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 After Story 15. The Curse of Monsters

'...Are they both okay?'

Among those participating in the <Dungeon of the Deep Sea> conquest.

Jin Seo-na could confidently say that she understood Eun-ha the best.

Noh Eun-ha himself would probably agree.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have delegated some of his authority to her in his absence.

Therefore.

[Due to the absence of the conquest team representative, I, Jin Seo-na, Pandora Clan telepathist, will take command in his place! I announce that this is a legitimate procedure specified in the regulations. Therefore, I order, set off flash grenades right now! All team members, please close your eyes in preparation for this!]

Putting aside her worry and anxiety about Noh Eun-ha and Iriya who weren't present.

Jin Seo-na transmitted to the conquest team.

Soon after, the flash grenades went off.

───!!

Dazzling light covered the world.

The conquest team, who had taken precautions not to be blinded beforehand, ran towards their designated Gates without confusion.

"Catch them! Capture them!"

However, the criminals bound to the <Dungeon of the Deep Sea> weren't easy to deal with.

They quickly recovered their vision and pursued at high speed.

The conquest team, who had a lot of luggage to carry and had to take care of the injured, couldn't help but be gradually caught up by them.

"Lorenzo Mairon's target is me! So you go ahead first! I'll follow soon!"

"I'll stay with you too! Nadia, you take the people and go first!"

"...Alright. Don't die and see you on the next floor, Pietro."

In the process, Albert and a few others stood in the way to let the conquest team go.

Lorenzo Mairon decided to gladly accept this situation.

He shouted to the criminals.

"We can kill them on the next floor or the floor after anyway! Deal with these guys first!"

"..."

Following Lorenzo Mairon's instructions, the criminals gave up chasing the conquest team and gathered around him.

Albert's group, with their backs to the conquest team they had sent through the Gate, swallowed hard.

"Attack!"

Without clarity on who gave the order first, the conquest team and the criminals lunged at each other simultaneously.

A chaotic battle without strategy or tactics broke out.

In the midst of this, Lorenzo Mairon relentlessly pushed Albert.

"Albert Valentine, you will never return alive."

"Ridiculous. Do you think you can beat me just because you've become a Main? You'll always be beneath me."

"Shut up! With that attitude, you've been pathetically blocking since earlier!"

Lorenzo snorted.

Albert continued the fight without replying.

More precisely, he was barely blocking Lorenzo's hand axe with his gun and martial arts.

Unfortunately, he couldn't demonstrate his full skills due to injuries.

At this rate...

'Is this the end? Damn, of all people to end by, it has to be Lorenzo... How disgusting.'

It was when Albert was thinking this.

Just then.

"Don't come forward."

A voice was heard from somewhere.

Right after, something heavy was stuck into Lorenzo's side.

It was a fist.

"Kuhek!"

A strong wind blew.

Lorenzo, hit by the suddenly flying fist, flew straight into a tree trunk.

Avenier, who stepped into the place where Lorenzo had been, said to Albert.

"I'll join in."

"...Thank you."

It wasn't a situation to refuse help.

Albert, though bewildered, nodded.

The two took their stances and watched Lorenzo walking out from between the trees.

Lorenzo, angered by the interruption of his fight with Albert, asked in Italian with a very angry face.

"Who are you?"

Avenier answered.

"Noh Avenier. And..."

I am the son of Bruno Valentine and Julieta Valentine.

Lorenzo's eyes widened upon hearing the latter part.

Soon, he split his mouth into a grin.

"I see, so you're the son of those bastards. How nice to have descendants of Valentine's blood right in front of me. Boy, you too shall meet your death here...!"

"You tried to mess with our mom, didn't you?"

There was no need for the enemy, Lorenzo, to wait for him to finish speaking.

Avenier threw a punch straight away.

Lorenzo, who hurriedly crossed his arms to block, had to lose one arm.

"You bastard!"

"You're the one who absolutely won't die a peaceful death."

From this point on.

Avenier, Albert, and Lorenzo began to fight mercilessly.

Meanwhile, at that time.

"Shouldn't we go help Eun-ha and Riya unnie?"

