Chapter 329

Due to my Unyielding Commander skill, I was immune to mental status effects, making the Succubi Legion completely powerless against me. 

Last time, they charmed a Troll Legion to fight in their place. 

This time, they seemed to have put some thought into it, equipping gear that converted their magic power into physical strength. 

They just keep finding ways to fight. I've got to give them credit for their relentless effort.

"But that doesn't mean you can beat us with physical strength alone."

Whoosh—

With a dry wind, the sight of the defeated Succubi Legion sprawled in front of the fortress came into view.

The Succubi were completely annihilated. 

I can confidently say, I'd beaten them into a pulp this time. No chance of recovery for these bastards.

"Why...?"

Salome, who was lying miserably among them, muttered in a sorrowful voice.

"Ash, I just want to be friends with you... Why are you rejecting me like this?"

"Should I be friendly when your methods include seduction, kidnapping, and brainwashing?"

I growled menacingly.

"Before that, I'm a human and you're a monster. From birth, we're supposed to fight and kill each other, aren't we?"

"Why not break that prejudice and engage in cultural exchange between species? Who knows, we might come to understand each other!"

"Cultural exchange? What culture?"

"Like, mutual understanding through the exchange of love culture...?"

As I lifted my staff in annoyance, Salome hastily brushed her pink hair aside.

"Hey! Honestly, I'm pretty decent, right? Not to brag, but there hasn't been a man who resisted my seduction, other than you!"

"..."

"Plus, I put a lot of thought into my outfit this time! I conducted a survey in the dream realm to find out what human men like, and I chose the most preferred outfit!"

Her outfit was definitely unusually revealing for this fantasy world. Was it some sort of swimsuit?

Salome began to dance awkwardly, chanting something like 'fall for me~ fall for me~.'

I sighed in disbelief. These monsters seriously don't understand shame... Ugh!

At that moment, Evangeline, who was watching from behind, whistled.

"Wow, if I were a guy, I would have fallen for her out of courtesy."

"Thankfully, you're not."

I glanced at the reactions of the other party members. 

Damien covered his eyes with both hands, while Lucas twisted his helmet 180 degrees to obscure his vision. Boys...

"Um..."

Junior was scrutinizing Salome with a dead-serious face. What's with her?

"No, it seems slightly possible..."

"Possible? What's possible?!"

"No, not that! I mean—"

Junior's face flushed red as she hurriedly waved her hands.

"Given that mental status effects are nullified right now, it seems 'possible' to capture this Succubus and study the principles of her charming magic!"

"Oh, so that's what you meant."

Anyway, our opponent is a Succubus, whose main skill is seduction. Let's all be careful about making misleading comments.

I let out a heavy sigh and crossed my arms before speaking.

"Look, Salome. Imagine a frog crawling around naked in front of you. Would you find that erotic?"

"Uh...? Frogs don't wear clothes in the first place, do they?"

"Exactly. That's the point."

Salome cocked her head, seemingly confused.

Frustrated, I yelled at her.

"To me, you and that frog are the same—!"

For a hundred, a thousand times, try to seduce me while you're naked, you monster! Think I'll fall for it?

Tears welled up in Salome's large eyes.

"How could you compare me to a frog? That's too much!"

I was being generous by comparing you to a frog, you brat. At least frogs have some cute aspects. They even serve a useful role by eating pests like flies.

I extended my staff to create a magical blade and spoke coldly.

"Listen, Salome. Consider this a final act of mercy before I kill you. Even if you look human, there's no way I'll be seduced by you."

"What, why? How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've been fooled by too many people who are only 'good' on the outside. I've become too seasoned to fall for it anymore."

Back on Earth, my job had been an internet broadcaster, a game streamer.

What did that mean?

It meant I'd dealt with toxic viewers, trolls, and perverts of ambiguous gender throughout my broadcasts.

A viewer who sent annoying voice donations using a voice changer for half a year turned out to be a man.

