermination Squad took a break in a defenseless manner, before they could possibly notice… the former Extermination Squad member, the one-eyed man had brutally murdered the lord of Elmest.
By the time the Extermination Squad reached the scene, there was blood splattered everywhere.
“Why did you do it?”
“I just hate these noble bastards that much.”
He let out a cackling laugh.
The one-eyed old man confessed, claiming that his crime was driven by sheer hatred for nobles, and voluntarily turned himself in. The Extermination Squad arrested him and placed him in temporary custody.
Evidence that the Elmest lord had been closely conspiring with groups of black wizards was rapidly uncovered. Whether this would justify the killing remained uncertain.
The nobility might rally together to condemn this incident, using it as an excuse to weaken imperial authority, even if just by a little. They could easily express outrage, saying that the fact that swords were drawn without a proper investigation was a grievous insult to their status.
If the controversy escalated, with arguments about who should take responsibility, the old man would be hanged. He would face death with his eyes peacefully closed.
This was the Extermination Squad’s way of cutting loose ends.
===============================================================
Unrestricted by ethics or protocol, the Extermination Squad moved swiftly.
Through the torture of the lord, they learned that the entrance to the『Nest』lay beneath the Elmest Goddess Religion Church. Without delay, the squad stormed the building.
They pushed through startled nuns and worshippers and quickly subdued the priest, who was waving his hands with a confused face.
“Wh-what do you think you’re doing⋯⋯ The Goddess is watching—ugh!”
“Squad 1, interrogate. Squad 2, follow me. We’re breaking through.”
“Yes ma’am!”
Thump . Yuri Lanster slammed her foot against the ground, heightening her senses to the extreme. She felt the vibrations resonate with the space beneath them. The entrance was hidden below the statue of the goddess.
There had to be a secret mechanism—maybe a candlestick turned the right way would reveal the underground passage. But there was a simpler method.
“Prepare to detonate.”
“Preparing to detonate!.”
Several squad members detached self-destruct scrolls they carried and affixed them to the statue of the goddess. There was no hesitation in destroying it.
By now, the residents, stunned by the sudden invasion of the black-uniformed squad, started feeling a strong sense of danger around that point and started fleeing.
After counting down, they activated the scrolls.
Boom-!!
The goddess’ benevolent face shattered into dozens of fragments, scattering across the floor. Some of the more delicate nuns even fainted from the shocking display of sacrilege.
Yuri Lanster kicked away the remaining debris from the statue and stomped her foot once more. With a crack, the hidden passage below was revealed. She frowned at the musty smell that tickled her nose.
They descended.
They walked down the dark staircase without the need for a single torch, relying on their sharpened senses. This was a critical facility for black wizards and succubi, and they were well aware of how powerful a wizard could become in a space carefully prepared for them.
Even Crazy Wizard had exhibited near-godlike omnipotence in his laboratory where he had constructed his own world. Yuri Lanster still remembered that virtual world vividly.
Despite his inexperience, he had managed to deceive Elaine Crown, a being who had reached the later stage of Metamorphosis. If his intentions had been malicious, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.
This place would be no different. There were likely dozens of traps and dangers lurking ahead.
A long, brick-lined corridor stretched out before them.
“Senior, I’m detecting a reaction from an artifact. It’s a high-level trap that we can’t disarm with our equipment.”
“Is that so.”
Yuri Lanster turned her gaze toward the boy who she had beaten to a pulp earlier. Wrapped in bandages from head to toe, the boy trembled with the fear embedded deep in his bones.
She communicated silently with her eyes.
If you despise cowards who cling to their lives, now is your chance to prove that you are not one of them.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
The boy’s breathing became ragged. She was essentially ordering him to walk into the corridor where traps had been detected—she was sending him on a suicide mission.
His body shook like a leaf in the wind, and a paralyzing fear crawled up his spine. To the trembling boy, Yuri asked quietly.
“Have you lost your courage?”
