Chapter 78 - Chapter 75: Episode 74 - Sun-ah, Yu-rin, and Miel
Someone was shouting urgently, clutching Seon-ah in their arms.
"Seon-ah! Seon-ah!"
My consciousness began to drift back.
I felt like I was being held in a warm embrace.
The warmth seemed to soothe my aching body.
When I opened my eyes, I saw my mother.
It was Min-ah, her face wet with tears as she looked down at me.
"Mom... I'm... I'm sorry."
My voice was weak, devoid of strength.
It wasn't just because my body was drained.
Seeing her after all this time made me choke up.
It had been nearly two years.
Two years of agonizing memories.
Two years without my parents.
I never imagined my mother would come to this hellish Demon World to save me.
Drowning in despair, I'd truly believed my life was over.
I'd pushed aside how much they must have been worrying, and because I didn't want to cause them pain, I hadn't been able to break up with Yu-rin.
Then, just before the wedding...
In those dark days, Miel kidnapped me, shattered my mind, and forced me to forget my parents.
The hatred for those two never left my heart.
As my mother sobbed, holding me close, I heard footsteps rushing toward us.
I looked up and saw a face I knew all too well.
My childhood friend of fifteen years.
My first love, the woman I'd promised to marry.
The woman who had laughed while inflicting every kind of pain imaginable upon me.
It was Yu-rin.
She sprinted toward us, sword in hand, and swung it directly at my mother.
"No!"
My mother, realizing she couldn't block the strike, pulled me tighter into her embrace.
She was trying to shield me from the blow.
Why... please, no...
Clang!
Contrary to my fears, the blade was stopped by a bare hand.
It was the Succubus Lord, her fingernails extended into sharp, deadly claws.
She looked flustered, though she seemed to have anticipated something like this.
She had noticed Min-ah's hostile glares toward her own companion earlier.
She realized they weren't allies at all.
In my memories, this woman—the Lord—was a source of pure agony.
I hated the bitter, painful taste that lingered whenever I thought of her.
Yu-rin was clearly just another culprit who had tormented me, just like Miel.
The sword swing proved it.
The Lord clamped her fingers down, locking the blade in place.
Yu-rin was too hysterical to notice the Lord's other hand moving to strike.
"No! Please, don't kill her!" I shouted.
The Lord paused, her claws inches from Yu-rin.
"She humiliated you. Why would you ask me to stop?" she asked, genuinely baffled.
"She's a childhood friend I've known for fifteen years. She deserves punishment, yes, but she should face it in human society."
"I cannot agree with that," the Lord replied.
To her, my reasoning was trivial. In the Demon World, you didn't leave justice to the law; you took it yourself.
"If I go back to Earth with her, she'll be locked in prison. She won't be able to see me again. That's enough for me."
The truth was, I didn't want to break Yu-ra's heart by letting her daughter die.
Yu-ra had always treated me with kindness, like her own son.
"Then isn't it better to ensure you never see her again?"
"I just don't want her to die."
"I'm not saying I'll kill her. I'll just make sure she can never see you."
The Lord smiled, a cold, sharp expression.
Yu-rin met her gaze and paled, sensing the impending doom.
"Ah... no! I don't want that, don't!"
Knowing the succubi's power to manipulate the mind, Yu-rin dropped her sword and tried to bolt, but Min-ah pinned her to the ground.
"Let go! No! Seon-ah is mine...! No one can interfere... Never!"
She sounded like a villain in her final moments, her voice dripping with madness and obsession.
Everyone watched in disgust.
"You've done well. I'll handle it now," the Lord said to Min-ah.
"You're welcome... I leave it to you."
"Let me go! I don't want to forget! Seon-ah! Seon-ah!"
I looked at her, my expression cold.
"I hope you realize even a fraction of the pain I felt. Goodbye... Yu-rin."
The Lord placed her hand on Yu-rin's head, and Min-ah held her down.
"Ah... Aaaaargh!"
Yu-rin bit her tongue and fainted.
"This child will no longer be able to perceive you, Seon-ah."
It was a classic succubus torture: perception manipulation.
Now, Yu-rin would only see me in her memories. She couldn't see, hear, or touch me in reality.
It was a fitting punishment for her obsession.
"Now, it's Miel's turn."
"You signed a contract! You can't harm me until tomorrow! Go ahead and try!" Miel shrieked, terrified.
"I'll issue a wanted poster starting tomorrow. Wherever you go in the Demon World, bounty hunters will be on your tail."
The Demon World was a place of capital; she wouldn't last long.
Miel collapsed, trembling, before trying to crawl toward me.
"Seon-ah... we got along, didn't we? I'll make you feel good every day... please, let me stay..."
"The moments you pretended to be my mother... the way you shattered my mind... those are the memories I'll keep of you forever," I said coldly.
Miel collapsed, and the Lord ordered her taken to the dungeon.
Everything was finally over.
"Mom... or should I call you Mother now?"
Min-ah looked at me, her eyes softening. "Oh, you... just call me Mom."
"Is Dad doing well? Do you still go on dates?"
"...Let's talk about it when we get home."
Her bitter expression told me everything. Something had happened to him.
We fell into a heavy silence.
The Succubus Lord watched us, terrified of Min-ah.
The magical power radiating from my mother was like the Demon King's.
She just wanted us gone, praying that this "bomb" wouldn't explode in her territory.
She waited, desperate for us to leave so she could finally have peace.