A cute female character in my guild who'd been friendly since the game's open beta turned out to be a man.

Even a vTuber who'd decked out their avatar beautifully, co-streamed new games, and even did marriage content with me turned out to be a man!

And vice versa!

The big spender who claimed to be a successful businessman and made hefty donations turned out to be a middle school girl using her parents' card! (I refunded her)

The raid leader who cussed up a storm with a husky voice and provided ample content for broadcasts turned out to be a woman using a voice changer!

Someone who claimed to be my military junior and whom I had made a chat manager turned out to be a woman. She used the reputation she gained to start her own broadcast and succeed. Turned out she had been using her brother's name the whole time! She was my secret fan!

They're all frauds! All these bastards are frauds!

Over the years of internet broadcasting, I've encountered and been deceived by too many people whose insides and outsides were completely different.

In other words, no matter how beautiful you may look on the outside, I know your true nature is that of a monster, so there's no way I'll be seduced by you.

"What's the point of trying to seduce me with your beauty and sweet voice? There's no genuine feeling there, so there's no reason for my genuine heart to be moved either."

What's the point of looking good on the outside? You're a monster, aren't you?

Clink! Clink!

The automated defense turrets all aimed at Salome. I'll turn you into a puddle of blood this time, monster!

Salome, who had been staring blankly at me, finally said,

"...Ah, now I understand."

She suddenly smiled warmly and placed her hands on her chest.

"All this time, what I've easily seduced with my charm magic wasn't real emotion. That's why I've felt so empty inside."

"...?"

"Things I long for but can't have are what I'm really passionate about... they're genuine feelings."

What's she rambling about?

Assuming these were her last words, I activated the automated defense turrets.

"Fire!"

Thudududum!

Beams of light flashed from the turrets, followed by dozens of magical bullets firing toward the succubus queen.

"Ash."

Standing before the hail of magical bullets, Salome smiled broadly.

"Watch. No matter how much you push me away, I won't give up on you. Because...!"

Kwagwagwang-!

The magical bullets swept the area, and a heavy explosion occurred.

When the smoke cleared moments later, the spot where Salome had stood was empty.

Lucas, who had turned his bucket helmet 540 degrees to readjust it, asked in puzzlement.

"Did we... get her?"

"No, just like last time, it seems she used the Succubi Legion's exclusive escape skill, [Reality Escape]." (TL Note: Don't remember if I mentioned this, but I changed Unholy Legion to Succubi Legion)

This is one of the most effective escape skills in the game. She managed to run away using this method last time too.

However, Salome didn't escape unscathed. [Reality Escape] has a high cost in terms of resource consumption.

Each monster legion has something called 'Legion Resources.' These are resources generated for each legion, managed by the legion commander.

These resources can be used to replenish lost soldiers or to upgrade them.

The [Reality Escape] that Salome used is a high-cost skill that drains these legion resources.

She's met with me multiple times, her underling succubi got slaughtered, and she used this costly escape skill twice. She must be running low on resources by now.

Given that both her underlings and resources are depleted, the Succubi Legion is essentially incapacitated.

"How did she manage to run away when I had three kill chances? Ah, this is frustrating…"

Should I attribute this to the Succubus Queen's high survivability?

I rubbed my aching forehead.

'Well, let's look on the bright side.'

I gained quite a bit from this free exploration.

I incapacitated the Succubi Legion.

Captured the elite monster, Hawkbear Assassin.

And eliminated the Harpy Legion commander who was about to invade Crossroad.

A single expedition dealt fatal blows to three different monster legions. A truly excellent achievement.

And, most importantly,

[Occupation Victory!]

That's what matters!

With a fanfare announcing the occupation victory, a system message appeared, and the grey fortress walls vanished like melting away.

[Zone 1: The Dried-up Drainage taken by Ash(EX)!]

- The zone is liberated from the nightmare.

- The 'Fragment of the Princess's Soul' that was used in this zone is retrieved.