“⋯⋯I-I-I am⋯⋯.”
Seeing this, Seris became furious. After all that talk, he now valued his life? Her voice dripped with venom as she snapped.
“To hesitate now after coming so far, how utterly pathetic. You had the nerve to challenge the senior, and now⋯⋯ Senior, should I just toss him in?”
Yuri raised her hand to silence Seris and spoke with indifference.
“Take off your uniform and head back up. My friend once said everyone deserves a second chance.”
The meaning was clear. If you cannot go through with it, leave the Extermination Squad.
“Uh, uuuu⋯⋯ Aaaaaargh-!!”
Driven by a mixture of wounded pride, fear, and desperation, the boy stopped thinking and charged into the corridor.
He barely managed a few steps before the magic circle engraved in the floor activated, emitting a red glow. The magic infiltrated his mind, and trapped in its grip, he began to thrash wildly, as if he were dancing.
The mental barrier artifact strapped to his wrist pulsed with light continuously. Even with its protection, the power of the trap was overwhelming, indicating its strength.
The members of the Extermination Squad stood by, watching and analyzing the scene.
“Frenzy and lust amplification⋯⋯ these seem to be primarily mental traps, Senior.”
“No physical traps have been observed. Perhaps they wanted to avoid any chance of this facility being destroyed?”
“Seems fitting for a succubus lair.”
Their analysis concluded that the traps were mostly mental-type. In that case, the solution was simple. They could proceed safely if she took the lead.
Yuri Lanster began to steep her soul in emotion, recalling memories from her past.
That day—the day when the villagers, who had been living together happily and harmoniously, slaughtered each other while laughing. That day when a small curiosity led to complete devastation.
Amidst the carnage, where everyone died in a twisted form of pleasure, she made a vow.
Suppress it.
Suppress all feelings. Do not feel sorrow, do not feel joy. Bind your dreams with iron chains, weighed down by their corpses, and bury them deep in your heart.
Until the day she would finally kill the queen⋯⋯.
“Metamorphosis- 『True Desire Restraint (本望拘束) : Foreplay(前戱) 』
Charerereru⋯⋯
The chains coiled leisurely around Yuri Lanster’s heart. The emotions that had been swirling within her mind slowly submerged, and the lake became clear without a single ripple.
She continued forward.
Magic circles flared to life around her, viciously attacking Yuri’s mind, attempting to distort and unsettle her.
They muddled her thoughts, tugging at her guilt. You used that boy to uncover the traps. How is that any different from what the queen does? You have no right to judge anyone, Yuri Lanster .
She pushed it down.
The traps stirred her lust, taunting her with whispers. We know your deepest secrets, your hidden urges. You want to fuck, don’t you? Why resist? Give in to your instincts, Yuri Lanster.
She suppressed it.
Each step forward, she took the traps head-on. The chains tightened, winding around her arms and legs like serpents, constricting until her blood could barely circulate.
And so, the Extermination Squad finally reached the altar.
Before them, hundreds of people lay on the large stone platform, asleep and dreaming, smiling happily with their eyes gently closed.
At the center of the altar hovered the entrance to the『Nest』, shimmering like an illusion—a rift in the fabric of space. Through it, a paradise of swirling pink hues was visible.
Succubi with faces full of ecstasy soared through the air, each one carrying a human. They frolicked in the sky, weaving through geometric structures that seemed to defy the very laws of reality.
That rift led to the dream realm. It was the gap that connected dreams and reality.
Were they opening the entrance by stitching together the dreams of the sleepers? Those people surely weren’t just lying there for no reason; their minds were being used to fuel the succubi’s magic.
There was only one clear and effective course of action. Yuri Lanster made her decision. Her voice was cold as steel as she commanded.
“I’ll block the entrance, everyone. Kill all the sleeping attachments.”
