When my eyes cracked open, the first thing I saw wasn't the ceiling, or even light.
It was the wooden leg of a chair.
I tried to move, but my body ignored me. Arms, legs... nothing.
I was a sack of useless flesh staring at a chair leg.
Don't tell me I got downgraded into furniture.
Then—
[Ding!]Cleansing poison from host's blood…
[Ding!]Process complete. Host's body is now responsive.
A jolt of relief shot through me. I flexed my fingers. They twitched. My toes wriggled. My arms lifted when I told them to.
I sat up, a smirk crawling over my lips. "Oh, yes… yes, that's it."
[Congratulations. You have reacquired your body.]
Stretching my arms high, I arched my waist until my spine popped, savoring the feeling. "Mmm… I didn't know I could miss something so much in just a few hours of being away from it."
Words etched themselves across the glowing window:
[Your self-love gives me creeps.]
I snorted. "Well, you'll never understand. You never possessed a body."
A pause.
[At least I don't have to worry about my spine being crushed from behind… by betrayal.]
My eye twitched. "You fucker…"
I forced a long exhale, calming myself before growling, "Forget it. Just — guide me to Sera."
The pane flickered.
[Clarification: 'Guide'?]
I blinked. "…What do you mean clarification? Guide me. Take me. Show me. Use your glowing magic screen to do your job."
[Quest Objective: Protect Sera.
Difficulty: ½ Star
Reward: +10 Stat Points]
[Look! The objective is to "protect" her, not "save" her. Protection requires following the target, not sitting beside a dying body for an hour.]
My glare nearly burned a hole through the blue window. "You're joking."
The reply popped up instantly:
[How the fuck would I know her location?][You were supposed to follow her around, not play nurse beside a corpse.]
I froze.
[Semantics.]
I clutched my head, my voice trembling between disbelief and desperation.
"H-Hey Nexar… this is a village. There are like fifty cattle sheds. Storage barns. Don't tell me I'm supposed to run door-to-door like some desperate milkman!"
The window blinked at me. [Blink.]
I stared. My jaw went slack. "…Oh, hell no."
[Not my problem.]
"Shit!" I yelled, bolting out the door before the smug screen could write another word, sprinting into the village to hunt for Sera.
*******
{Vorrak's PoV}:
"Where is Rune?"
The girl's voice cut through the night air like a blade. She was panting. Probably ran all the way from the heart of the village to here, the outskirts.
Pathetic.
Her chest heaved, her cheeks flushed, strands of white hair sticking to her face from sweat.
Not bad to look at, but what irritated me most was the stubborn fire in her eyes.
She thought she was fierce.
She thought she had the right to stand in front of me and demand answers.
I tilted my chin toward the shed, let my eyes dart once, deliberately, and the thick doors closed behind her. Click. Trapped like a clueless rabbit in a snare.
She tensed, immediately revealing the blade she carried at her side.
A sword. Rusted. Its edge dulled from neglect, barely sharper than a kitchen knife.
The sight nearly made me laugh. She really came here with that?
I smirked, savoring the moment. "He's right behind that door," I said, pointing at the brush room's heavy entrance behind me.
And she believed it. Fool. She actually walked toward it, step by hesitant step.
That blind hope shining in her eyes… disgusting.
Then came the rumble. The floor shivered, dirt rising like a tide before solidifying into a thick concrete wall, sealing the door shut.
The stone hardened instantly, smooth and unbreakable.
Her eyes darted wide, fear flickering for the first time. And from the shadows, he stepped out.
Bastion. Father's loyal dog. Retainer of the house. The wielder of the Earthforge(B).
He was grinning, his sword catching the dim glow of the oil lamp, its edge gleaming faintly as though even the darkness itself was eager to draw blood.
Perfect.
But it didn't end there. The shadows bled into more figures.
Gunther, brutish and grinning, along with four other seasoned combatants standing shoulder to shoulder. All of them, surrounding her.
"What did you all do to Rune?" she demanded, voice sharp, teeth clenched.
The fire in her eyes… still there, still burning.
That damn defiance.
