The Succubus Queen.
She had once been one of the Demon King’s closest aides, commanding the succubi under her rule.
As a high-ranking demon, she was an undeniable force to be reckoned with.
Of course, I was the only one who knew this.
The people of the Empire did not hold succubi in such high regard.
In fact, their very perception of the succubus race was entirely different.
To them, succubi were nothing more than beings that manipulated men’s dreams to drain their life force.
Creatures that sometimes seduced men in the flesh and threatened their chastity.
A race that spread their legs with ease. A race that acted like prostitutes just to obtain the energy they needed.
Yet not a single one of these widely believed rumors held any truth.
The reason was simple.
The people of the Empire knew nothing about demons.
The war against the Demon King had always been the hero’s battle to fight.
The Empire had done nothing more than struggle to hold the line against the lesser demons that flooded their lands.
And so, the myths and misconceptions about succubi had spread and twisted over time.
I had learned the truth through Lilith.
The truth about what succubi really were.
They too valued their purity.
They cherished the emotion called love.
Even if they desired life energy, they would never take it directly from anyone but the one they loved.
Even through dreams, they only took the smallest amount, which was just enough to sustain themselves and they never caused harm.
…More than anything, succubi were strong.
Their power wasn’t limited to just enchantment or seduction.
And if that succubus stood at the very pinnacle of her kind?
[Tch. You’re little more than a beast. That power is wasted on you.]
She cast a cold gaze at the Death Knight who was bound in chains and made her judgment.
Then after extending her hand, she snapped her fingers.
At that moment, a huge surge of demonic power erupted.
Crash!
Under her command, the demonic power surged toward the Death Knight.
In an instant, one side of its armor caved in and its arm was gone.
Succubi whose specialty was manipulating dreams were among the most skilled demons when it came to controlling demonic power.
By compressing pure demonic power dozens of times before releasing it, her attacks carried devastating lethality.
――!!
The Death Knight let out a tortured roar while thrashing in agony.
One by one, the chains binding it began to shatter.
Crunch!
…Tch. As expected, I can’t hold it much longer.
Even so, this was enough.
Her manifestation was already complete.
[…Hmm.]
Lilith watched indifferently as the creature charged toward her.
The moment it closed in, it swung its huge greatsword with its remaining arm.
Clang!
With a single finger.
She effortlessly blocked the heavy strike with just the tip of her index fingernail.
Then she let out a scoffing laugh while stroking her chin with her other hand.
[For all that shouting and bluster… you hardly have any strength left, do you?]
Succubi were not only adept at controlling demonic power and magic—
Surprisingly, many of them preferred close combat as well.
Lilith was one of them.
[How dull. Let’s put an end to this.]
Paang―!
With a flick of her finger, she sent the greatsword flying.
With a single flick of her hand, the creature’s greatsword slipped from its grasp and disappeared into the distance, vanishing among the trees.
Even after losing its weapon in an instant, the creature didn’t hesitate. Instead, it lunged forward and threw a fist.
But that fist never reached her.
With her silky pink hair fluttering in the air, Lilith effortlessly dodged the attack.
Then she lifted her leg.
And—
Boom—!!
Before it could even react, her kick shattered its skull.
In the blink of an eye, its body was slammed into the ground.
But she didn’t stop there. Her foot came down again, crushing its head even further.
Boom!
Crunch!
Squish!
When she finally lowered her foot, all that remained was a headless Death Knight.
Like other monsters that had met their end, its body slowly crumbled into dust.
[That should do it.]
…That was brutal.
It was undoubtedly a ruthless finishing blow….
Yet when she was dressed in a stunning black gown, even such violence looked elegant and dignified when she did it.
“Good work.”
[Hmph~ It’s been a while since I’ve moved my body like this. It feels quite refreshing.]
Perhaps it was the relief of finally being freed from the suffocating confinement of the book.
Lilith turned to me with a calm smile, as if all her pent-up stress had melted away.
Her captivating beauty and alluring figure… those traits inherent to the succubus race made it impossible to look away.
If a man with little resistance to demonic power were here, he might have already dropped his pants.
“How much magic power do you have left?”
[…Hmm. I’ve used up nearly all of it. I’ll probably disappear soon.]
“As expected, it wasn’t quite enough.”
[Are you alright, child? Your curse seems to be getting worse lately.]
“Ah, well… It’s nothing I can’t han—”
Stumble.
