When Vanya saw Rayner's expression, her face immediately turned pale, and all hope vanished.
"That son of a bitch! Did it really have to be him!? If it were Li-Xeng or Douglas, they would surely find a way, but him..."
Vanya knew that Aphrodite was far more beautiful than Yumi, but there were indeed some men who had a fetish for slimmer, younger women. She also knew that Rayner wasn't one of them.
"This is a piece of cake for me. I've always had a bit of a thing for Yumi. Don't take it the wrong way, Yumi-chan. You're an adult now, after all!"
Yumi's face turned bright red at Rayner's words. Deep down, she knew he was only playing along for the sake of the 'competition,' but she still found herself staring at the floor, blushing furiously.
"You bastard! Do you think that's something you should say to a little girl?"
Erika punched Rayner in the stomach. He felt the impact and doubled over in pain.
"HAH! AS IF! Just look at this little rat's body! If I got naked, you'd cum on the spot!"
Aphrodite struck a seductive pose in front of Rayner, who swallowed hard at the sight of the woman's enormous breasts.
"W-well, I don't think it's fair to resort to something like that..."
Rayner tried looking around, but everyone could already see that he was sweating nervously and looking agitated.
"This competition is already lost. There's no way Yumi would ever take her clothes off or anything like that. Damn it, if it were me, then maybe... I think there's still time to switch places..."
Erika considered taking Yumi's place, but, to her surprise, the girl stepped forward herself, still blushing but now looking determined.
"I-I can do it! If taking off my clothes is what it takes to save the world... That's nothing compared to what you've all already been through."
"She's right. I haven't done anything. I'm useless. I've never done anything for the group. All I can do is provide buffs and cast spells from a distance. I'm only good for carrying the chalice. I want to become someone who's actually capable of doing something!"
Ever since she was little, Yumi had suffered from low self-esteem.
She had always been looked down on at school for being quiet and focusing on her studies.
Even after entering high school, she continued to be bullied by her female classmates.
She had never even experienced romantic interest from anyone.
Throughout her adolescence, she had already convinced herself that something like that would never happen to her.
Disillusioned with her youth and school life, she eventually thought that perhaps she could at least become someone who helped with her parents' business.
They owned a bakery, but whenever Yumi tried to help them serve customers, she would freeze up whenever she had to speak to people.
The girl's communication difficulties were taking away every opportunity in her life.
All she could do was help prepare bread and pastries, but she felt that it wasn't enough. She feared that, sooner or later, her inability to communicate confidently and assert herself would cost her something far more important.
After graduating from high school, she attended three job interviews.
Convinced that she would never change, she even considered taking her own life.
And during the very week she had made up her mind to do so, the Purge occurred.
Yumi was taken to a cruel world, but in that world, everyone was just like her: useless.
She became a mage in a team of twenty people tasked with defeating a foreign nation that oppressed their homeland, but their enemies were far stronger than they were.
The country Yumi found herself in was plagued by poverty and decay. Only a handful of people could use magic, and she was one of them.
At least there, she was a little more capable than some others. Even so, she still felt powerless in the face of that world's challenges.
When she was on the verge of death during a battle, she was sent to the Tower.
She wanted to discover a world where she could thrive and become useful.
She had already made two attempts, but she hadn't been able to accomplish anything.
"I just... want to DO SOMETHING!"
Yumi stepped in front of Aphrodite and stared directly into her eyes without blinking.
"I will win."
Aphrodite became furious, her face turning red with rage. She stripped at the same time and positioned herself in front of Rayner.
"COME ON, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! JACK OFF RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"
Rayner tried to avert his eyes, but the woman cast a spell on him, forcing him to look at her.
"Hey, aren't you cheating, you bitch? If you think you can win, then it should be a fair competition. So let's do something that's equal for both of you."
Erika said this while holding her axe in front of Aphrodite.
"Hahaha! Do you really think I have any chance of losing?"
"I do. So here's what we're going to do. Rayner will stand still in one spot, and each of you will take turns trying to seduce him. You'll stand in front of him and can do whatever you want."
"And what if we both manage to get him hard?"
Aphrodite asked suspiciously.
"Damn it, this is such a shitty competition! I can't even talk about this stuff! Why don't we just fight and get it over with?" Erika muttered, blushing and looking a little uncomfortable as she tried to find a way out of the situation.
"You can measure the size... but you have to be fair."