The conquest team heading towards the Gates had witnessed Eun-ha and Iriya entering a Gate while avoiding monsters.

Jo A-ra couldn't help but worry about them who had disappeared beyond the Gate.

Future Yu-seong comforted her and the others.

"It's Father. He'll be fine."

"I hope so, but..."

"Trust me. Let's hurry and enter the Gate. We can't let the criminals catch up to us."

"Hmm, I guess Eun-ha will be okay, right? Yeah, if you say so, Yu-seong, it must be fine. Alright, let's go."

Praying for Eun-ha and Iriya's safety.

The conquest team entered the Gate.

Meanwhile, future Yu-seong, standing in front of the Gate, looked back.

His gaze fell on the Gate that Eun-ha and Iriya had entered.

"I'm sorry for not telling you, Father. But if I had told you, the future would have changed... So I had no choice."

■ Even though Eun-i bullies me sometimes, she's my precious little sister.

I never want her to not be born.

"If she wasn't born in the first place, I wouldn't be here either... Anyway, I'm sorry. Will you... forgive me?"

Future Yu-seong gave a bitter smile.

He stepped into the Gate.

* * *

"Ah..."

It seems he had lost consciousness for a while.

Eun-ha lifted his eyelids.

A blurry figure came into view.

"Master? Are you conscious?"

"Pipi papa!"

It's Iriya.

Fire Chicken seemed to be nearby too.

Hearing her voice, Eun-ha raised his body from the cold floor.

She reached out to him and gently tidied his hair.

"Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

"Uh... I'm fine. How about you?"

"Thanks to you protecting me, I'm perfectly fine without a scratch. Thank you so much."

Eun-ha calmly organized his memories while letting Iriya's hand remain.

'I hugged Iriya and recklessly entered any Gate to avoid the monsters' pursuit...'

After that...

Right after crossing the Gate, pain suddenly overwhelmed them.

He clearly remembered himself and Iriya screaming.

'...I must have lost consciousness then.'

He should ask Iriya, who had woken up first, for the details.

Eun-ha raised his head to address her.

"Iri...ya?"

Only then could he notice.

Unlike usual, Iriya's appearance had dark red horns sprouting from her head, three pairs of black wings attached to her back, and an arrow-like pointed tail.

And the clothes she was wearing were also different from usual...

"Yes? What's wrong, Master?"

"..."

They were extremely obscene.

Like Lilith of the Seven Demons that Eun-ha had defeated before.

"Y-You, why is your appearance..."

Eun-ha didn't know where to look.

Especially below her neck...

He deliberately averted his gaze.

Iriya spoke without agitation, as if understanding.

"Ah, about this... When we first came here, we suddenly felt pain, right? Whatever effect that had, when I came to my senses, my appearance had changed like this. It's the same for you, Master."

"What? Me too?"

"Yes, look."

Iriya took out a hand mirror.

Soon, Eun-ha could see his own reflection in the hand mirror.

'What is this...'

In a different form from Iriya's, golden horns and a pair of dark purple wings had also sprouted from Eun-ha's head and back.

In addition, there was also a reptilian tail of a similar color to the wings on his buttocks.

The clothes he was wearing were not the clan uniform, but some black armor...

"Pipi papa pupu!"

Meanwhile, Fire Chicken remained the same.

At that moment, Iriya spoke up.

"At first, I was so surprised by my appearance too. Fortunately, the dungeon guide appeared and gave a rough explanation..."

"The dungeon guide appeared? When?"

"Just as I regained consciousness. But because you were unconscious, it said it would give a detailed explanation after you woke up and disappeared."

"I see..."

It's probably busy explaining the mission to the conquest team that scattered and entered the 8th floor from the 7th floor.

Eun-ha, judging so, quietly fell into thought as there seemed to be no danger around anyway.

He decided to search his memories until the dungeon guide appeared.

Iriya waited quietly without disturbing him.

'As soon as we entered the 8th floor, our bodies transformed into strange appearances... Like monsters...'

He had encountered this in the <Dungeon of the Deep Sea> conquest log before the regression.

This state is...

Just then.

I thought you wouldn't wake up for a while because you received so many curses, but you woke up faster than expected! As expected of the top conqueror of the <Dungeon of the Abyss>!

