“Yes, pure and clever child. What is it that you desire?”
Though two members of the cult had died for ridiculous reasons, the ritual of summoning a demon was far from over.
Normally, when a demon is summoned, they must grant the summoner’s wishes as the price of the summoning. That is the ideal summoning.
Of course, if the demon is too high-ranked or violent, it goes beyond not fulfilling the request and may even end up killing the summoner…
“Child. You are lovely, so I’ll grant you double the wishes.”
Thankfully, this time there seemed to be no worries. Amducias was quite fond of his opponent.
‘Hmm…’
Libya pondered briefly. Just because a demon agreed to grant wishes doesn’t mean everything was possible. Demons aren’t omnipotent, and because of their peculiarities, recklessly asking for wishes could end in disaster.
After a moment of thought, Libya asked Ikgagong.
“When the time of destruction comes, please watch over our cult members.”
“Mm?”
As soon as she spoke, a peculiar light flickered in Ikgagong’s black eyes. After a moment, he said,
“Oh, you are aware of the end times.”
“More than being aware… I’ve heard a rumor or two.”
“Isn’t that basically the same? However, I’m sorry, but I cannot grant that.”
“Why not?”
“Armageddon is not my wish. It is a decision made by those of much higher rank than I.”
“…I see.”
Libya nodded impassively. She wasn’t particularly disappointed, as she knew it was an excessive request even by her own standards.
“Then at least, please don’t kill any of our cult members…”
“Are you including those who have lost their purity?”
“What does it mean to have lost purity?”
“Those who recklessly indulge in pleasure. To use your words, it means non-virgins and non-chaste.”
In other words, it meant he would kill all the sex-having scoundrels. That outrageous statement momentarily stunned her, but she still managed to say what she needed to.
“Ah… b-but please, I’m begging you. They are precious cult members.”
“You make quite the challenging request… However, if it’s a request from a virgin like you, I will gladly grant it.”
“······.”
The more he kept saying ‘virgin,’ the more it rubbed her the wrong way. Of course, to Ikgagong, it might be a compliment, but she felt like she was being mocked.
‘I’m not intentionally holding on to it…’
It’s not like she was lacking in looks or skills.
It’s just that there wasn’t someone she liked yet, and she was busy with other things, which was why she was still a virgin…
She reassured herself inwardly.
Then, she once again asked Ikgagong, “So… what do you plan to do next?”
“My next course of action is obvious.”
Ikgagong took a moment to catch his breath, then proclaimed to the world,
“I will kill all the non-virgins and non-chaste individuals in this world.”
Now that was an outrageous ambition befitting a demon. After making such a declaration, Ikgagong immediately stepped into the air and soared into the sky.
That day, in a nearby village, all the male prostitutes and their clients met their demise.
*
The 67th-ranked demon, Amducias, had arrived. News of his descent spread quickly throughout the community.
After all, victims were popping up everywhere.
Perhaps due to his appearance and distinct characteristics, he quickly became a topic of discussion.
Even among Otherworlders, there were those who had lost their purity.
+
[Is this crazy bastard for real?]
(Picture)
Out of nowhere, he charged in shouting “Filthy whore!!!” and I couldn’t even do anything before I died, damn it;
Seere must have gotten a real kick out of it, but what the hell was this guy doing?
+
[I miss Seere…]
[No, he was just a dude who had to die because he was a demon…]
[They say this new demon is nuts; did you break the 19-mode?]
[Yes! Recently created a good atmosphere with some NPC in town, and broke through…]
[Damn, I’m so jealous; that’s probably why he’s only killing those who have experienced the 19-mode.]
[Really? That might not be so bad…]
+
[But demons are demons.]
What they’re doing is so ridiculous; I just met him and was pierced right through by my shield.
Level 95 and a tank class, what the hell.
Thanks to that, I lost both my precious shield and accessory…
+
[Did you also die at his hands?]
[Yeah, one-shot kill…]
[Then you also enjoyed the 19-mode?]
[What level do I need to be to not have enjoyed that? lol]
[Haha, look at the way you talk, damn it.]
+
[I met Amducias and survived, you know?]
While everyone else was dying, I survived and left, haha.
He even praised me!
He said keeping my purity was commendable!
I think if he likes someone, he gives them some kind of gift?