Every time I see it, my blood boils. Who does this bitch think she is?
"Tsk." My lip curled, my hands tightening with excitement. "He's half-dead, alright," I said, letting the grin spread wider across my face.
Her eyes widened. Fury exploded across her face. She looked ready to bite me in the throat if she had to.
And I savored it.
Yes. Yes! That's it. Lose it. Lose your reason. Forget your wits. Get reckless for Rune.
Because defeating her head-on? Impossible. Not for me. Not for Gunther either.
But with Bastion backing us, with four trained blades at my side, and with a few carefully laid tricks like this…
I was confident she'd go down.
And gods, I'd enjoy watching the light fade from those defiant eyes.
"Why waste your beauty on that trash…" I said, my gaze lingering on her curves, my voice oozing contempt. "…become my woman, and I'll take care of you."
Her eyes flared, and she spat words like fire.
"I will kill you for good and flee the village with Rune… scum like you deserve to die!" She gripped her blunt sword tighter, trembling with fury.
I smirked, tilting my head, enjoying every second of her indignation.
"Try it, honey," I said, my tone mocking, amused by her bravado.
Her blade came swinging toward me, blunt edge cutting through the air.
I raised mine, trying to block, but the force threw me off balance.
"Guhhuhh…" I slammed into the floor, pain ripping through my ribs as blood dribbled from my mouth.
"Are you watching the show?" I hissed through gritted teeth, glaring at my minions. "Attack her… like we planned."
Bastion faltered for a split second, staring at the ferocity in that eighteen-year-old girl before him.
But he knew the plan. He knew the effects of Ero's Essence.
Bought from the black market, mixed into the well at her house hours ago.
He lunged. Sword aimed straight at her neck. She blocked him, pushing him back with an impossible strength that made my lips curl in disgusted admiration.
But that was just a feint.
From the shadows, the wall behind her rose in an instant, concrete erupting from the ground, digging hard into her ass.
"Ahhnnn…" the groan slipped past her lips, eyes rolling back slightly, lips twisting with the sensation fueled by Ero's essence.
Gunther seized the opening. He lunged, hands grabbing her chest.
"Ahhn…" a moan escaped her throat, confused, before she was slammed backward, crashing violently against the wall. My smirk widened.
Good. Exactly as planned. Every stagger, every moment of struggle, fuels the essence's heat crawling in her blood. It all fed my advantage.
"Fight me… like a… man," she spat, staggering to her feet, bruised and bloodied but still burning with defiance.
"Oh! Don't worry. We'll fight you like a man…" I grinned, the edges of my lips twisting in disgust.
"After you fell, that is."
Gunther and Bastion laughed, low and cruel, their amusement twisting her lips into a snarl of disgust.
The lackey's lunged at her, trying to seize the opportunity.
She swung her sword, blocking the first attack.
In a flash, she slammed the enemy's head into the wall. Blood and brain matter splattered, and others froze, staring at the gore.
"Move!" I hissed. Fear sparked in their eyes, and one flinched backward.
But Sera was already on him. A wide, brutal swing of her blade sent him crashing into the basin.
Metallic clangs echoed as the iron remnants fell over them and onto the ground.
Before she could recover, one struck from behind. A rod collided with the back of her head.
Cling…
The sound reverberated, sharp and precise. Sprays of saliva escaped her parted lips as her body swayed on her feet, ears ringing from the impact.
."..Ahh.." Her eyes darted.
Perfect. Just as we planned. The Guardian Knight's weakness, diminished peripheral vision, was now fully in play. Behind her is her total blind spot.
Gunther, Bastion, and I exchanged those glances that needed no words. Time to move to the next phase. Time to break her completely.
She caught the lackey by his throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Ughh…" a guttural groan escaped him before she hurled his body toward Gunther.
He staggered, barely dodging the flying corpse by a breath.
She didn't hesitate. Rushing at him before he could regain composure, she barreled into Gunther, and his eyes squeezed shut, bracing for impact.
But Bastion, always anticipating, blocked her sword and drove his knee towards her lower abdomen.
She dropped the sword, arched her back, and stopped his knee with her two palms stacked over each other.