Erika said this while turning her face away. Rayner, meanwhile, looked completely flustered and lost.
"D-doesn't my judgment count for anything?"
Rayner asked awkwardly.
"Of course you'd rig it in favor of the girl from your own group!"
"N-no... Unless I hypnotize him so he'll forget about both of us."
Yumi said, her voice slightly louder than usual.
"Huh? You can do that?"
Aphrodite looked at her suspiciously.
"It's true that Yumi has that ability, but she's never used it on a human before... I remember you used it on a goblin on the seventeenth floor to make it forget our location. There were several of them, right?"
Erika said, looking at the girl.
"Y-yes, but it works on humans, too..."
"HAH! As if I'm going to believe that! Then test it on one of you two first. I want proof."
Aphrodite glanced at Vanya and Erika.
"You can test it on me. I don't mind."
Vanya stepped forward, and Yumi cast the spell on her.
The effect lasted approximately five minutes. During that time, the target would forget anything related to the people standing in front of them, as well as their surrounding environment.
"Vanya, do you know who we are?"
Erika poked the woman's shoulder, only for Vanya to slap her hand away.
"Don't touch me. What the hell is going on here?"
The woman's reaction seemed completely genuine.
"Hmm, you don't know who these people are? You don't remember how you got here?"
Aphrodite began circling Vanya.
"No, but I have a weapon. If you come any closer, I'll have to use it."
Vanya's cold, aggressive demeanor remained unchanged, and Aphrodite began to believe that the spell was real.
"Looks like it really works. I guess this will make things fair, then. All right, go ahead and cast it on that guy over there."
Aphrodite pointed at Rayner, who still looked nervous.
"We need to wait for the effect to wear off..."
Yumi glanced at Vanya, who had begun walking toward the temple's exit.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Erika demanded.
"I don't remember anything about this place, but you people are far too suspicious. I'm not getting any closer."
"Fine, but don't leave! We'll explain everything later. We only erased your memory to test something. Just trust us..."
Rayner tried to explain, but Vanya remained suspicious.
Vanya waited at a distance until the five minutes had passed. Then Yumi cast the spell on Rayner, and the others prepared for the 'test.'
"Since I'm such a fair person, I'll let you go first. Each of us gets two minutes to try to seduce him and give him an erection. But, as Erika said, no taking off our clothes. We have to rely on our charisma and beauty, and I'm confident in mine!"
Aphrodite declared this as though she had already won.
Yumi's heart was practically pounding out of her chest, but she was determined to go through with it, no matter what.
"We're wasting too much time here. This temple is my responsibility to deal with. I'm not going to lose! I'm going to be useful!"
Before approaching Rayner, who was sitting on a pillar under the hypnotic spell, Yumi took her staff and made it emit a purple light that flowed into her body.
"Hey, are you cheating?"
Aphrodite stood up and confronted her.
"Hahaha! No, I'm just MOTIVATING MYSELF EVEN MORE!"
Yumi's entire demeanor had changed. Aphrodite was stunned to see the girl speaking with such conviction.
Yumi removed some of her clothing, stopping short of becoming completely naked. Wearing only her bra and panties, she sat on Rayner's lap and began rubbing herself against him while licking his ear and whispering filthy things to him that the others couldn't hear.
Erika and Vanya were both embarrassed and astonished at the sight of Yumi acting this way. They stood frozen like statues.
Aphrodite's jaw dropped, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing.
Yumi began bouncing rapidly on Rayner's lap. He kept his hands still, but his face had already turned red, and his expression had become dazed with pleasure.
"P-please get off..."
Rayner grabbed Yumi by the waist and made her get off his lap. When Erika approached to 'check' the bulge in Rayner's pants, the young man became utterly embarrassed and stood up, trying to hide something.
"What happened!?"
Aphrodite asked, already suspecting that he hadn't become aroused. After all, Yumi was slim and much younger than the type of woman he usually preferred. Surely, he had been more embarrassed by what she had done than actually turned on.
But when Rayner turned to face Erika, she noticed a stain on his tight-fitting pants.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"So you came, you dog? I haven't even gotten to do everything I said I'd do yet."
Yumi, whose demeanor had completely changed, spoke with a mischievous smile.
"Go ahead and enjoy your two minutes now, Goddess of Love."
Yumi approached Aphrodite and stared at her arrogantly.