Chapter 157

〈 Episode 158 〉 Episode 157 – You have to use it on the guy who eats hostages.

*

Now, the remaining plan was to take care of Jeong Ahyeon and sneak out smoothly.

The moment we descended to the first floor, a scream suddenly echoed from Jeong Ahyeon’s room.

It was likely that a succubus, startled by Jeong Ahyeon’s disappearance, let out that scream.

[There’s no time.]

‘Ugh. We better get out of here fast.’

The succubi began to move around frantically, looking like they were going crazy.

They were probably trying to find Jeong Ahyeon, so we planned to leave as quickly and naturally as possible.

Just as we were about to open the mansion’s door—

­ BANG!

“……Who are you?”

“Ah…”

Four delivery workers, struggling to hold their delivery bags, actually asked us.

We decided to improvise here.

“Must be tough. Looks like you ordered from somewhere else.”

“Really? Is it a group order? I had no idea we’d have this much.”

“No. Some pig was eating it all by herself.”

“Alone? No way?……Ah! That makes sense!”

Suddenly, the delivery worker had a look that showed she understood what I said.

And she pointed with her finger behind us and said.

“That’s the person, right?”

“…….Huh?”

Feeling a chill run down my spine, I turned around.

“Where’s my delivery!!!”

A massive woman who looked like she weighed about 0.82 tons was charging at us.

According to the guard succubi, her name was Nakadashi, but that wasn’t what mattered.

She was a disaster personified.

Perhaps having lost her sanity, the tiny pupils in her small eyes couldn’t even be seen.

Her huge body was the perfect weapon, and wherever she touched, it was instantly smashed to pieces.

Although the mansion had seen some damage from the intruders, where that giant woman had moved turned into a complete ruin.

“Our, our house…”

“Shut up, it feels like we’re screwed right now.”

Jeong Bia was quietly trembling as she muttered to herself.

Then, noticing two delivery bags in the woman’s sight, she suddenly lunged toward us.

“Delivery!!!!”

“Please, help me!!!”

“Ah, f*ck, I knew it was going too well.”

The four delivery workers dropped the bags and bolted out of the mansion in a flash.

We also tried to follow, but the filled delivery bags felt much heavier than before.

­ THUMP!!!!

Just her hitting the ground created a small shockwave.

The only fortunate thing was that we weren’t directly crushed.

We had just been knocked out by the woman’s massive punch, and our helmets couldn’t withstand the impact and broke.

As I tossed the useless helmet aside, I began to assess the situation.

“Shinwoo, we’re in deep trouble.”

“Isn’t it f*cked up…”

“That pig really…”

Whether she knew our feelings or not, the woman using her heavy body was greedily devouring the spilled delivery food.

Meanwhile, the delivery bag we carried was completely open.

In other words, all the decorative items we had collected, along with Elcia and Jeong Ahyeon, were spilled out at once.

To make matters worse, the succubi of the mansion heard the loud noise and began to gather.

Seeing our dazed expressions, they screamed.

“Here! We’ve found the bride!”

“Ahhh! It’s a kidnapper! A kidnapper!”

“Ah! That decoration was my target! You thieves!”

It was only natural that many of them gathered once the aggro was drawn.

It was the worst-case scenario.

Planning to force our way out, I implemented magical tattoos to create weapons and handed them to Hyeji, Caressy, and Elcia.

They looked at me with worried eyes.

“Shinwoo, are you okay?”

“Husband, what will you do when you write the report later?”

“The backlash will be severe, right?”

“I think I’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t sure, but I thought I wouldn’t get caught.

Even if I did get found out, I would just have to suffer alone, so it wasn’t a problem.

I tried to hand a weapon to Jeong Bia one last time when—

“Are you looking for this woman?”

“Ugh!”

Out of nowhere, Jeong Bia was grabbed by the blonde-haired, blue-eyed male wizard I had seen last time.

With a sinister smile, he said.

“That’s as far as you go—”

“Socio-pulling! (That’s as far as you go!)”

“That was my line!!!”

Now it was my turn, you f*cking brat.

The man momentarily got angry but then smiled again.

He brought a wand glowing with blue magical power to Jeong Bia’s neck and shouted.

“Drop your weapons! If not, this woman’s life is—”

­ WHOOSH!!!

Without a moment’s hesitation, we hurled our weapons at the man holding Jeong Bia as a hostage.

As the number above his head rose, he hurriedly moved Jeong Bia out of the way of our attack.

The weapons we threw struck the exact spot where Jeong Bia and the man had just been.

“You crazy bastards! What are you doing?!”

“You told us to drop them, right?”

“What the hell do you think a hostage is!!!”

Faced with the bewildered expression of the man, we all shouted in agreement for the first time.

“Ah, how in the world is that a hostage? It’s just dead weight.”

“Those who can live gotta live.”

“Honestly, at this point, it seemed unnecessary!”

“Don’t worry. Even if I die, I’ll go to heaven.”

“You bastards! I’m really going to kill all of you!!!”

[Please, just die. I’ll give you 10 Nopia coins as pocket money, just die already.]

Ignoring the wand shoved at my neck, Jeong Bia struggled and tried to lunge at us.

At that moment.

“Stop.”

Abruptly, silence fell.

The pressure was so strong, it felt like my skin was prickling.