“Oh my⋯⋯ They’re just innocent people, but you still plan to slaughter them all, Yuri.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Tension flooded Yuri’s body as a new voice filled the space. It was as if smooth marbles had been poured onto a tray, or sticky honey had dripped directly into her ears.
She slowly turned, pivoting on her heels.
Perched atop Seris, who had fallen onto all fours at some point, sat a snow-white woman with crossed legs. Just looking at her sent a pulse of heat through Yuri’s core, tightening her abdomen.
If you asked whether Yuri was surprised by her appearance⋯⋯ no.
After all, this operation targeted the succubi’s most important facility. Only a fool would think the Queen wouldn’t show herself.
That’s why they had prepared. Every member of the Extermination Squad, including the boy, had been equipped with mental barrier artifacts.
“Huff, haah, huuuk⋯⋯.”
Panting sounds began leaking out from the squad members, one by one.
The very sight of the snow-white woman had rendered most of the Extermination Squad useless. Only a few, including Yuri Lanster, still clung to their sanity.
Squeeze.
Yuri tightened the chains around her heart a little more, binding herself so she wouldn’t be swept away by the rising tide of temptation.
The Succubus Queen, as if finding Yuri’s pitiful resistance cute, smiled sweetly, like a flower in bloom. With an intimate tone, as if speaking to her closest friend, she said warmly.
“I thought Yuri had forgotten all about me.”
“⋯⋯I haven’t forgotten you for a single moment.”
“Oh my. But Yuri⋯⋯ you haven’t come to visit for so long?”
“Because you were hiding in a place like this.”
“Hiding,” the Queen repeated with a nod, acknowledging it. She gently patted Seris’s head, who was drooling profusely, then spoke.
Yuri Lanster clenched her fist tightly, searching for an opening to attack. However, an opening wouldn’t show itself. There was an intense pressure radiating from around the Queen, to a strange degree.
Something was wrong.
Her Metamorphosis⋯⋯ 『True Desire Restraint(本望拘束)』was supposed to be the perfect counter to the Queen.
A Metamorphosis that allowed her to resist all mental magic. For succubi who had almost no physical strength, and almost entirely relied on mental manipulation to attack, it should have made Yuri invincible.
If she fought now, she could snap the Queen’s neck in less than a minute.
So why was she hesitating⋯⋯?
A cold sweat trickled down Yuri’s face, slipping off her jaw. That’s when she noticed it—the black-stained statue cradled in the Queen’s arms.
How had she failed to see such an obvious object before? The Queen’s body was completely white, so if she was holding a black statue, it should have been the first thing Yuri noticed.
“⋯⋯Th-that’s.”
Suddenly, she understood.
It wasn’t that the Queen had hidden it with illusion magic. No, Yuri’s own instincts had been suppressing her awareness of that ominous statue. Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand to avoid danger, she had subconsciously ignored it.
She had been running from the overwhelming sense of dread it brought.
The Queen continued.
“You see, I’ve been making an interesting object. It’s so magnificent and beautiful⋯⋯ I’m sure Yuri will like it too.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“Evil God’s Sculpture of Pleasure, one of the four faces of the Evil God. Hohoho⋯⋯ With this, I can finally become a person, not just a puppet. I can escape from fate.”
The Queen caressed the statue with a look of pure ecstasy. Was it not just a powerful artifact, but something with⋯⋯ a more important meaning?
Move. You have to move, Yuri Lanster.
You must move.
Before the Queen can use that artifact, you need to stop her. There’s no time to freeze up.
You have lived for this moment. You gave up happiness for this very moment. You left your friend’s side for this. What are you hesitating for?
Considering the sacrifices you’ve made, even if it is out of regret. You cannot hesitate now.
── Quickly!
“Uuh⋯⋯ kuh, uwaaaaaa——!!”
Yuri poured her spirit into her attack. But just as she did, the Queen murmured softly.
“Inherited Sublimation(承繼昇華) -『Cogwheel: Heroine』”
Click.
Something massive meshed and turned.