LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 155
– 1 –
One day, as Arpina was gradually becoming bored with her daily life at the Magical School.
“I want to erase my memories; can you help me?”
She made a great discovery that became a new source of pleasure and desire.
It was from a student who had come to find her at the Magical School, as usual.
“Alex. Are you okay?”
“Professor… I can’t remember… really…! Thank you!”
The student who had come for counseling that day had pleaded to forget.
The memories of childhood abuse had vanished within him.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry…!!”
“It was Mom’s fault!!”
In Arpina’s mind, those memories were vividly replaying.
The student’s childhood and the results of that childhood.
As if she had experienced it herself.
“Come here, won’t you…?”
“Professor…?”
The first subject of a new experiment.
The handsome student fell right into Arpina’s seduction.
It was the first time she had killed a person.
However, there was no sense of rejection or nausea like the mercenary who has killed on the battlefield.
“You… die more beautifully.”
The pale, preserved form of the student appeared beautiful in her eyes.
Because.
She discovered that after taking away the most important memory and ability the student possessed, she could permanently retain that ability by killing its original owner.
“This is it! This is what I truly desired!”
She felt her body and mind filled with pleasure that seemed about to explode.
The peak of ecstasy.
“Now it’s starting…!”
The climax of taking everything from others!
– 2 –
Just before the morning sun rose, at a time when the world was not yet fully awake.
Zarax finally made a decision.
“I’ll slip away.”
“Are you referring to Balsher?”
At the puzzled voice of his subordinate, Lizardman Chief Zarax nodded.
His gestures were firm and filled with conviction.
“Recently, their movements have changed. Their strategy of escalating the war through the turmoil in the rear has succeeded. We may not know our identity, but the attacks from Ishan are dangerous.”
Although the subordinate mentioned ‘already,’ it had been five days since they had begun their ambush.
A time when the enemy would surely notice. The only chance to escape was now.
The worst-case scenario was for one of them to be captured, and the second worst was for the instigator of the ambush to be exposed.
“But it’s a shame… if we get more prey, we could feed our children better…”
“There are still many opportunities left…”
Despite the chief’s decision, several subordinates expressed slight disappointment.
The food obtained from humans over the past four days had been enough to fully nourish them, and the leftover food was sent to the harpies.
The fullness of the children was a joy to the parents.
It was only natural for the Lizardmen to feel regret.
Moreover, having something to present to their new great master meant they could receive a reward.
They desired that reward as ‘the status of their race.’
For the Lizardmen, who had already lost a chief once, ‘stability’ held great value.
Yet the chief shook his head firmly.
“Our next battlefield has already been prepared…”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. We are heading north. Lord Yuran is waiting.”
This ambush of the river was enough to awaken the instincts of warriors that had been sleeping for a long time.
And in the north lay a battlefield waiting for those Lizardmen, who had once again become warriors.
“Whoa…!”
“I understand.”
Quietly marveling to maintain their secrecy, the Lizardmen ignited their enthusiasm. They began to prepare to leave the river.
The chief straightened his back among them and gazed at the river.
The wide river, and the several bridges stretched over it.
The place that had been their blood-stained stage.
“…We will definitely return. And when we do, we shall be the masters of this land.”
Filled with both regret and anticipation, the chief turned his body.
That gesture was still solemn yet carefree, and his heavy steps were filled with determination.
“Let’s go. To the next battlefield.”
He had already drunk enough blood.
He had resolved the grudges against humans tied to the previous chief and had enough hope for the future.
Zarax, the child of Drenix, had now completely gained the mindset to devote himself to his current master and great master, escaping from the past.
– 3 –
“What the hell? Why can’t I get any information?”
As Arpina’s sharp voice pierced the air, the man standing before her broke into a cold sweat and lowered his head.
“Well… it’s because there really is nothing…”
His trembling voice was incredibly timid, contrasting sharply with his bulky physique.
But this wasn’t just a simple personality; it was a ‘characteristic’ deliberately instilled by Arpina.
By giving him such contradictory traits, she wanted to confirm her dominance.
“Huh? Really? There’s information that even the chief of the ‘Gray Eye’ doesn’t know?”
Although her tone was mocking, Arpina was genuinely puzzled.
This man was, despite appearances, an executive of one of the continent’s top information organizations.
“But truly, nothing is available…!”
He desperately and unjustly shouted.
“Nothing! I checked everything from the Information Guild, but nothing came out… I’m sorry, Arpina!”
“Okay, okay. I got it. Come here.”
“Arpina…”
As she embraced the muscular man, Arpina fell into momentary thought.
While patting his solid back and firm buttocks, her mind gradually grew complicated.
“Nothing? But the Demon Clan definitely said they’re there.”
It was strange.
The existence of the Demon Clan was certain, but even the continent’s best information network couldn’t find their location.
And it had failed not once, but five times.
Even Arpina, who had long stopped engaging in deep thoughts in her daily life, could only reach one conclusion.
“They’re hiding. And thoroughly at that.”
A sadistic smile crept onto Arpina’s lips.
She already knew the opponent’s appearance, and through the Demon Clan, she was aware of the opposing Dungeon Lord’s rank.
Though they hadn’t shared much about their strength, the more she learned, the more she was intrigued by their new aspects.
“They said it was a young Dungeon Lord.”
In that case, no matter how strong they were, they wouldn’t be a match for her.
