章 28: Key to Lust
"Suzune, are you eating well?" Lucian asked as he looked at the brown-haired girl on his phone screen, who was showing him a sulking expression.
"Why are you suddenly so interested in my well-being? It's because of you that I have to go through so much studying just to meet your demands," Suzune said, her expression pitiful. She had been working very hard lately, and Lucian's demands only seemed to increase with each passing day.
"Can't I even ask my lovely Suzune about her health? Suzune, why don't you take a break?" Lucian said, offering her a radiant smile that might have charmed other girls, but not Suzune.
"What do you want? Be clear!" Suzune shouted, realizing that Lucian must have had some ulterior motive. She slammed her hands on the table in frustration and looked at Lucian with a mix of anger and helplessness.
"My dear Suzune, why do you always see me as a villain?" Lucian replied, his eyes showing a hint of helplessness as well.
"It's not that I think of you as a villain! Bastard! You are a villain!" Suzune exclaimed. "Ah, I shouldn't have taken that offer! Even if I lost my job, at least I would be a free person, unlike becoming a puppet to some young master." Suzune cried out loud, her emotions pouring out.
"Suzune, look in my eyes," Lucian said firmly, pointing at his eyes.
Suzune, despite her frustrations, flinched at the command. She had always been harsh with him and cursed him, but deep down, she held a fear of him. That's why she followed his orders obediently, afraid that he might replace her if she ever disobeyed him.
"Even if I make you go through those things, I really do care about you. And believe me when I say this, because I haven't said this to anyone but my maid, who is the closest person to me, even before my father," Lucian said with genuine emotion in his eyes. His face looked serious, making his words convincing and... handsome.
"Really?" Suzune asked meekly, her face blushing slightly. She felt embarrassed by her torturer's sincerity. It was so shameful!
"Yes, believe me," Lucian replied with a warm smile, causing Suzune's blush to deepen. She shook her head, trying to regain her composure. What was happening to her? Why was she getting charmed by this bastard?
It was then that Suzune's daydream was once again broken by Lucian.
"Now, let me tell you why I called you," Lucian said, interrupting Suzune's thoughts.
"You damn monster!" Suzune shouted once more, her voice filled with anger and frustration as she realized that Lucian had called her for his own benefit.
After about 20 minutes of talking, Suzune finally calmed down and agreed to listen to what Lucian had to say.
"What!? No! I've never heard of any world items with that ability. It's probably created and coded by the head developers. I didn't even know there was a Cthulhu boss monster. The only Outer God boss I knew of in the game was the King in Yellow, and that was hidden in ways that only specific players could challenge," Suzune replied to Lucian's question. He had told her about the world item he had discovered and asked if she was aware of such an item.
"So, you're totally in the dark about this," Lucian said with a sigh. He had hoped to gain some answers from Suzune, but it seemed futile now.
"Suzune, Suzune, Suzune... My dear Suzune, I wonder if you would be willing to answer another of my questions?" Lucian asked, his voice taking on a rhythmic, almost hypnotic quality. Despite everything, Lucian's charisma was undeniable, and Suzune couldn't help but feel a strange attraction to his gestures.
"Fine! Just don't ask anything stupid," Suzune replied, fully aware that Lucian had a tendency to ask unusual questions.
"Well... I was wondering what would happen if someone who has ownership of four World Items used that Cube to switch avatars with someone strong. Someone who might be able to block a World Item," Lucian asked, his question intentionally vague, not suggesting anything specific.
"I don't understand what you mean, but from my perspective, if a player who possesses [Ownership] over four World items—we're not counting regular World items, only the ones they own—so that's four factors. Now, let's consider another player who has one ineffective World item, which adds one more factor. When they're bound together, it multiplies, resulting in 1.2. This means that the person accepts the World item's use, but since it's bound to them, we have to subtract the ineffective factor, making it four minus ineffective and 1.2. In total, that's 2 factors in favor of the player," Suzune explained as she recounted some technological details that Lucian didn't understand. He waited for her to continue talking to herself until she understood the answer and provided it.
"Well, basically, the item's effect will take place, but something unknown will occur, constituting factor 4. This means neither the World item will be ineffective nor entirely effective. It's a complicated situation," Suzune said, ruffling her hair.
