Chapter 56 - Chapter 54: Episode 53 - Capture
The curse placed upon Seon-ah spilled from that hateful monster's mouth.
Yu-rin clung to her sanity, which felt like it was about to snap at any second.
She braced herself as the succubi watching from the Gate behind her began to move.
They were the same race as Miel.
However, they kept glancing between her and Miel, their gazes filled with open hostility.
It didn't seem like they were on Miel's side.
If anything, they felt more like enemies.
While she weighed her options, Miel shouted.
"Don't you think we should deal with those things behind me first before we talk?"
She wasn't sure what to do if she were attacked by both the monsters and Miel, but one thing was certain: they weren't Miel's allies.
Trusting her gut, Yu-rin activated her Acceleration Ability, kicked off the ground, and lunged at the succubi with her sword.
Even so, she kept a portion of her focus on the presence behind her, ready for any move from Miel.
Yu-rin's surprise attack struck like a bullet.
The succubi couldn't even react to the speed of her Acceleration Ability.
They paid for that failure with their lives.
In an instant, thin red lines appeared across the necks of the two monsters, and their bodies hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Miel watched the scene, thinking,
'She's become so much stronger... I'm no match for her now.'
Still, she wasn't worried.
She knew Yu-rin wouldn't do anything reckless, not when Seon-ah's life hung in the balance.
Yu-rin spared a single glance at the two headless corpses before turning away, as if they were beneath her notice.
The Gate was still open, and closing it was the priority.
Thanks to the combat knowledge and experience she'd gained as a Hunter, the task was simple.
As she sealed the Gate, the surrounding mist began to clear.
She turned her attention back to Miel and Seon-ah.
Yu-rin watched as Miel suddenly froze, as if in agony.
An immense pressure crushed Miel's body.
Her condition had been failing ever since the mist dissipated.
The mist had helped demons like her adapt to Earth, mimicking the atmosphere of the Demon World.
Now that it was gone, her physical state deteriorated rapidly.
She couldn't summon the strength to even stand.
She was as frail as a dying elder or a child.
Eventually, her grip failed, and she was forced to drop Seon-ah to the ground.
The impact of Seon-ah hitting the floor seemed to ripple through Miel's own body.
Overwhelmed by her failing health and the shock of the impact, Miel fainted.
Seon-ah lay motionless as well.
Yu-rin loaded them both into her car and drove off.
A smirk played on her lips, as if she were anticipating something delightful.
Yu-rin couldn't forget the humiliation she had suffered at Miel's hands for 98 days.
When the Gate first opened and she saw that hateful monster, she had mistaken it for a delusion or a dream.
She couldn't believe that Miel, who had haunted her dreams to torment her, had actually manifested in reality.
And though she was furious at the revelation that a curse had been placed on Seon-ah, she couldn't just kill Miel.
She had considered inflicting endless torture—pushing her to the brink of death and healing her repeatedly—but the risk to Seon-ah was too great.
Normally, Yu-rin wouldn't have cared if Seon-ah got hurt.
But the devotion Seon-ah had shown her when she was first dragged to the Demon World had fundamentally changed her values.
That was why, when she tried to leave the Gate, she hadn't forced him to come with her; the risk of him getting hurt was too high.
She had tried to persuade him to escape with her, but she had fallen for Miel's scheme, and it had been a year since she was forced to leave the Gate alone.
As she drove, the memory of being dragged to the Demon World played over and over in her mind.
Anger surged, but she kept it under control.
Thinking that it was finally her turn to pay the debt, her rage curdled into sadism as she glanced at Seon-ah, who was buckled into the passenger seat.
She felt a strange sense of relief.
She looked at Miel again through the rearview mirror.
In the corner of the mirror, Yu-rin's own sadistic expression was clearly visible.
Miel's body felt heavy, but she jolted awake when a splash of cold liquid hit her face.
Seon-ah had felt it too and was now awake.
Both tried to move, but their necks were constricted.
A steel collar with a chain was locked around Miel's neck.
And a cute collar, the kind meant for a large dog, was fastened around Seon-ah's.