If pushed like an ogre, they would effortlessly crumble.
That’s why they hide like this. Until they grow stronger.
But that hiding ability could not be disregarded.
Even she, who had temporarily acquired one of the continent’s top information networks, was unable to locate them.
“Such an existence…”
Arpina’s breath quickened.
“How thrilling would it be to have them nestled in my arms…!”
The thought of knowing an existence that even the ‘Gray Eye’ could not uncover.
And the thought of being able to possess such an existence made her lower abdomen heat up with excitement.
“Come here, darling!”
However, that was a matter for the future.
After all, she was trapped in a ‘contract,’ and immediate pleasure was more important.
“Yes!”
“Forget everything that’s happened here! All! Everything! Hmm!”
“Ugh…!”
Roughly handling the muscular man, Arpina sank further into her sweet fantasies.
An unidentified black woman.
She envisioned the Dungeon Lord, said to be the noblest among the Demon Clan, kneeling beneath her feet or perhaps taking one step further into her future.
“I wonder what kind of dreams they have…”
Her lips twisted grotesquely.
“It must be delicious…!”
Dreams were her power. The self in her dreams always becomes reality.
This time, it was surely going to be the ‘truth.’
The two previous failures in her past would not occur again.
Absolutely not.
– 4 –
In a certain noble mansion of the Kaisen Kingdom.
A heavy silence hung in the dining hall, which had been converted into a conference room.
Seurzius stood before his subordinates, asking in his usual calm voice.
“What is the matter?”
However, his subordinates all lowered their heads in silence, and no one answered.
Not a single one among them could answer confidently. Not even Seurzius himself.
“We not only failed to gather information on the daughter of the Outskirts Duke…”
With a sigh laced in his voice, Seurzius continued.
“But despite begging the Information Guild for clues, we couldn’t track her down… and now there are personnel that have gone AWOL…?”
As each of his words followed, the subordinate’s heads sank deeper.
Of those standing before him, there was only one representative, which was clearly unusual.
There were three executives under Seurzius Dodge, the head of the ‘Gray Eye’ branch in the Kaisen Kingdom.
The fact that one of the executives had absented himself from the summoned meeting without permission was indeed a serious matter that warranted disciplinary action.
“What was the last report from Chief Oison?”
In fact, this meeting had been convened precisely because of that issue.
The regular report from the chief stationed at Oison Castle did not match the report received from his supervisor.
The chief at Oison Castle had concealed the existence of his ‘lover’ from the organization.
For professional reasons, it was one of the conditions that must be disclosed to the organization.
In the presence of such absence of a chief-level personnel, the failure to track down Mikaila’s whereabouts became trivial in comparison.
“It was probably about the ‘Dream Witch’ infiltrating Kaisen.”
In response to Seurzius’s question, the adjutant standing by him replied in a stiff posture.
Seurzius’s expression twisted upon hearing that answer.
It was certainly the chief who was in charge of their most critical tasks in the current circumstances.
This raised another possibility.
“Defection?”
At Seurzius’s dubious utterance, the two chiefs standing before him stepped forward in alarm simultaneously.
“That can’t be! Sir!”
“Our loyalty is…!”
There was a reason why they rushed forward.
A betrayal at the chief level would serve as a signal for inspections on all chiefs within the organization.
Since the ‘Gray Eye’ was a collective formed out of selfish desires, many corrupt acts had been overlooked as long as they maintained their loyalty to their leader.
However, being subjected to inspection was an entirely different matter.
Even those chiefs who had no qualms about committing corrupt acts would inevitably panic.
“Calm down, chiefs. I never mentioned voluntary defection.”
In this matter, it was true that Seurzius himself could not be entirely blameless.
As he smiled and reassured the chiefs, they inwardly released a sigh of relief…
“But.”
Their superior’s words caused them to tense up once again.
“In any case, this failure cannot leak outside. Do you agree, chiefs?”
“Yes!!”
“Then, from now on, I permit all aggressive actions against Oison.”
The chiefs swallowed hard, beads of cold sweat accumulating on their brows.
Seurzius’s words were akin to erasing anything that could expose the branch.
“Then, immediately…?”
“No…”
Before them, Seurzius quietly shook his head.
Lost in thought for a moment, he then wore the same gentle smile as usual and spoke.
“Starting now is not the plan.”
“What does that mean?”
He wasn’t particularly fond of taking direct action, but there was no avoiding this situation.
The opponent was undeniably of high rank.
Thus, someone with corresponding strength or status from their side had to step forward.
Both of them were pointing at him.
“We need to make contact with that witch first. Dismiss all personnel near Oison. I will go myself.”
“Yes!”
“Go immediately and do your work. We must act before the losses increase further.”
“Yes!!!”
With that, all the subordinates quickly departed, leaving only the usual old noble-looking adjutant in the room.
“Wine.”
“Yes.”
Seurzius ordered a drink from his adjutant.
Soon receiving the graciously offered wine glass, he held it in his hand, savoring the aroma of the red liquid before slowly swallowing it.
Right afterward.
“Dream Witch…”
Crash!
The glass shattered in his hand.
With delicate control of force, the fragments did not scatter but were neatly compressed.
During that act, he had not invoked a shred of magic, yet not a single cut marred his white hand.
“We’ll make her regret touching us.”
Seurzius’s eyes gleamed eerily.
It was three hours before their movements would reach Libertus.