" I don't understand your question though. What do you even mean by that?" Suzune asked, confused. Not once did she doubt Lucian or think he had ulterior motives.
"Hmm... Do you know World Break? The skill that, if used at the right time, can negate World enemies and even World items? What if we factor that skill in?" Lucian asked, confusing Suzune even further.
"It doesn't make sense to me, but I'll have to look into it and calculate the possibilities. Ahhh, I need an answer now! Fuck you, Lucian!" Suzune shouted as she cut the call while cursing him.
Lucian was well aware of Suzune's nature to always seek the answer after learning a question. He used that to his advantage to get his answer, and soon after Suzune found the answer, she'd be contacting him to answer the question.
Lucian waited for a while, having some fun with Mei Mei. After 4 hours, he received a call, and still in bed, Lucian looked at the TV where an image of a brown-haired girl was displayed.
"Lucian! I've found the answer!" Suzune said as soon as she saw Lucian displayed on her screen. However, she immediately turned red when she noticed that Lucian was half-naked. Despite having seen Lucian's live streams where he sometimes threw his shirt away due to shortness of breath, she still found herself entranced. After all, despite his lean body, it was a sight to behold for any girl, and, well, she'd like to deny it, but she got turned on by it sometimes.
"What the heck are you doing!?" Suzune asked, looking at him barely covering his body with a blanket. It was only then that she realized there was someone else beside him.
"Master, why are you talking to another woman while being in bed with me?" Mei Mei asked as she held onto Lucian's waist tightly, her black hair disheveled and covering his body. She was literally drooling right now.
"Mei mei, can you leave us for a minute? I want to have an important talk with Suzune," Lucian said as he gestured for Mei Mei to get up and go.
"As you wish," Mei mei replied. She snatched the blanket Lucian was holding to cover her naked body before getting up, leaving Lucian bare.
"Hey, why the heck would you take the blanket too?" Lucian exclaimed, rushing to grab some pants and quickly put them on, which left him out of breath.
"Master, even if it's a woman friend of Master, I wouldn't want anyone else but you to see my body," Mei Mei stated matter-of-factly before leaving the room, leaving Lucian baffled. However, before he could say anything to the now on-hold Suzune, she re-entered the room, this time wearing her maid uniform.
"Let me assist you in dressing up before the call," Mei Mei offered, moving swiftly to change Lucian's clothes like an expert, which she was, having 10 years of knowledge and practice with the same person nonetheless.
"Thanks, Mei Mei," Lucian thanked her before sitting down and watching Mei Mei leave the room, closing the door noiselessly behind her.
Lucian then looked at the now baffled and red Suzune, who had watched all this drama unfold with a flushed face.
"Sorry for that, dear Suzune," Lucian said, trying to calm her.
"What on earth was that?!" Suzune shouted in shock.
"I didn't know you and your maid were involved romantically," Suzune blurted out, always having suspected that they were a bit too close, but she never thought they were in a romantic relationship.
"Heh? What, do you want me to include you too?" Lucian asked with a mischievous smirk.
Suzune immediately flinched and blushed, then shook her head furiously. "No, no, no, no!" But secretly, she was holding herself back; there was no use though.
"Anyway, tell me why you called?" Lucian asked, even though he knew why she had called. It was a courtesy to let her explain and not seem selfish.
"Ah, yes. So you asked that strange question, right? Well, I ran many simulations and found an answer," Suzune said with a proud smile.
"What's the answer?" Lucian asked, sounding intrigued.
"The answer is... that an error would occur. Most likely, it would result in some glitch," Suzune replied.
"Oh? So it's essentially breaking the game, am I right?" Lucian asked, and she immediately nodded.
"You're right. It's essentially breaking the game. But why did you even ask me that strange question?" Suzune inquired, displaying her intelligence in coding but struggling with understanding the basics.
"Nothing. Now, my dear Suzune, would you be willing to share some information?" Lucian asked.
"Go ahead, at this point, you already have my soul in your hands, and I'm dancing at your whims," Suzune sighed.
"I need the location of one of the Seven Deadly Sins," Lucian asked.
