Side Story Chapter 67: Den of the Night Demons (4)
"S-Succubi…?"
Squelch.
Kang-Woo was reminded of the green tentacles covered in sticky mucus. He had seen the succubi that served Lilith a few times during his days in Hell. Just like Lilith, they were nightmarish creatures that had likely crawled out from the worst of nightmares. Imagining a den of such creatures sent shivers down Kang-Woo’s spine.
"Th-That’s correct! This is a space created by evil Succubi!"
"How many… how many of them are there?" asked Kang-Woo as he gulped.
"Uhh… I-I’m not sure…"
The man fell into thought as his eyes darted around. Kang-Woo raised his fist in silence.
"Gaaaaaaaah!! W-Wait! Please wait!!"The man turned back to look at the collapsed people as if begging for assistance.
Another man who seemed to be his comrade quickly answered, "N-No one is certain about their exact numbers! B-But…"
"But what?"
"I heard that the Den of the Night Demons consists of at least three hundred Succubi!"
"THREE HUNDRED?!!"
’Did you fucking say three hundred?!!’
Kang-Woo was so shocked that his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Kang-Woo fell to his knees as he screamed in terror.
’Three hundred Succubi…?! I shouldn’t have fucking come! I should’ve just lazed around at home with my Darling! As I thought, it’s dangerous outside!’
Kang-Woo stepped back in pallor.
Seeing a sliver of hope from seeing Kang-Woo trembling in fear, the man who had been beaten by Kang-Woo shouted, "N-Now isn’t the time to fight among ourselves!"
"..."
"We have to join forces to escape from this den of Succubi!"
A vein bulged from Kang-Woo’s forehead.
"Yeah, makes sense," Kang-Woo answered.
"R-Right?"
"Yup, it makes a whole lot of sense for me to beat your ass."
’You should’ve listened to me when you had the chance.’
Bash—!
Kang-Woo kicked the man’s stomach like a football.
"Kurgh—!! Urgh!" The man clenched his stomach and coughed up blood.
"Fuuu," Kang-Woo sighed as he looked down at the convulsing man.
"Y-You fucking brat!!" The man who had proudly revealed himself as an apostle of Helya earlier glared at Kang-Woo as he bared his teeth. "Fine! Kill us, motherfucker! We’re gonna die here anyway so it doesn’t matter who kills us, whether it be you or the Succubi!!"
"Alright. If you want to die so badly, I’ll kill you."
"H-Hahaha!! You’ll follow us in death soon enough after once your life force is drained by the Succubi!" shouted the man as he acted calm despite being terrified.
Kang-Woo stopped in his tracks as he was walking toward the man.
’Draining life force, huh?’
If this was a den of Succubi like the men said, the Succubi would come to them sooner or later to drain their life force. Kang-Woo had seen the process of Succubi draining their prey several times. They wrapped their prey with dozens of tentacles and brutally squeezed out their life force to the very last drop. He never wanted to see such a horrifying sight again.
’I could use these guys as bait, at the very least.’
It was not wise to kill them right away.
"Th-Three hundred Succubi… Ahem! What a predicament," said Balrog anxiously as he approached. No, his voice was filled with anticipation rather than anxiety for some reason. "Hah! My word! H-Hundreds of those beautiful and lewd demons?! Ahem! I’m worried they might fall for my burly muscles!"
"What the fuck are you talking about…?"
Kang-Woo’s expression immediately crumpled.
"You have to agree, don’t you, my king?! What should I do if those Succubi fall for me and try to seduce me bare naked?!"
"Kill them all, obviously."
’Three hundred Succubi trying to seduce us while bare naked… Fuck, I almost imagined it.’
Balrog exclaimed in shock, "H-How could you say such a thing?! Succubi are rare, even in Hell! To think you would even consider eradicating a paradise of three hundred Succubi…"
From his perspective, a den of Succubi was nothing but a paradise made up of only beautiful women.
"PARADISE, MY ASS!!!" Kang-Woo shouted furiously.
He felt nauseous just from imagining a gathering of those hideous tentacle monsters.
’Whatever the case, I have to get the fuck out of here fast.’
Kang-Woo needed to find a way out before the Succubi came to feast on their prey.
"Balrog, I’m destroying the tunnel."
"M-My king?"
They had no time to waste. The Succubi could come to suck the life force out of the collapsed men at any second.
’Anything but Succubi.’
Kang-Woo could confidently face any other demon but he couldn’t even bear the sight of one hideous tentacle monster.
"Huup."
Whoooom!
Immense demonic energy, more than enough to obliterate the tunnel, gathered around Kang-Woo’s fist.
Swoosh—!
- Hohohoho!
As he was about to swing his fist, pink smoke covered the ground. The collapsed men trembled in terror as soon as they saw the fog-like smoke.
"Gurghhh! W-We’re dead…!"
"Th-The Succubi are here—!!"
"W-Were all gonna die!"
Chaos spread like poison; the apostles of Helya and Ishvalda screamed in fear.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!"
Kang-Woo also screamed in extreme fear as he pulled his hair among the apostles. It was too late to escape.
"Th-They’re coming! Here they fucking come!!"
Kang-Woo trembled as he took several steps back. He could see a black silhouette inside the pink mist walking seductively toward them. He wanted to shut his eyes tightly but he knew better than anyone else that it was meaningless due to his transcendental senses.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Balrog cheered with his fists clenched.