Is this an illusion?

The oppressive darkness covering the dungeon seems to have lifted. The air feels warmer, somehow…

As I looked around, my brows furrowed upon seeing the system message.

'What is this?'

A Fragment of the Princess's Soul was retrieved?

What the heck does that mean?

"Huh?"

Then it happened.

Wobble.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, my vision began to spin.

Ah, this felt similar to the overwork symptoms from a few days ago...

Wobbling, I collapsed forward.

"Senior?!"

Evangeline quickly caught me, and the rest of the party members rushed over in alarm.

Junior, who rushed in front of me, examined my eyes and rummaged through her bag.

"This is mana exhaustion!"

"Mana exhaustion? What's that?"

"When you use more magic power than your limit, this happens! Quick, get a mana potion!"

As I tasted the harshness of the mana potion poured into my mouth, I slowly thought.

Ah.

Of course.

[Imperial Edict] is a high-performance skill that summons a fortress using magic power. I shouldn't have used it so carelessly...

This game isn't that forgiving...

My vision gradually darkened.

I lost consciousness.

***

Ash fainted due to mana exhaustion.

Mana-related injuries were not something the priest Damien could heal. This was Junior's expertise.

Junior quickly poured a mana potion into Ash's mouth and used her own magic power to help circulate the mana in Ash's body.

'Something felt off!'

Materializing magic is an extremely wasteful technique.

Even Dusk Bringar, the possessor of the dragon bloodline, would break into a sweat every time she drew her magic-formed greatsword.

And it wasn't just the size of a greatsword; Ash had summoned a fortress, albeit a small one.

Ash's magical power was woefully insufficient, even after draining every last drop. Summoning and maintaining the magic in the first place had been a near-impossible task.

'This isn't ordinary magic. There's some secret hidden.'

But that secret wasn't what mattered right now.

Ash had recklessly tapped into his magical reservoir, and the runaway magic was now boiling over, demanding payment.

At this rate, all of his magical energy would burn up, just like what had happened to Jupiter who had suffered from a magical overload.

'The mana potions I have now won't be enough! How can I stabilize it?!'

In his desperation, Junior poured his own magical energy into Ash and racked his brain for solutions, but no viable options came to mind.

'Should I use the teleport gate to get more mana potions? But how many potions would even be in the Lord's Mansion... and by the time I get back, it'll be too late...!'

Ash's magical reservoir greedily devoured the incoming mana. Junior sensed that his own reserves were rapidly depleting as well.

That's when Lucas rushed forward, rolling up his sleeve.

"Extract my life force and give it to the Lord!"

"What? Are you nuts?!"

"Doesn't the Lord need a mana transfusion? Then this is our only option...!"

"Don't be ridiculous! You'll risk killing yourself too, Captain Lucas!"

Transferring magical energy to someone else required an extremely intricate control over magic flow, a method available only to those of the Mage class.

Being a knight, Lucas intended to transfer his own life force directly to Ash. Junior, however, vehemently refused.

This method might refill Ash's mana, but it would almost certainly kill or incapacitate Lucas.

"It's better than letting the Lord die! Hurry!"

Lucas didn't back down; he took another step closer and shouted.

Behind him, Evangeline and Damien also rolled up their sleeves with resolute faces.

Every member of the party was prepared to die for Ash.

Despair painted Junior's face as he looked around at everyone. Finally, he firmed up his resolve and nodded.

Just then—

"There's no need for such sacrifices. Everyone, step aside."

A brusque female voice echoed.

"?"

Everyone turned in surprise to find a white-haired woman standing nearby, her face obscured by a tattered robe.

She was the guardian and watcher of the Lake Kingdom dungeon.

She was Nameless.

"Ash helped me find a piece of myself..."

In her hand shimmered a white object that looked like a puzzle piece.

Gazing intently at that piece, Nameless offered a faint smile.

"Shouldn't I return the favor?"