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Chapter 136: Archbishop of Desire, Lactasia (2)

The Archbishop of Desire, Lactasia.

True to her title, she possessed magic that allowed her to control human "desires."

Her magic of temptation had turned countless heroes into her puppets.

The condition to fall into temptation was simple.

One needed to harbor even the slightest sexual desire toward her.

The moment they did, Lactasia would amplify that desire hundreds or even thousands of times, turning them into slaves of their own lust.

But...

‘Why isn\'t it working?’

While the puppets she had summoned fought against Yuren\'s party, she had first used her temptation magic on Yuren.

Yet, for some unknown reason, Yuren was not only unaffected but was cutting through her puppets like a wolf among sheep.

‘Did he really see me... and not feel even a sliver of desire?’

Lactasia frowned, looking down at her body.

Her voluptuous chest, slim waist, wide hips, and smooth legs—she had all the features that could make even the most devout priest lose control.

Yet why was her magic not affecting him?

"Hmph. Fine then."

Lactasia bit her nail irritably, turning her head.

‘Wasn\'t his name Dale?’

The audacious human who dared interrupt her.

‘Well... I\'ll just have to use the magic on him.’

Judging by the situation, he seemed to be the leader of the party.

If she could tempt him and turn him into her puppet, subduing Yuren would be a piece of cake.

Lactasia exposed a bit more of her chest and sent a seductive gaze towards Dale.

"Come to me."

"You said earlier that I was too ugly for you?"

"......"

Once again, her temptation magic didn’t work.

"I even showed my chest, and why...?"

Lactasia scowled fiercely, gritting her teeth in frustration.

Then, her eyes caught sight of a woman with light pink hair.

Wasn\'t her name Iris?

Considering how she had defended Dale\'s appearance, they seemed to be lovers.

\'So why... wouldn\'t he feel desire for me because of her...?\'

Lactasia squinted, scrutinizing Iris\'s chest.

"......!"

Her eyes widened in shock.

The loose priestess robe Iris wore had initially hidden it, but now Lactasia could see a monstrous outline beneath it.

If it was just a matter of size, that was one thing.

But from the curves visible through the robe, it was clear that Iris far outclassed Lactasia in every way.

"Iiiik...!"

Shivering from the overwhelming sense of defeat, Lactasia shifted her gaze.

The only other man was a large, muscular guy.

‘Ugh, I hate that kind of build.’

Lactasia preferred slender, handsome men, so someone like Berald was completely out of her taste.

Normally, she wouldn’t even bother using temptation magic on someone like him.

‘But... I have no choice.’

Tsk.

She clicked her tongue and cast her temptation magic towards Berald.

"Hmm?"

Sensing something odd, Berald tilted his head in confusion.

Seeing this, a dark smile crept onto Lactasia\'s lips.

‘Yes, this is how you\'re supposed to react...’

"Hey, Dale! Got any jerky left in the backpack?"

"Here you go."

Dale pulled out some dried jerky from his backpack and tossed it to Berald.

"Ha ha! You saved me, brother! This Iron Fist Legacy seems to consume a lot of energy!"

Berald chewed on the jerky and continued throwing punches at Lactasia\'s puppets.

"......"

Lactasia stood frozen, dumbfounded.

She gritted her teeth as Berald didn’t even glance her way.

\'What... what is happening?!\'

Was it possible that none of her magic worked on anyone in this party?

Were they... eunuchs or something?

"Damn it, damn it, damn it...!"

This unprecedented situation shattered her lofty pride into pieces.

Lactasia nervously chewed on her fingernails, cursing under her breath.

"Berald won\'t fall for your temptation magic."

I sneered at Lactasia, who was growing increasingly irritated.

"Berald... is only interested in the \'microcosmos.\'"

"...What?"

Lactasia squinted, looking at me with an expression that said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

I shrugged and continued.

"To put it simply. Women like you aren’t his type."

"You...!"

Lactasia glared at me with murderous eyes.

Her teeth clenched, and demonic energy surged around her.

Lactasia raised her hand, and the energy coalesced in mid-air, forming a purple whip.

"Do you think you can keep being so arrogant?"

SWISH!

The whip cracked through the air with a piercing sound.

It moved so fast it was hard to track with the naked eye.

I instinctively raised my sword to deflect it.

CLANG!

The impact made my arm go numb.

\'Even though she\'s considered one of the weakest, she’s still an Archbishop.\'

I frowned, staring at my hand, which was now covered in blood after just one clash.