Unlike the terrified expressions of the others, only his face was filled with excitement and ecstasy.
"Fufu. We have quite the feast today ♥"
"Haaaaaaaaah~ Such a thick scent of energy~ I’m already getting wet~ ♥"
"Oh? Why are they all collapsed? Fufu, are they offering themselves to us?"
Seductive voices as if they were born to seduce men echoed throughout the cave. The Succubi revealed themselves from the pink mist at last.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"S-SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
The apostles who could no longer move after getting beaten by Kang-Woo screamed in terror.
"FUUUUUUUUCK!! THEY’RE HERE! THEY’RE REALLY HERE!!"
Kang-Woo trembled in despair and panic.
"Oh? There’s a cute little boy among them."
"Kyaah! I call dibs on him!"
"Fufufu. I’ll let you taste the greatest pleasure you’ve ever had, so why don’t you come here, little boy?"
The Succubi giggled bewitchingly as they approached the men. The beauty of the Succubi who came out from the smoke lived up to their reputation of draining the life force of men.
"Fuck off, damn tentacle mons— huh?"
’Why are they beautiful?’
Kang-Woo’s eyes opened widely in disbelief. They were tall and slender; not only were their breasts plentiful but their waists were narrow and their buttocks were thick in comparison. The Succubi who came out of the mist looked as if they were the culmination of every man’s hopes and dreams.
"What the fuck?"
’What the fuck?’
"Why are they beautiful?"
Kang-Woo stared at the Succubi, his expression frozen. The Succubi, who were wearing so little clothes to the point that there was no point even wearing anything, giggled as they posed like supermodels.
"He’s asking why Succubi are beautiful? Fufufu. Did you come here without knowing what Succubi are, cute little boy?"
"Hohoho. Don’t you worry. These older ladies here will teach you nice and well about what Succubi are~ ♥"
"Hehe. That boy is cute, so let’s raise him as our pet!"
The Succubi giggled, having completely misunderstood the reason why Kang-Woo was shocked.
"Oh…" Kang-Woo expressed.
He finally understood everything— about why demons from the Nine Hells were targeting another world out of the blue, and why people of another Earth knew about this place known as the Den of the Night Demons.
’These Succubi… aren’t from the Nine Hells.’
Just like how there was another Earth, the Succubi were also from another Hell
."A-Aaaahh."
Kang-Woo’s hands shook. Something boiling deep inside his heart surged up to his brain. A blazing emotion took over him,
"MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!"
Intense rage burnt his sense of reason to a crisp.
"WHY…? WHY THE FUCK IS THE NINE HELLS… IN THE NINE HELLS, THEY WERE…!!!"
’Succubi from another world are so beautiful, but why are the Succubi from the Nine Hells so…’
"FUCKING BITCHES! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TREMBLING IN FEAR FOR SUCCUBI THAT LOOK LIKE THAT?!" Kang-Woo screamed as he picked up one of the collapsed men by the collar.
"Kurgh! Urgh! Guh! Wh-Why are you—"
Unimaginable frustration boiled inside Kang-Woo.
’If only…’
If only he had fallen into the other world’s Hell instead of the Nine Hells and rose to become the Demon King there, he would never have developed this wretched trauma.
"Haaa, haaa," Kang-Woo panted heavily as he glared fiercely at the Succubi.
"O-Oh?"
"S-Such power…!"
The Succubi turned as white as a sheet after feeling the energy bursting from Kang-Woo and stepped back.
’They mustn’t exist.’
Kang-Woo clenched his fists. Beautiful Succubi! Succubi with no more than two eyes and no yellow pus! Succubi without tentacles— no, those green wriggling trash!!! He refused to believe such beings existed.
"Beings like you… cannot exist. No such beings can exist in this universe. I can’t… I can’t be the only one to experience such pain."
As Kang-Woo was spending his days in agony with tentacles wrapped around him, beautiful Succubi were giggling and frolicking in a Hell of another world. He refused to believe such a reality.
"Yeah, you guys… aren’t Succubi."
Kang-Woo slowly raised his right arm.
Schwing!
A jet-black greatsword appeared in his hand.
"Balrog," he called.
"BLEEEEEEEEEEGHHH!!!"
"...?"
All Kang-Woo got as a response was the sound of vomiting. Balrog’s eyes were bloodshot as he puked so hard that he could even vomit out his intestines. He glared at the Succubi.
"Succubi without tentacles…?" Balrog took off his pendant and glared ferociously at the Succubi. "HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELVES SUCCUBI WITH SUCH HIDEOUS FORMS?!!"
Boom!
A muscle-bound red giant with eyes trembling with rage appeared out of nowhere.
"BEAUTIFUL SUCCUBI—!"
"HIDEOUS SUCCUBI—!"
The voice of the two demons overlapped.
"MUST NOT EXIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIST!!!"
***
"Wh-What? Kang-Woo and Mr. Balrog entered a Gate?" said Han Seol-Ah anxiously as she grabbed Lilith’s hand in pallor.
"The king is with Balrog, so there’s nothing you need to worry about. Besides, the king has regained much of his power."
"But…"
Seol-Ah lowered her head with a dark expression. She recalled the sight of the unconscious Kang-Woo after being attacked by Akart’s subordinate. She fell into thought for a while and then pushed back her chair as she stood up.
"I’m getting too worried, unnie. Please tell me where the Gate that Kang-Woo entered is."
Seol-Ah clenched her fist, her eyes filled with determination.