And amidst that silence, one presence made its way toward us, making sound.

It was the appearance of a woman.

Even though her attire covered far less than her skin did, it felt more like admiring a beautiful piece of art than being vulgar.

However, she seemed quite displeased, and her green pupils seemed to be pouring out light.

“I am Lilith, the Succubus Queen and Queen of the Night.”

Without anyone asking, Lilith introduced herself as soon as she appeared.

She pointed at us and softly, yet fiercely, asked.

“Who the hell are you guys?”

“Mother…”

Jeong Ahyeon murmured “mother” while looking at Lilith.

Her eyes held a mix of emotions that were quite complex.

On the other hand, it seemed that if Lilith didn’t get a satisfactory answer, she would immediately attack us.

I gritted my teeth to not show any signs of intimidation from the pressure and spoke.

“Just someone who knows her.”

“Is that all it takes to kidnap Ahyeon?”

“The kidnapping happened when Jeong Ahyeon was dragged here.”

“You know it’s for marriage, right?”

I met Lilith’s gaze with confidence and spoke up.

“Do you really think a forced marriage is going to bring happiness?”

“…….”

Lilith’s demeanor didn’t change, but her gaze seemed to soften slightly.

Now was an opportunity to press.

“Are you really her parent? What kind of parent forces their child to do something they hate?”

“…That person ordered it distinctly.”

“Do you know how much blood she shed to avoid marriage?”

“…….I see.”

Lilith gently lowered the finger she had been pointing at us.

At the same time, she silently gazed at Jeong Ahyeon with sad eyes.

Jeong Ahyeon wouldn’t meet that gaze and just lowered her head.

During a short, but long moment, an unspoken exchange of glances continued.

But Lilith seemed resolute, as she looked back at us and kindly said.

“Could you just leave? If so, I’ll consider this matter closed.”

That wasn’t worth hearing.

If we left now, Jeong Ahyeon’s matter would remain unresolved.

That was something I would refuse even if I died.

Instead of answering, I implemented the remaining weapons once again.

Lilith looked at us with a mix of admiration and sorrow and commanded.

“Everyone, drive them out. Make sure not to hurt them too much.”

The surrounding succubi began to approach us slowly.

Before long, Hyeji’s number above her head rose, and with a sinister smile, she said.

“You guys aren’t going to get away without a fight.”

A few succubi looked puzzled, but suddenly their numbers began to rise, and they trembled before collapsing in place.

They probably saw a future with ‘Hyeji’.

“Hyeji, if you go all out, it could really become a war. The retaliation might be severe.”

“If we do it to the point there’s no retaliation, what’s the problem?”

“That’s definitely my Hyeji! Assassination means killing all the witnesses!”

“By the way, would you consider becoming a refugee in the Beastman Kingdom? I’ll grant citizenship right away.”

Caressy proposed a recruitment offer to Hyeji, impressed by her strength.

However, even that was only possible if we could get through the current situation.

While I was thinking of breaking through alone if I could,

“What’s all this ruckus?”

A man suddenly appeared in front of us without any warning.

With dark blue hair that reached his shoulders, he wore nothing but a ragged robe.

He looked to be in his twenties, but there was a sense of wisdom in his bearing.

Yet the most striking thing was his blurry pupils, devoid of any focus.

He looked at us expressionlessly, revealing no emotion on his face.

“The wedding is about to start, and what are you doing?”

It was a chilling sensation, as if a machine was trying to mimic a person.

I quietly asked Jeong Ahyeon.

“Hey, Jeong Ahyeon. Who’s that guy?”

“……Jeong Siwoo……a worthless existence not worthy of being called a father.”

Jeong Siwoo calmly gazed at Jeong Bia from afar.

“What a useless girl. To have crawled in here.”

“……”

“I no longer want to see that disgusting sight, so disappear quickly.”

He then turned his gaze back to Jeong Ahyeon.

“Where’s the bride going?”

“I’m sure she kept her promise! Yet you—”

“I don’t care about that. You all need to get lost quickly.”

Jeong Siwoo reached out as if attempting to forcibly drag Jeong Ahyeon away.

She was gritting her teeth, but it seemed she couldn’t reject his hand, fully resigned to her fate.

However, that attempt was unsuccessful.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“You’re Jeong Ahyeon’s father, right?”

I grabbed his outstretched arm midway.

Though I held his wrist tightly enough to feel like it would snap, Jeong Siwoo showed no sign of pain, merely tilting his head in puzzlement.

“Looking to die?”

“Since when did you become a father?”

“Gongja…”

I looked straight into Jeong Siwoo’s empty, hollow eyes filled with hostility.

“So you’re someone who swings your child around as you please?”

“If you want to live, step aside.”

Jeong Siwoo spread his other hand, conjuring an odd magic circle before reaching toward my head.

“Stop it!?”

“I told you to step aside.”

“Gongja! Please, just step aside, she’s fine!”

“Go ahead, shoot all you want.”

I stood my ground before Jeong Ahyeon, facing Jeong Siwoo.

I even drew my head closer to his hand.

“Die.”

“Gongja!”

“Whatever happens.”

The ominous white light emanating from the magic circle grew stronger.

As I watched that light, I smiled and said.

“I’m never stepping aside.”

*