## Chapter 1025 – 1025. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
I looked at the three people who had been captured.
I looked at the unconscious Terius. He was bigger than when I had seen him before. Yuria approached me and whispered.
“Terius. He’s a man who’s been making a name for himself as a berserker lately.”
“Berserker?”
I examined Terius again. When I had seen him before, he was just an ordinary mercenary. He was a bit young, and he was a guy who had tried to take my Nepia without knowing his place.
His face still had its former shape, but his body had changed to be bulky. His muscles felt like rocks. More than anything, he had a missing arm that was now there.
“I can feel demonic power from his arm.”
Yuria said. I focused my senses on Terius’s arm. She said it was demonic power, but I didn’t feel anything else at all.
“It seems like he transformed a lower demon into an arm and attached it. It’s more like a parasite.”
A shadow blade appeared from the ground and was swung.
*Swoosh!*
Terius’s arm was cut off, along with black blood. Dark tentacles appeared on the cross-section of the arm and wriggled. The arm shot up and tried to fly towards me, but it was pierced by Yuria’s dagger and slammed into the ground. Yuria glared at the arm with cold eyes. It looked like a disgusting bug.
“There’s nothing special about it, so I’ll incinerate it.”
I nodded at Yuria’s words. Flames rose and burned Terius’s arm.
*Kieeeeeeeeeeek!*
The lower demon’s scream was loud.
I turned my gaze to Kyle. His skin had turned purple. Even while restrained, he was glaring at me as if he would kill me.
“Eugene…! I will never forgive you! Yuria! You’re being deceived! Kill Eugene and find freedom! No, release me! I’ll end this myself!”
Kyle said dramatically. To come this far and act like this. He wasn’t in a normal state.
‘Should I kill him?’
I was conflicted.
‘If I return him to his original state, he might be quite useful.’
And there were a few things that bothered me. How did he know I was in the Hebersite Mountains, and did Kyle’s other subordinates know? If I killed Kyle here, the position I had built up could be shaken.
‘If my position is shaken, I’ll have more work to do. There’s no need to go around the long way when I can go the easy way.’
I ignored Kyle and turned my gaze to the side.
I made eye contact with Baron Olond Glbett.
“Well, well. It’s quite a meeting, Baron Eugene Prukerus. I am Baron Olond Glbett. I am currently working as a vassal of Lord Kyle.”
Baron Glbett’s voice was pleasant to listen to. It was as clear and pleasant as an announcer’s. I thought he could be a huge hit if he became a singer.
“Did you manipulate Kyle? Knowing that I’m here… are you a demon contractor of the Demon Society?”
“That’s right. I am a member of the Demon Society and a demon contractor. I have admitted it without hiding, so I believe you won’t do anything barbaric like torture.”
“My questions aren’t over yet, so that’s still unknown. What is your purpose? What were you trying to do with Kyle?”
“My purpose was to kill you, Eugene. Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I don’t have any personal feelings towards you. I was just doing what the Pantheon told me to do.”
“Is the Pantheon targeting me?”
“You probably have an idea why.”
Bella Hutris and Baint Hutris came to mind. I had interfered with what happened in the Polank Forest, so it was natural for the Demon Society to target me. I must be a thorn in their side.
For reference, I killed Baint, and Bella is living in my mansion as my plaything.
“But to think that there would be a skilled person who can easily play with an aura master… I was told to be careful of the silver-haired maid, but I didn’t know she would be this strong. Lord Kyle was stronger than anyone I’ve seen, but…”
“Even though you know Bella was defeated by me, you only sent Kyle? You’re underestimating me… no, Yuria, too much.”
“I admit that I underestimated you. But I had no choice. Bella and Baint are nothing special when it comes to pure combat power.”
That’s true. Baint’s puppet ability is limited by various conditions. Bella’s power to control plagues is terrifying, but it’s only specialized for mass destruction, and her personal combat level wasn’t that high.
I didn’t ask for more information about the Demon Society. I already knew about it roughly through the original story, and I had learned specific information through Bella.
What I was more curious about was Kyle’s current state.
“Yuria! You’re being deceived! I, I’ll save you!”
Even while restrained, he showed obsession towards Yuria. Yuria ignored Kyle with a blank face.
“Baron Glbett. How did you make him like that? Is your demonic power the ability to brainwash?”
“Are you trying to expose all my secrets right away…”
“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. Let’s see how long you can last. Are you good at enduring pain? Should we start with your fingers?”
Baron Glbett immediately backed down.
“I’m sorry! I don’t have any talent for enduring pain, so I’ll pass. Are you curious about my abilities? I’ll tell you without hiding anything!”
“This bastard… is he playing with me?”
“No, no! How could I ever do that!”
When I threatened him with a sword, Baron Glbett shook his head vigorously. Seeing his trembling eyes and the cold sweat running down his face, it seemed he really didn’t want to be tortured. Well, it would be strange if someone wanted that.
“The demon I contracted with is a high-ranking demon named Bitsol.”
“…Bitsol?”
“It’s also called the demon of desire. It has the ability to see and stimulate the desires and emotions of the target.”
It was a useless ability for a high-ranking demon. But then again, Kyle’s state was completely messed up.
“Yuria…! I’ll save you. I will…!”
Kyle was being noisy.
