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Chapter 135: Archbishop of Desire, Lactasia (1)
“…And who might you be?”
At last, Lactasia turned her head slowly, as if only now noticing my presence.
"Hmm."
She scanned me from head to toe, as if appraising an object.
Lactasia carefully studied my face and then clicked her tongue as if she'd lost interest.
"Ugly."
"......"
That blunt comment hit me hard, scratching at my pride just a little.
‘Wait a minute.’
Sure, I can't compare to Yuren, but I don’t think I have the kind of face people would call ugly.
I swallowed the words that were rising to my throat and tried to soothe my wounded pride when—
“What did you just say, you wench?”
A fierce voice came from behind me.
“Who are you calling ugly?”
Iris shouted, glaring at Lactasia with a deeply contorted expression.
“Dale isn’t ugly; he has a unique charm to his looks! What do you even know, running your mouth like that?!”
"......"
Wait a second.
Did I just hear something even more hurtful?
“Oh, is he your boyfriend? My bad~ But facts are facts. Compared to the cutie next to him, he is quite ugly, don’t you think?”
Even a face that looks fine on its own can appear like an ugly squid when compared to the real deal right beside it.
Honestly, there aren’t many men on the entire continent who wouldn’t look like squids standing next to Yuren.
“That’s only because you’re comparing him to Yuren! Look, even though Dale may not outshine Yuren... he still has his own charm!”
“…Iris.”
Please, stop.
“And judging a man by his looks alone? What’s important is a person’s inner self, not their appearance! What you see on the outside isn’t everything!”
Please… just stop.
‘This is hurting me too much.’
I never cared much about my appearance.
But as a human, it's natural to care about your appearance, especially when standing before the lover from your past life.
“…It feels like you’re hurting him more.”
Even Lactasia seemed to find this excessive, looking at Iris slightly uneasy.
Iris, startled, looked back at me with a panicked expression.
“Ah…! Dale…! I didn’t mean to imply that your looks are lacking…!”
“…Enough.”
I placed a trembling hand on her shoulder and forced myself to speak.
“I get it… Just stop now.”
If we keep going, not even divine healing will fix the wounds inflicted on my heart.
“Kyaa-haha! Young people these days are so fresh, I love it~!”
Lactasia clutched her belly as she laughed out loud.
But only for a moment.
“Though, that’s all the more reason…”
Her eyes gleamed with a sinister light, and the intense murderous aura filled the chamber.
“…why I’m going to enjoy tearing your throat out.”
“…Lactasia.”
“Oh? You know who I am?”
Lactasia looked at me with surprise.
“Yeah.”
“Hm. This is tricky~ Now there’s even more reason not to let you live~?”
“That goes both ways.”
Slowly, I began to gather my mana while measuring the distance between us.
“Heh.”
Lactasia smirked as she watched me prepare for battle.
“I see you’re confident in your abilities, having taken care of the ruins' guardians….”
Her eyes glowed a terrifying crimson.
“But do you really think that’s enough to stand against the ‘Archbishop of Desire’?”
Rumble!
The vast chamber—or rather, the entire ruins—began to shake as a terrifying amount of mana surged.
“Fufufu. Now, come forth, my adorable pets.”
With a snap of Lactasia’s fingers, a group of men appeared from behind her.
Each of them was incredibly handsome, but their eyes were dull, as if they were in a trance, and they all raised their weapons.
“D-Dale!”
Yuren rushed over to my side, sword drawn.
“She just called herself the Archbishop of Desire, didn’t she?”
Yuren looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask if she was really a genuine archbishop.
I gave a small nod in response.
Yuren’s expression turned grim.
“We need to create a chance to escape….”
“No.”
I shook my head quietly, keeping my eyes on Lactasia.
The Archbishop of Desire, Lactasia.
In terms of pure combat power, she’s among the weakest of the archbishops.
But with her stunning beauty and seductive magic, she lures male heroes, toys with them until she tires of them, and then drains their very last drop of life force with her Blessing of Absorption before killing them.
She’s a villainess who sacrifices countless heroes until she’s slain by Yuren in the future.
If I can take her down here, this might be an even greater prize than the Iron Fist’s legacy.
‘If I can kill Lactasia here, it’ll be an even bigger fortune than getting the legacy.’
That’s why—
“Yuren. Take the others and deal with those puppets.”
“Dale, don’t tell me you’re….”