"Sigh~ I knew you would ask for it, sooner or later. Just go ahead and ask which one," Suzune said.
"Well, I need to know about the strongest sin: the Sin of Lust's location."
"What!?" Suzune shouted. "Why Lust of all?! You do know that she is the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins! She can only be fought solo and is undefeatable from what I know!" Suzune shouted in frustration, a hint of fear in her voice.
"What? Well, you did say that she was the strongest of all sins. Anyway, so where is she, and how can I find her? And is this world enemy really a she? Some kind of Hybrid Nymph demon?" Lucian asked as he looked at Suzune.
"She is... just dangerous... just know this. Plus, you will be having a lot of trouble," Suzune said with a smirk, as if she knew something but didn't want to tell.
"It's fine, just tell me how I can find her..." Lucian said.
"Fine." And then Suzune continued to narrate how to locate the Sin of Lust.
"Thanks, Su-Zu-Ne," Lucian said with a smile as he looked at the grinning Suzune, who for some reason was smiling widely.
"What are you smiling like that for?" Lucian asked, confused and puzzled.
"Nothing," Suzune replied.
"Anyway, so what are you going to do? Battle the Sin of Lust?" Suzune asked with a gaze almost as if she wanted him to.
"Yep, and..." Lucian said as he smiled, a mysterious smile that left Suzune wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
"You don't mean it?" Suzune said with disbelief.
"Yep, my dear Suzune. It's exactly as you think..." Lucian said, extending his arms.
"No way!? Lucian, stop! Listen to me!" Suzune shouted, but before she could finish her words, he cut the call, not giving her a chance to object.
"What!" Suzune shouted as she saw the call end.
"That bastard!" She slammed her fists on her desk. "He's going to break the game!"
....
Lucian logged into Yggdrasil after his conversation with Suzune. He found himself standing in the place where he needed to sacrifice the Cardinal Evil Sin - Lust, a total of 700 of them. This was a highly specific task in a location so obscure that discovering it by accident was nearly impossible.
However, there might be a way for players to figure it out, as the place he was currently in was Niflheim, inside a frozen cave ruins known as the Frozen Hallow of Sin. The name hinted at its sinister nature, but regular players might have come across this place without performing the specific task required to unlock the world enemy's lair.
"Let's begin," Lucian declared as he glanced at his inventory, then summoned the Contracts of Cardinal Evil Sin - Lusts.
He had acquired over 700 of these contracts, and they weren't cheap. Even among the other cardinal sins, Lust was the most expensive, each contract costing over 100,000 yen. However, they were permanent contracts, and the Lusts were formidable level 90 beings.
Lucian tapped the summon option, and one by one, the cardinal Lusts started materializing. Their appearances were strikingly humanoid, resembling beautiful and seductive women with black demonic wings and two horns. The unsettling detail was the tattoo on their foreheads, which bore a resemblance to a certain female anatomy.
"It's unfortunate, but I have to eliminate you all," Lucian said as he extended his hands toward them. In an instant, his appearance transformed. His hair turned fiery red, his face became more androgynous, and he was enveloped in flames, taking on the form of [Eldurhildr].
"[Eternal Burn]!" Lucian activated the skill, releasing a torrent of flames from his palm that expanded rapidly, engulfing all the Lusts. It took about 2 minutes, but he managed to obliterate them all, leaving only one remaining beside him.
"It's your turn to meet your end, girl," Lucian declared as he brandished his scythe and swiftly beheaded the last Lust, reducing it to data. As soon as he finished cutting down the final sin, a cold and eerie wind swept through the vast, frozen cavern.
"Is this finally appearing?" Lucian asked himself as he observed the swirling black winds all around. The wings began to form at the center of the cave, creating a tornado from which eerie whispers started echoing. They seemed to pierce right into Lucian's ears.
'Come.'
'Visit me.'
'I miss you.'
'My beloved.'
"What the heck!" Lucian shouted, covering his ears to block out the disturbing voices.
"This stuff is weird," Lucian muttered as he looked at the tornado, which was now vanishing, revealing what appeared to be a door—a small door that only one person could pass through.
"So it's time," Lucian said, looking at the door. He then checked the rectangular screen at the center of his vision for confirmation.
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