+
[So, you haven’t experienced the 19-mode?]
[Yeah, I was just enjoying leveling up and growing, so I didn’t really need it, hehe.]
[Oh…]
[Yeah, haha.]
[?]
[What does your ‘haha’ mean? lol]
[Hey.]
[What does ‘haha’ mean?]
[You jerk, where do you live? Tear up your ticket and get into the arena, I’ll kill you.]
+
[Those who died at the hands of our Amducias, the victorious 19-mode owners, get upvotes lol.]
Meanwhile, the pathetic pure group that had ‘survived’ received downvotes, haha.
+
[Upvotes lol.]
[Does losing items even matter? You get to certify that you broke through the 19-mode lol.]
[Oh~ I don’t need such things; I survived and got +2 to my senses~]
[Yeah lol, go rack up more haha.]
[Hey, you jerk, get into the arena! Ticket number 6313.]
[Does breaking through the 19-mode in brothels get acknowledged?]
[Uh, that’s… kind of ambiguous…]
[Ugh, those slippery bitches are just awful; I can’t stand seeing this community get ruined, ugh.]
[You look like you’ll survive perfectly from Amducias, huh.]
It was truly a chaotic mess.
The community’s perception of this newly emerged demon had shifted a bit.
Meeting him might lead to losses, but rather dying became something prideful about this demon.
Indeed, real-time posts of victims’ pride kept popping up in the community.
However, unlike the playful Otherworlders, the Gaia tribe was exceedingly serious…
Yor was grim for another reason entirely.
*
“…Nothing at all?”
“I checked not just your city but all nearby villages. The supply is completely dried up…”
Chaerin mumbled as she answered.
For me, this was devastating news. She was saying there wasn’t a single piece of holy water in the market.
What’s worse is that the demand for holy water had only increased.
I thought it would ease a bit with Seere dead, but the news of the consecutive resurrection of demons had rather increased buyers.
People were looking to ease their anxieties by buying holy water.
Preparing for the future is certainly a good attitude, but for someone in my desperate need for holy water, it wasn’t great.
I rubbed my forehead.
‘What should I do…’
On top of that, the cycle of my berserk phase was slowly approaching.
In just a few days, I would be facing my cycles again.
Just thinking about enduring that pain made my stress levels rise.
“Don’t be too down. They mentioned that the clergy are focusing on nurturing talent… So, as buyer numbers increase, supply will likely rise later.”
“…I wish that were true.”
I was worried about how long the depletion of holy water would last. Just because they said the supply would increase didn’t mean it could keep up with demand either.
Seriously, it was amazing. I used to endure phase A quite well.
But after tasting holy water a few times, I didn’t want to endure that pain anymore.
I had become someone who could no longer live without holy water.
I wasn’t short on money—so why couldn’t I get it…
“…Alright, I got it. Thanks for looking around.”
“It’s okay.”
Chaerin said she would keep checking the market before heading back.
A few days later, the new moon came.
Luckily, this time it was going to be berserk phase B.
Well, given that I had only had phase A repeatedly for the last few months, it was about time for phase B to explode.
That day, I didn’t go outside like last time. I went deep into the cave and multiple times relieved my urges alone.
…What urges I relieved, I won’t say.
After all, I’m a person with some level of shame.
Just like the heavens’ brando I saw last time or that Niki girl who exposed her upper body—it seems I’ve seen a lot of stimulating scenes lately, and perhaps that’s why my urges had been piling up.
Even the demon inside me seemed to know that, as this time, the amplified emotion was focused there.
In the modern world, I might have things to use as side dishes, but here such things were unfortunately not available.
Still, as usual, the berserk phase passed.
*
Days later, Chaerin delivered even worse news.
“Until this demon is subjugated, the cathedral has promised full support.”
“······.”
“So, I think we might not even get a glimpse of holy water for a while…”
“Ugh….”
I let out a long sigh.
And I realized that staying still wouldn’t change anything about the situation.
Thanks to that, I was able to make a resolution.
“That demon. Where is he? We can probably find his route, right?”
It may be a little, no quite dangerous, but for the sake of my comfortable living, I can take that risk.
“Let’s go somewhere soon, you and I. Oh, and your editor too.”
I would handle the demon myself.
With that, I started planning to leave my nest for a while.