Yuren trailed off, looking at me with a startled expression.
…It was clear from his unfinished sentence that he was asking, ‘Are you really going to fight the archbishop?’
Once again, I responded with a small nod.
“…Alright.”
Yuren tightened his grip on his sword and began to draw upon his mana.
“Oh my, even the determination in your eyes is adorable.”
Lactasia’s smile deepened as she looked at her ‘pets.’
“Capture him alive. As for the rest… feel free to kill them.”
“…Understood.”
The puppets nodded blankly.
Then—
Boom!
They all kicked off the ground simultaneously.
Their eyes were foggy and dull, as if drugged, but their movements were anything but sluggish.
“Iris!”
Yuren shouted as he charged toward the puppets.
“Yes!”
Even without needing to say it, she understood what he wanted.
A radiant white light surged from Iris’s body and flowed into Yuren, Berald, and Camilla.
The blessing of the saint.
The fatigue accumulated from battling the Guardians vanished as if washed away, and a wave of energy surged through their bodies, as though they had woken from a refreshing nap.
“I’ll take the front!”
Camilla was the first to charge forward.
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As she swung her sword at the approaching men, she simultaneously chanted an incantation.
“O merciful Seven Gods! Shine your light upon those who are lost!”
A wide swath of radiant light spread out from Camilla.
As the divine magic, which was anathema to those tainted with demonic energy, unfolded, the puppets' movements within its range noticeably slowed.
“Hah!”
Camilla slashed at the charging men.
However, even with their slowed movements, it was still difficult to fend off the onslaught of puppets.
“Ugh…!”
Camilla was pushed back.
As a puppet’s sword swung toward her, aiming for a strike at close range—
“Hraaa!”
With a powerful yell, Berald slapped the puppet across the face.
Smack!
With a bone-crunching sound, the puppet collapsed to the ground as if its strings had been cut.
“Everyone, fall back!”
Berald rushed forward, spreading his arms wide.
Dozens of magic projectiles materialized in the air.
Berald slammed his outstretched arms together with force.
“Thunder Hand!!!”
Boom!
With an ear-shattering roar, the magic projectiles shot in all directions.
Blue lightning crackled from the gauntlets on Berald’s hands, imbuing the projectiles with electric energy.
“Guh.”
“Ugh!”
“Aah, ahh.”
The puppets hit by the barrage of projectiles convulsed before collapsing one after another.
“Hehe~ I thought they were just a bunch of kids, but they’re tougher than I expected.”
Lactasia narrowed her eyes as she watched the puppets fall helplessly.
“But…”
With a sinister smile, a violet aura of demonic energy flowed from Lactasia’s body and seeped into the fallen puppets.
Crack, crackle!
With eerie bone-crunching sounds, the puppets rose once again.
“Aah.”
“For Lady Lactasia….”
“For our desire…!”
“We offer our lives…”
The puppets came back to life with their eyes bloodshot and breathing heavily.
“Oh my~ how adorable.”
Lactasia giggled gleefully as she watched them.
“Won’t you die for me?”
“Ugh, ah.”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The puppets screamed and charged.
As they rushed forward, heedless of their own lives—
“Did you say I would become yours?”
Yuren raised his sword.
“Sorry, but I’ll have to decline that offer.”
The Stigma on Yuren’s body glowed, and a fierce silver aura erupted from his blade.
The puppets charging with wild screams were swept away by the silver aura, bouncing off like pebbles.
“I already have someone I’ve sworn to give my everything to.”
He glanced my way with a faint smile.
Then, with a light step, Yuren dashed into the midst of the puppets.
Clang!
Slash!
Like a wolf tearing through a flock of sheep, Yuren cut through the horde with savage precision.
Even the puppets empowered by Lactasia’s dark energy were no match for him.
“Guh! Ugh!”
“For… Lady… Lactasia….”
With every flash of his silver aura, the number of puppets dwindled.
“Hm…”
As the number of puppets decreased, the once-relaxed expression on Lactasia’s face gradually twisted.
‘...What is this?’
An irritation surged within her.
It wasn’t just because a group of fledgling heroes defeated her puppets effortlessly.
After all, her puppets were always disposable tools, and she had a far more valuable treasure before her than these worthless puppets.
But there was one thing that was truly vexing her.
‘I’ve been using my charm magic since earlier… Why isn’t it working?’
Click.
Lactasia nervously bit her nails as she glared at Yuren.
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