The ends of both chains were bolted to the walls.
They were in the bathroom connected to the master bedroom of Yu-rin's house.
It was the place where she always brought him to wash him after violating him.
Just having Miel in such a place made her blood boil, but she suppressed her anger with a sense of amusement, savoring the situation she was about to orchestrate.
Seon-ah, tethered to the wall facing the bathroom door, looked bewildered, clearly struggling to understand what was happening.
Yu-rin had only one reason for doing this.
She remembered that Seon-ah's brainwashing had been broken by the actions she took before leaving the Gate.
The event was so humiliating and pitiful that even a year later, it was as vivid as if it were happening all over again.
Her plan was to break Seon-ah's brainwashing with her own hands.
And she had to keep them apart so that bitch couldn't get near him.
Even if the brainwashing was broken, she knew that if Seon-ah went back to that bitch, he would just be brainwashed all over again.
Since kind-hearted Seon-ah would undoubtedly pity even a succubus, she had no other choice.
It was just like when she was first dragged to the Demon World and her own arms were handcuffed to the wall.
Unlike her back then, however, that bitch was now in a position where she couldn't receive Seon-ah's devotion.
They were facing each other with only a door between them; if she closed the bathroom door, that bitch wouldn't even be able to see him.
She wouldn't even be able to confirm it if she violated Seon-ah to her heart's content.
Yu-rin thought she was being more merciful than she had expected.
At the very least, she was willing to let her hear the sounds of them having sex.
She didn't want to show her Seon-ah's expression of pleasure, but as a special mercy, she would let her listen to them making love.
It was to let Miel know, deep in her heart, that Seon-ah was hers.
Seon-ah, still brainwashed, would say he hated it and fight back, but if he were soaked in drugs like before, his heart would surrender, and he would return to the state where he enjoyed it.
Recalling the image of Seon-ah feeling intense pleasure while drugged, she felt a thrill of her own.
If both felt good, wasn't that love? What else could it be?
With that mindset, she spoke to the dazed Seon-ah.
"Seon-ah... it's been hard, hasn't it?"
"Who are you?..."
Seon-ah felt stifled by the leash around his neck.
He looked at Yu-rin, but he couldn't recall who she was.
"That bitch brainwashed you, so you can't remember. I'll break it for you soon... Seon-ah."
When Yu-rin pointed behind her, Seon-ah's eyes locked onto Miel.
He looked at her with a pale face.
Her taste was truly twisted; she was fixed to the wall with a steel collar and a chain leash.
"Noona!! You crazy bitch! Let Noona go! Aaaagh!"
Struggling violently, Seon-ah cursed at the woman who had imprisoned them.
"Seon-ah...."
Yu-rin was deeply shocked.
The sight of Seon-ah calling Miel 'Noona'—a symptom of the deep brainwashing—and his inability to remember her properly...
And that devotion, which should have been hers alone, triggered a trauma in Yu-rin's mind.
It was just like when she first went to the Demon World.
Herself tied to the wall, Seon-ah devoted to her, and Miel toying with them both.
Now, everything had changed.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Her breath caught in her throat, then exhaled in a ragged gasp.
She felt like she couldn't control her own lungs.
Everything was wrong.
She knew intellectually that Seon-ah was brainwashed, but her heart couldn't accept it.
Seon-ah's love was supposed to be hers.
Feeling a sharp pain in her chest, she moved toward the bathroom door in a fit of rage.
She looked at Miel with a cold, distorted expression, the corners of her mouth curling up.
Miel knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Ah... no, stop! Seon-ah's mental state is unstable right now! If you touch him wrong, he'll break!"
"He was already broken the moment you brainwashed him! I'm going to return Seon-ah to normal. No, only I can do it!"
Yu-rin, highly agitated, slammed the bathroom door shut with an angry shout.
Then, she began to approach Seon-ah.
Seon-ah, breathing roughly, watched her approach, trembling with anxiety and fear.
Hot tears began to flow from his eyes without him realizing it.
Even though he was a 'virgin', he had a terrifying premonition of what was about to happen to him...