I gestured to Yuria. Without any hesitation, Yuria came to my side. I grabbed her shoulders and cheeks and kissed her.
“Mmm…”
Yuria made a nasal sound and accepted the kiss. Our tongues mixed wetly.
“Aaaaaaaah!! Eugene!!! Get away!! Get away from Yuria!!”
The restrained Kyle screamed while having a fit. I enjoyed the kiss with Yuria a little longer and then pulled away. The silver thread that connected her lips to mine slowly fell.
“Was that really necessary?”
Elena clicked her tongue and shook her head. I observed Kyle’s reaction. He was still panting. He was on the verge of losing his mind.
“Baron Glbett. To see and stimulate desire… does that mean you stimulated Kyle’s desire?”
“Yes. Lord Kyle had an obsession with that silver-haired maid. It wasn’t originally that bad, but… after stimulating his desire and talking sweet words, it became like that.”
“It seems like he can’t make proper judgments when it comes to things related to Yuria.”
“You saw right through it. It made him easy to control.”
I put my hand on Yuria’s shoulder. Just that made him have a fit and scream again. He seemed like a human at first, but now he was like a beast. The purple energy flowing from Kyle’s body was ominous, but he couldn’t break free from Yuria’s restraints.
“…Were you planning to approach Kyle from the beginning?”
“That wasn’t the case. Actually, I was planning to choose one of the promising nobles and go under them. But I happened to see Lord Kyle. I saw his deep and dark desires despite his outstanding skills. Lord Kyle was promising, so I invested in his future. If Lord Kyle became the Count of Prukerus, things would be easier in many ways. But you, Eugene, were even more outstanding than Lord Kyle.”
Baron Glbett was flattering me to survive. If Baron Glbett had been a pretty woman, I might have been tempted. But he was a man.
I asked with a nonchalant face.
“So, approaching Kyle wasn’t a meticulous plan.”
“Yes. It was closer to an impulsive act. It was my own independent choice, not an order from the Pantheon.”
Baron Glbett’s choice could be called a success. After all, Kyle is the protagonist of this world. Baron Glbett had won a lottery ticket. However, the problem was that Yuria, whom Kyle was obsessed with, was too strong.
“If you can see desire… you can see what my desire is too. What is my desire?”
“……”
Baron Glbett focused his eyes and looked at me.
“Lust. I can feel a strong lust. This is the first time I’ve seen such a strong lust. Even when I saw a lust-crazed noble, it wasn’t this bad… Have you been cursed by lust?”
He was right.
I briefly felt doubt about my Absolute Mind. My Absolute Mind was active, but my desires were being exposed to others?
‘…No. Seeing desires doesn’t affect the mind itself, so it didn’t activate.’
I asked Baron Glbett about Yuria’s desires.
“…That maid is your loyal maid. It’s an emotion that a maid shouldn’t have… but she’s not an ordinary maid. In a way, her desires are similar to Lord Kyle’s.”
“What about Elena?”
“…Hmm. I can’t see her desires. There are two possibilities in this case. Either she has no desires, or she is perfectly suppressing her desires. The former is close to impossible for a human, so it must be the latter. Well, there’s no one ordinary here.”
The questions were over.
I stood up from my seat and picked up my sword.
Baron Olond Glbett. Was there a need to keep him alive when he wasn’t a beautiful woman? It was hard to see him being helpful to me later like Kyle, and it wouldn’t be difficult to deal with him even if I killed him right now.
“W-wait a minute! Please wait a minute! I need my power to return Lord Kyle to his original state!”
“Won’t he return to normal if you die?”
“My ability is not to brainwash! It’s just to stimulate! I’ll return Lord Kyle to his original state! And I’ll serve you with all my heart! I’ll tell you information about the Pantheon! Please spare me!”
Baron Glbett bowed his head deeply. He seemed like he was about to prostrate himself, but his body was restrained, so he only bowed his head.
“Do you want to live so desperately?”
“I want to live even if it’s pathetic. I don’t want to give up everything I’ve done and everything that will happen and die. Please spare me, Eugene.”
“You said you could return Kyle to his original state. How many days will it take?”
“A week! It will take at least a week!”
“How? He’s already completely gone mad.”
“If I stimulate the opposite desires appropriately, it will work. It’s a task that requires delicate adjustments…”
Baron Glbett was watching my reaction.
I looked at Elena. Wouldn’t Elena’s abilities be able to return Kyle to normal?
Elena, who felt my gaze, shook her head.
“It’s impossible. I don’t know what his original personality is. If I carelessly touch him with illusions… he might change even more strangely. Or should I manipulate his mind and make him a loyal slave?”
“That’s not bad… but there must be a downside?”
“His genius might disappear. This is a personal experience, by the way. There was a talented person I wanted, so I messed with his mind a little, and his genius disappeared and he became mediocre. …In the worst case, he could fail and become an idiot.”
I stopped asking Elena. If Kyle didn’t have genius, there was no reason to keep him alive.
“Baron Glbett. Don’t do anything foolish. If you want to know what pain is worse than death, I won’t stop you.”
“I-I’ll do my best. You’ll see how helpful I can be.”
I decided to kill Baron Glbett as soon as Kyle returned to normal.
I turned my back on him and turned my body towards the remains of the Dragon Lord. It was time to find the Dragon Lord’s heart.