At that moment, a wave of dizziness washed over me, and my body tilted.
The pounding of my heart grew louder as drowsiness crept in.
Perhaps it was the relief of extinguishing the urgent flames.
As the tension in my body dissipated, an overwhelming drowsiness set in.
I felt as if I could collapse right then and there and immediately drift into sleep.
“I’m… not okay, after all.”
[…Child.]
She gazed at me with a look of pity on her face.
Seeing that expression, I knew I couldn’t afford to stay like this.
There was still work to be done.
“Let’s hurry to Hela.”
[I’ll take you there. It’ll be faster that way.]
She spread her wings and supported me.
Before long, we quickly moved through the air with the fierce wind rushing around us.
.
.
.
[We’ve arrived—]
Bang!
Perhaps she had exhausted all her demonic power during the journey, which caused her manifestation to fade.
Her voice echoed in my mind.
“Urgh!”
[…S-Sorry. I used up all my demonic power.]
“It’s fine….”
Thrown into the air without warning, I tumbled across the ground several times.
Fortunately, we had almost reached our destination. I brushed off my pants and pushed myself up.
When I stepped past a rock, I found the collapsed Hela gasping for breath.
I approached her once more to assess her condition.
This is bad.
Healing magic alone wouldn’t be enough.
Just in time, Lilith’s manifestation faded away. This would allow me to use divine power.
I put a hand on her forehead and closed my eyes.
Saaa—
A bright halo of light emerged, enveloping both of us.
Drawing upon my divine power, I began to chant.
“I wish for this.”
The power of divine spells increased depending on the number of phrases within the incantation.
With each layer of prayer, the divine power responded, manifesting a miracle.
“Let my power dwell within this child.”
My spell was rather unique.
Unlike the divine spells used by other religious followers, mine was different.
Instead of praising a deity and pleading for miracles,
I became the agent of the miracle myself.
“So, I pray that this child’s pain may fade.”
Wooong—!
I lifted my hand from her forehead and opened my eyes.
The divine power responded to my spell and then flowed into Hela’s body.
Her visible wounds began to heal completely before my eyes.
…Thankfully, a prayer spell alone seems to be enough.
Divine spells were generally classified into three types.
A “prayer”, which earnestly wished for a miracle.
A “blessing”, which directly bestowed a miracle upon the target.
And “protection”, which went beyond a blessing to sustain a miracle over a prolonged period.
Beyond these three types, there was also “Descent”. This was a power that allowed saints and saintesses to connect with their deity and manifest divine miracles.
Since prayer spells were commonly used by paladins, most of them were designed for combat.
For healing, a blessing spell was the proper choice.
However—
I can only use prayer spells.
Since I currently had no deity to serve,
The miracles I could perform on my own were severely limited.
…Damn, I miss the old days. Back then, I could use blessings and protection spells as much as I wanted.
With a sigh of regret, I dusted off my hands and looked at her.
Her complexion had improved, and now, she was peacefully asleep and breathing softly.
It had been absolute hell, but seeing her like this brought a faint smile to my lips.
Without thinking, I placed a hand on her head and gently stroked her hair.
“Yeah… just keep smiling and living like this.”
I had seen her cry far too many times.
She had suffered endlessly in the imperial palace.
Now, I just wanted her to enjoy her time at the academy with a smile.
Thump!
…Ah, shit. I really can’t hold on anymore.
I had already pushed my body past its limit, and using a divine spell on top of that had only made things worse.
Now, even keeping my eyes open felt impossible.
My heartbeat pounded louder and louder.
[Child, if you keep going like this, it will be really dangerous.]
Lilith’s voice echoed in my ears.
But I had no strength left to respond.
In the end, I collapsed beside Hela and passed out.
***
[…What should I do about this?]
Looking down at her fallen contractor, Lilith let out a sigh.
Why was this child always pushing himself to the brink every time she saw him?
[If only he would take better care of his body.]
Feeling both bitter and concerned, she looked at the boy with worried eyes.
More precisely, at the curse embedded in his heart.
[…It seems this is no longer something he can handle on his own.]
The curse had grown far too large.
In less than a week, he had already faced consecutive nightmares.
His mental state was nearing its limit.
This time, there was a real chance that the dream would consume him entirely.
At last, she made up her mind and shifted her gaze.
To the girl lying beside him.
[…I feel sorry for this child, but I must ask for her help.]
Enduring the nightmare together would be far better than facing it alone.
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