A smirk spread across her face. "Got you!" she taunted, raising her fist to strike Bastion's face.
"No!" Bastion shouted, wide-eyed, bracing. But her hand froze mid-air.
"Gahh.."A splash of saliva escaped her mouth, her tongue out as my berserk-stat-boosted leg drove ruthlessly into her skirt from behind, hitting between her thighs.
Her hands clutched her abdomen as she collapsed onto her knees.
"Mmhnn…" Her eyes rolled back, tongue lolling, drool dripping freely.
Ero's Essence doing its work, heightening every sensation.
Gunther, fortifying his shoes, drove them into her arched back.
"Ahnn.." She pitched forward, face scraping the floor.
"Is the bitch finally down?" I muttered, the cruel excitement curling my stomach.
Bastion approached, flipping her over with his feet. But the fire in her eyes… it was still there.
"No! Get back!" I shouted, but it was already too late.
She clutched Bastion's leg and pulled, rising from the ground. Her knee smashed perfectly into Bastion's face.
Thdd!
Blood spurted from his nose, and he fell back, groaning.
She swayed unsteadily on her feet, but I dared not approach.
Gunther, still shocked, seized her from behind, fists gripping her chest.
"Uhmn." Her body jolted with sensation, eyes rolling back, lips pursing.
"Stay down, bitch!" he shouted.
She didn't. Clutching his hands, she flipped his heavy, fortified body over her head, sending him crashing to the ground.
Thudd!
The metallic echo of impact accompanied a spray of his saliva.
She turned toward me, swaying, possessed almost, moving with a slow inevitability.
"Stay away, bitch," I hissed, throwing my arm in dread.
And then… the low "Mmmffp" reached me as my hand brushed a soft, yielding sensation against her breasts.
She collapsed onto me, half-conscious, eyes now dull, the fire extinguished.
I panted, hands still there as a twisted satisfaction warring within me.
Her body finally gave in to Ero's essence.
I immediately threw her onto the table beside my chair and bolted toward Bastion. He was half-conscious, still staggering from the last hit.
I slapped across his face.
"Bastion! Wake up!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the smoke and tension.
He jolted awake, eyes wide with confusion.
"Concrete," I spat, my words tripping over themselves.
"Seize her up!" I pointed at the bitch lying on the table, her eyes darting with low moans.
Bastion froze for a fraction of a second, clearly not expecting her defeat.
"It's the essence," I said, gripping his arm.
The more we tire her, the more the essence takes over. That's the plan to break her.
"The mighty Guardian Knight… brought low."
"It took all of us just to tire her out?" Gunther groaned, swaying on his legs from the previous impacts.
Bastion, gritting his teeth, conjured the concrete around her arms and legs, binding them together and anchoring her to the wall.
"Faster, faster!" I barked, heart pounding with the fear of her revolting again.
A mocking smile crawled across her lips. A cold sweat ran down my spine.
"Remember… the feeling… Vorrak," she said, her voice cracking, defiance flickering in the heat of her agony.
"You are… never more… than this." Her smile widened, sharper than a blade.
"Shut up!" I snapped, slapping her across the face.
"Mmnn…" A moan escaped her, her body writhing slightly, twisted by the Ero's Essence.
Tongue out, eyes rolling back… the effect was unmistakable. My confidence surged, sickeningly renewed.
As soon as the concrete hardened, I tore the right part of her knee-length dress, exposing her breasts.
Gunther and Bastion smirked at the sight.
Then—
—Boom.
A loud smash jolted our heads toward the door.
The cattle shed's entrance exploded inward, dust and dried grass erupting into the air, obscuring everything.
A silhouette appeared in the smoke, steady and deliberate.
My chest tightened. Who the hell…? I gripped my sword tighter.
"Rune… no… runaway…" Sera's low, shaky voice whispered beside me.
Then, golden eyes cut through the haze. Vibrant. Malicious. Full of life and fury
The same eyes I despised.
"I don't know about you," A gut-wrenching voice, dripping with malice, sent a shiver down my spine.
"But I missed you bastards… from the depths of my soul."