Chapter 142: Succubus Imprisons XX-Transformed Muzan

*Click.*

The outer hatch of the battery compartment, resembling an iron maiden, slammed shut ruthlessly, completely swallowing Aimil’s small face, which was twisted in despair and disbelief.

A thick, dark current whispered as it slowly surged forward, wrapping her tightly.

It pressed into every corner of her body, binding every joint from top to bottom.

“Wuu…? Wuu-wuu…?”

Aimil could not open her mouth.

She could only stare with wide, terrified eyes, letting out whimpering, mournful cries for mercy.

But no one would pity her anymore.

In the eternal night, the innocent and ignorant Pupus felt no fear or loneliness.

The Pupus that formed the compartment extended long gel suction cups that Liya had modified.

Like industrious worker bees, they began their diligent collection work.

The soft gel brushed over every inch of the “petals” in the “flower garden,” sparing no effort to collect the “dew.”

Yet, the dew seemed endless.

During the oppressive long night, the desperate flower remained silent.

The Moon could not make a sound; only the pitter-patter of the rain from the dark clouds echoed within the prison.

Pupu-shaped petroleum extractors were deployed at the highest peaks of the towering snow mountains, sucking all the energy within the mountains into the channel at the other end.

The sun was nowhere to be seen, but the sunset glow was as red as fire.

“Wuu-wuu-wuu—”

Trapped in the eternal night, Aimil could not scream or struggle.

She could only weep and whimper, trying every possible way to beg for mercy.

However, in the face of that unavoidable punishment and humiliation, her body turned into a pile of soft mud.

She felt as if she were falling into a sea of desperate pink.

Every breath was accompanied by a shiver of the soul, and every tremble felt like being pushed to the mountaintop by a demon, only to be forced to leap off the cliff, falling straight back into the valley of despair.

The traits of a Succubus caused Magic Power to surge within her body constantly.

This should have been a joyful thing, the very instinct a Succubus craved.

But as soon as the Magic Power was stored in her bodily fluids, those precious substances rich in magic flowed out of every “leak” like trickling streams, ruthlessly snatched away by the Pupus tightly wrapping her.

A cycle—a cycle of despair.

It was an endless, “sweet” torture.

Tears welled up and were instantly sucked dry.

She knew she would never be able to leave.

In this narrow, dark cage filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, she would be punished, plundered, and squeezed forever.

She would remain here until her mind completely broke, until she gave up thinking and accepted her fate, submissively becoming an “energy ore” for the Pupus.

She would endure a thousand, or even ten thousand years, relying only on the low-level pleasure brought by her Succubus instincts.

Aimil whimpered for help, but no one in the darkness answered her.

Her proud and cunning consciousness finally withered away amidst the continuous fear, spasms, and loss of soul.

***

Outside the battery compartment.

Liya clapped her hands lightly, watching with satisfaction as the battery compartment slowly sank to the bottom of the crystal-clear spring in the center of Pu Town.

As the compartment submerged, strange ripples spread across the once-calm surface of the water—a sign that Magic Power was diffusing in all directions.

The pond water seemed to be injected with life, beginning to emit a faint glow.

The surrounding Pupus, who had been lounging lazily, suddenly perked up and scrambled to swim toward the center of the pool.

The Pupus narrowed their eyes, intoxicated by the magic-filled environment.

One pink Pupu even underwent an Advancement on the spot, its dumpling-like body slowly growing and expanding.

“The results are quite good.”

Liya nodded in satisfaction.

‘I didn’t expect that turning a Succubus into a battery would provide so much Magic Power… What a surprise. As expected, when playing SLG games like *Stellaris* or *Crusader Kings*, the less human you act, the stronger you become.’

“From now on, this place shall be called the High-grade Pupu Cultivation Spring.”

She wore a gratified smile.

“With this thing, why would I even bother hunting Magical Beasts? I can just get my stock directly from the Seventh Demon Realm.”

“Heh… As expected of Demon King Lia, you always come up with these bizarre ideas.”

Beside her, Zyra, who had transformed into a mass of black shadow Pupu, sprawled on the ground.

Her tone was lazy, yet tinged with a hint of complexity.

“If the Hero had killed you back then, you really might have dealt an unexpected, heavy blow to the Empire.”

“Actually, I never wanted to fight to the death with the Empire.”

Liya jumped into the pool, stretched her arms, and lay on the water’s surface, swimming idly on her back while clearing her mind.

‘You should have been able to tell from my previous attitude toward trading with you, right? I prefer making a fortune peacefully. It’s just that if I didn’t take the initiative to attack, the Empire would have come for me. I had no choice but to try a scorched-earth strategy to force the Empire to give up its invasion.’

“I can tell. You are so rational that you almost don’t seem like one of the Demonkind,” Zyra agreed, nodding.

“Probably because I can’t sense the God of Demons,” Liya remarked with a sigh.

‘Ever since I discovered that they wouldn’t even include me in the Demon Ascension Ritual, I’ve been wondering—what do I actually mean to this world? Is it possible that from the very beginning, my mental state has been completely different from the other Demonkind?’

“The Demonkind are descendants of the Chosen Great Demons, and the Chosen Great Demons are apostles selected and blessed by the God of Demons. Perhaps the Demonkind are constantly influenced by the God of Demons, while I… I am independent of the entire Demon Realm.”

Zyra fell into thought.

“It’s also possible that from the very beginning, the selection criteria for the Great Demons favored those who were closer to the God of Demons’ expectations. Their descendants would naturally be the same.”

“Ha, that makes sense.”

Liya turned her head to look at Zyra, who had turned into a blob.

“That arrogant Maive is cautious enough, but you’re actually more of a coward than her, swearing loyalty to a Pupu…”

Thinking about what had happened last night, Liya felt a bit amused.

Zyra was also a strange and cunning person.

From the look in Liya’s eyes when she looked at Maive, Zyra suspected that Liya was also a Demon who had been victimized by that Stat Monster, the Hero.

From there, she deduced that Liya was likely the true Demon King Lia.

After hesitating for half the night over whether or not to report her to the Hero, she resolutely chose to surrender to Liya.

There were two reasons.

First, she believed that since Demon King Lia could survive, hide beside the Hero, and even play the Hero like a fiddle, surrendering to the Demon Lord was a promising career move.

Second, the Hero was too “upright.”

Based on Zyra’s sixty years of experience in the Empire’s bureaucracy, such a person would find it impossible to get anywhere in the Empire.

Even if he barely managed to survive, he would live a life of poverty and frugality.

Those who followed him were destined to suffer for the sake of an Ideal.

Zyra had no such grand ideals.

She wanted to live, and she wanted to live well—to live a life that was brilliant, beautiful, extravagant, and decadent.

Compared to the honest and upright Hero, someone like Demon King Lia—who knew how to make money and how to share it—was clearly the better choice as a leader to follow.