The dungeon guide appeared in mid-air.

Eun-ha turned his gaze towards it.

Anyway, congratulations on entering the 8th floor! The mission for this floor is...

"Before that, I think you should explain the situation from the 7th floor first."

Eun-ha abruptly cut it off.

"What were those criminals?"

What do you mean, what? You've probably already guessed, right? They're our long-term pieces, bound to the <Dungeon of the Deep Sea>.

"That's not what I mean. Isn't it wrong to deploy them without any warning?"

Why is it wrong? It's our decision, isn't it? As long as it doesn't violate the mission, we can deploy them midway, right? Above all...

"..."

It's fun, isn't it?

The dungeon guide cackled.

Eun-ha frowned in annoyance.

After glaring at it for a while, he finally sighed.

"It's unpleasant, so stop laughing and just explain the mission."

Sob... How mean to say it's unpleasant. I'm shocked...

"Shut up."

The dungeon guide, representing the will of the black dungeon, could be called a collection of all malice.

He shouldn't have expected a normal response from it.

It was meaningless to argue.

Eun-ha, newly realizing this fact, put his dissatisfaction aside and decided to listen to the mission.

Then I'll explain the mission now. Currently, you are under a monster's curse. What kind of monster's curse you received depends on... your appearance. First, commonly, until the curse is lifted, you can't use your gift, and you can only demonstrate half of your original ability. And individually, you'll feel one or more impulses originating from the monster.

"Impulses? What kind..."

Should I call them desires or cravings? Look at this.

The dungeon guide snapped its fingers.

At that moment, a translucent message appeared in front of Eun-ha and Iriya.

In Eun-ha's case, it was as follows:

Curse Source: Black Dragon

Curse Content: Ambition, Arrogance, Material Desire, Money Lust, Possessiveness, Desire to Dominate, Desire to Conquer, Murderous Intent, Boredom, New Stimulation...

Curse Lifting Conditions: Golden Goblin's Pouch, Envy Fairy's Excrement, Tiny Basilisk's Venom, Shining Slime's Magic Stone...

'There's really a lot.'

Eun-ha inwardly clicked his tongue.

From now on, you'll feel the impulses written there. It will be very difficult to suppress them. My advice is, if you feel you can't endure, it's better to relieve them moderately. Unless you want to go crazy. Of course, if you try to relieve them too much, you'll go crazy in a different sense. A being that can't control its desires is no different from a monster.

"So how do we lift the curse?"

You need to gather the materials listed in the curse lifting conditions and climb that mountain.

The dungeon guide pointed to a distant mountain hidden by clouds.

There's a pond at the top of that mountain. In the center of the pond is a shrine. To lift the curse, you need to offer the materials matching your curse lifting conditions to the shrine. Then...

"..."

Your curse will be lifted, and the monsters that placed the curse will reveal themselves. The mission for this 8th floor is to subjugate those monsters. It's an individual mission. Any questions!?

"No."

"Me neither."

Eun-ha, who had guessed about the mission through the log he read before the regression, shook his head.

Iriya also responded following Eun-ha.

It's good that there are no annoying questions. Then I'll be going now! I'm quite busy! If you need me for anything, feel free to call anytime!

With those words, the dungeon guide disappeared.

Eun-ha sighed.

"This has become troublesome."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Both the method to lift the curse and the hardships we'll endure due to the curse won't be easy."

"Hmm... I guess you're right."

"For now, shall we talk about what curses we're under to prepare for future situations? I'll start..."

To conquer this place smoothly, transparent information exchange and mutual trust were important.

So Eun-ha confessed about his curse without hiding anything.

Next was Iriya's turn.

"Master, I..."

"Yes, tell me."

Iriya fidgeted as if embarrassed.

She hung her head low.

"I'm a Succubus Queen... And, my curse is..."

Iriya's face turned red.

With even her pointed ears turning red, she spoke in a tiny voice.

"Lust, just one."

"Uh... That's good that it's just one..."

"Yes... I guess so..."

Although Eun-ha had roughly guessed from Iriya's appearance, hearing it directly was still quite awkward.

'That one is the problem.'