The Demon King had tempted her countless times, hoping she would fully fall and become a complete Succubus.
One of the reasons for his temptations was—if she indulged her desires, as a Succubus, ranking high among the Thirteen Seats would not be a problem.
The Succubus race lived by absorbing human lust and transforming it into Pure Magic Power.
The more they consumed continuously, the faster their strength grew.
Therefore, throughout Succubus history, the strongest individuals were often… well, quite unrestrained.
It was even rumored that some had seduced the Demon King himself to increase their power.
Via’s position as a Demon Lord was purely based on her extensive battle experience and skill, combined with the inherent affinity her kind had for magic power.
Apart from necessary substitutions using blood and occasionally feeding on the emotions of people with strong desires, she never lowered herself to truly feed.
Even if there were times she was so hungry she could barely stand.
In theory, plants’ desires couldn’t give her the sensation of feeding.
Yet, it was clear that the dark elf’s innate plant magic made those plants seem like living creatures.
When their sap touched her, she felt instinctual desires not unlike those of humans.
Moreover… it wasn’t just one plant.
Every plant in the entire garden was like this.
What a pity.
If the one bound here were an ordinary demon woman, judging by the intensity of their desires, she would have already been turned into a breeding bed that only knew how to scream today.
But for Via—
This was an endless source of magic power.
Via didn’t want to sour her relationship with her “good colleagues,” but for her, her chastity was clearly more important.
To be honest, she wasn’t worried about losing her chastity affecting future marriage prospects or anything like that.
The main reason was she could not allow the Demon King to have his way.
“You bastard… I’m warning you, we dark elves don’t forget grudges…”
“Dark elves holding grudges is fine. Once I use you until your brain fries and you lose your memories, naturally there’ll be no grudges left. Isn’t that right?”
Via showed a sinister smile.
The spell in her hands seemed to be brewing something as the pale purple light flickered along her fingers.
The dark elf’s breath caught.
That light alone was unsettling; the aura it exuded felt deeply unnatural.
“Impudent!”
From the other’s panicked tone, Via could clearly sense her unraveling.
For this dark elf, she could not even imagine the consequences of being controlled by a Succubus.
After all, Succubi had a poor reputation in the demon world.
Plants towering to blot out the sky burst forth from the ground, and the severed plants quickly regrew.
They all surged toward Via, attempting to strangle this seemingly insignificant Succubus within their cage.
However, Via moved faster than the plants.
Before the plants could react, she had already reached Muiry.
As a Demon Lord, Muiry’s reaction was also swift. Numerous thick bamboo stalks—more precisely, bamboo-type monsters—sprouted from beneath her feet.
Her defense left no blind spots, but the only problem was that she wasn’t the only one who could cast spells.
The soil beneath Muiry emitted an abnormal rumbling; rocks and earth rose, forming a giant of earth and stone.
Then, to Muiry’s horrified expression, the giant swung its fist—about the size of Muiry’s face—and struck precisely on Via’s lower abdomen.
In Via’s ears, it sounded like a delicate organ was rupturing.
From the momentary pain twisting Muiry’s face, it was clear the blow was solid.
There was no time to care about how badly that punch hurt Muiry.
Taking advantage of her being down, Via quickly tore through the protective barrier and grabbed Muiry by the arm.
“Pathetic, Muiry,” Via said slowly, looking at the dark elf whose face twisted in pain, “how should I judge you? You’re far too arrogant. Because I’m the last seat, you think I’m no threat? Or do you believe that in this garden, you alone are the ruler?”
Of course, Via did feel a significant gap in power compared to Muiry.
After all, if Muiry hadn’t attacked with the intention of breaking her, but outright killing her, Via wouldn’t have been able to absorb so much of the plants’ desires, and thus wouldn’t have the immense magic to sustain such a powerful spell.
This victory owed some luck.
Still, even if she lost, she had an escape plan from the start, albeit a messy one.
Now that she had won, she wouldn’t let this farce end easily.
As Muiry said, dark elves remember grudges well.
What if she let her go and she retaliated later?
Luck might help once, but not always.
“Guh… if you have the guts, then kill me, you despicable, filthy Succubus…”
Muiry was a Demon Lord.
It was impossible for her to beg Via.
Even gasping for breath, she still looked at Via with a provoking glare.
If Via killed her, she would violate the tacit understanding between Demon Lords and the Demon King’s orders.
She could be expelled or killed herself.
If Via didn’t kill her… Muiry was certain the next time, this arrogant brat would no longer be so cocky.
She would lock her tightly in her prison, isolate her sight and hearing, continuously inject stimulating plant toxins, so that she would never see the light of day again, forced to cultivate ever stronger plants for her…
“Hey Muiry, are you thinking some very rude thoughts in your head?”
Via’s voice suddenly came.
“Huh?”
Muiry’s eyes widened in shock.
The false smile on the Succubus’ face had vanished, replaced by disdain and disgust.
Succubi… they don’t have mind-reading abilities, do they?
“I can sense the presence of lust,” Via said softly.
“Your desires were abnormally high just now… You wouldn’t be thinking of doing something to me in your mind? Or are you hoping I’d do something to you?”
“No way!”
“Let’s hope so,” Via smiled again.
“But just in case, I have to do a little trick.”
She pressed the pale purple light in her hand gently against the dark elf’s recently battered abdomen.
A wave of heat rose from Muiry’s body.
At first, she didn’t realize what was happening until the heat spread from her abdomen to her whole body and she finally understood…
What kind of spell would a Demon Lord of the Succubus clan cast on her lower abdomen was obvious.
“N… no… please no…”
Only now did she truly feel fear.
She wasn’t sure if she’d hold a grudge from now on, but at least her body would faithfully remember the Succubus she loathed.
“Congratulations, Dark Elf Lord, you’ve received the Succubus Lord’s first-ever ‘Marking.’
Even the saint who served as my toy never had the honor of this.”
“No! No! Please remove it! I… I’ll do anything!”
“I don’t believe a grudge-bearing race will keep promises after I let her go.”
Via showed an evil smile.
At this moment, she truly looked like a Demon Lord.