"Hmph. So, you can block it? Seems like you do have some skill to be this arrogant."

Lactasia’s eyes gleamed with interest as she looked at me, impressed that I managed to block her attack.

She smirked viciously, raising her whip for another strike.

"Let’s see if you can block this one too!"

SWISH!

The whip split into multiple tendrils, lashing out from all directions.

I ignited my sword with flames and swung at the incoming tendrils.

First Form of the Ashen Flame: Diffraction.

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

The terrifying sound echoed, far from what one would expect from a clash between a sword and a whip.

“You blocked all of that…?”

After a brief exchange, Lactasia looked at me with wide, astonished eyes.

She narrowed her gaze, inspecting me from head to toe.

"Strange... I’ve never seen your face among the Republic’s rankers."

How could a mere hero, not even a ranker, dare to block the archbishop’s onslaught head-on?

“This is getting interesting.”

Lactasia’s eyes sparkled like a predator discovering a delicious prey.

“Heh. I think I’ll make you my pet, too.”

At first, I thought you paled in comparison to that ‘Yuren’ guy, but now that I look again, you’re not too bad after all.

“You’ve been beaten three times, and yet you still have the nerve to talk back.”

“Ugh…!”

Lactasia’s face twisted at my taunt.

Her lips twitched as she tightly gripped her whip, her hand trembling.

“I suppose I’ll have to teach you some manners first.”

“Sorry, you’re not my type.”

I pushed off the ground and quickly closed the distance between us.

Recalling Yuren’s battle with Lactasia, I knew her weakness was close combat.

“Not so fast!”

Lactasia viciously swung her whip, determined not to let me approach.

With a tearing sound, the whip lashed out fiercely.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sword and whip collided repeatedly.

To an ordinary observer, they’d see nothing but sparks flying in the air, the exchange happening far too quickly to follow.

“Grr…”

As the battle dragged on, a groan escaped from between my lips.

Every time I parried her whip, my body felt heavier, as if weighed down by a massive sandbag.

“What’s the matter? Feeling weaker?”

Lactasia sneered, watching me with a twisted grin.

I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the faint purple aura surrounding her whip.

‘The Blessing of Absorption.’

Her blessing, which drained the life force of her opponents, was making my body sluggish.

“How about it? Ready to surrender now?”

Lactasia smirked, casually twirling the whip in her hand.

“The longer this fight goes on, the more disadvantaged you’ll be.”

“…”

She was right.

The longer the fight lasted against someone with the Blessing of Absorption, the worse off I’d be.

“Hmph.”

Of course.

That’s if I were just an ‘ordinary’ opponent.

“Interesting.”

I let my sword droop slightly and glanced in Yuren’s direction.

It seemed like he had just finished dealing with the puppets and was now looking my way.

“Hah… Hah! Dale! I’ll join you soon, so hang in there for just a bit longer!”

Yuren shouted, panting heavily.

“No.”

I shook my head slightly as I spoke to Yuren.

“Yuren, take the party members and get out of the ruins.”

“What? No way, are you planning to fight alone?!”

I nodded quietly, looking around at Berald, Camilla, and Iris.

All of them were panting heavily, their mana nearly drained from fighting the puppets.

The only one who seemed remotely fine was Yuren.

“They’re in no shape to fight, are they?”

“But…”

“I’m counting on you, Yuren.”

“Ugh.”

Yuren bit his lip, then nodded reluctantly.

“Alright, Dale.”

He began to help the other party members out of the ruins.

“Oh my, do you think I’ll just let them escape?”

Lactasia swung her whip towards the fleeing party members, but—

Fwoosh!

Ashen Sword, Form Two: Blazing Edge.

A blade wreathed in flames deflected her whip.

“You…”

Lactasia’s expression twisted with frustration as she glared at me.

She turned her body toward me, ignoring the fleeing party members.

“Looks like I’ll have to deal with you first, then.”

“Go ahead.”

I stifled a chuckle as I slowly raised my sword that had been hanging low.

“If you think you can, that is.”

The reason I sent my party out of the ruins before the real fight with Lactasia began—

Of course, I wanted to get them to safety since they were exhausted from the earlier battle.

But also—

“I’m still a bit clumsy at controlling it, you see.”

“…What?”

“If no one else is around…”

I grinned, twisting my lips into a wicked smile as I placed my hand over my chest.

“…I can burn everything as much as I want.”

Ssshhh.

The sound of flesh burning filled the air.

“Rise.”

Ashen flames began to engulf my body.