The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority

Chapter 169 : Rosalia (1)

Rosalia (1)

Somewhere on the continent.

In deep mountains, so remote they have no name.

At the center of a fog-covered lake stood a massive fortress, glass Castle, built of transparent and beautiful crystal.

This was the base of the Sin of Lust Cult Leader, Rosalia.

― Vwoooong...!

"... Hey! Are you listening!? Pride!"

Rosalia was sitting in a luxurious bedroom, clutching a communication orb.

Her fingernails were chewed ragged in anxiety.

[I'm listening. Stop being so noisy.]

The voice coming through the orb was exceedingly arrogant and mocking.

It was Superbia, the Sin of Pride Cult Leader.

"You know things aren't normal right now! Greed, envy, wrath, gluttony... Four of them went down! And all of them in quick succession! I'm definitely next...! Ugh...!"

Recently, she had lost contact with her confidant, archbishop Vanessa.

That guy had already started his assault on the Cult of Lust.

"He's after me!"

[So what?]

"... What?"

[Those idiots lost because they were incompetent. They were all pathetic fools who didn't know their own limits.]

Superbia scoffed.

[I'm different from you all. Vermin like that pose no problem to me.]

"You—you don't understand the gravity of the situation!? He knows everything about our inner workings! By myself, I can't...!"

[Are you asking for help? How pathetic.]

Superbia's voice dripped with contempt.

[If you're so scared, crawl to my feet. If you flatten yourself beneath my throne as a footrest, I might at least let you keep your life. But if you become even a slight burden, I'll crush you instantly.]

― Click!

The communication was cut off.

"That... that arrogant bastard...!"

Rosalia nearly hurled the communication orb, but barely restrained herself.

There was still one person left to call.

The Sin of Sloth Cult Leader, Acedia.

With trembling hands, she tried to connect to Acedia.

― Vwoooong... Vwoooong...

But the orb just vibrated, with no response.

She was probably either asleep or simply ignoring it out of laziness.

"... Hah, hah."

Rosalia let out a hollow groan and set down the orb.

She was isolated.

No one would help her.

"Damn bastards... I hope you all die..."

Rosalia ground her teeth.

A chilling fear swept over her.

Since her confidant Vanessa had lost contact, she was 100% sure she was the next target.

That mysterious reaper was likely moving toward her at this very moment.

"... But."

Rosalia rose from her seat.

"I won't go down so easily."

This Glass Castle was her home ground.

A labyrinth and fortress she had spent decades constructing.

Here lay the collections she had gathered throughout her whole life.

With gleaming eyes, Rosalia activated a secret device by the bedside.

― Gugugugugu...

Doors along all four walls of the bedroom opened simultaneously.

"Just try getting here... My slaves will tear you apart."

Beyond the doors. Dozens of shadows staggered out from the darkness.

The missing Swordmaster of the Roderun Empire, the prodigy mage of fifty years ago, a mercenary king who had made a name across the continent and then suddenly vanished...

They were all puppets captivated and ensnared by Rosalia's authority.

"Protect with your lives. Protect your queen."

At Rosalia's command, the formidable ones, each with vacant, unfocused eyes, armed themselves and rushed out toward the castle grounds.

* * *

At the entrance by the lakeshore, where Rosalia's Glass Castle stood.

― Swish.

Ian set foot upon it.

"Hmm."

The moment he arrived at the lakeshore, a sweet and sticky scent stroked his nostrils.

His vision shimmered dizzily, and the trees in the forest transformed into beautiful women who began to dance.

In his ears echoed coquettish laughter and moans, as if in auditory hallucination.

This mist was created by the authority of Lust and hallucinogenic drugs.

Any normal person, upon entering this mist, would have their brain melt away, and even most master-level experts, unable to restrain themselves, would become lost in eternal pleasure.

However, Ian's expression remained indifferent.

'Is this the extent of the trap?'

Ian had the Demon-Infused Constitution, which ignored all curses, and he could resist the drugs simply by drawing up his aura and strengthening his body.

He disregarded the dancing hallucinations and strode forward.

The only annoyance was that the fog was so thick it obstructed his vision.

'I should clear the path a bit.'

Ian opened his subspace.

― Vwoooong!

What he pulled out of thin air was a dazzling, radiant greatsword.

It was the holy sword Heliodin.

― FwaaAAAAAH!!

When Ian raised Heliodin, a light as brilliant as the sun burst forth from the sacred blade.

― Ssssssssss!

"Kyaaaa!"

"Aahh! No, stop!"

The moment the blade's light touched, the pinkish hallucinogenic fog screamed as it burned away.

The absolute sacred wave, which purified all evil, swept across the whole lake.

In an instant, the fog dispersed, and the ominous energy of the forest was cleansed.

And at the heart of the lake, the enormous glass palace, glass Castle, which had been hidden in the mist, was revealed in full.

"That must be it."

Ian, with Heliodin in hand, walked across the water.

Stepping confidently upon the lake's surface with the footwork of Crossing Water on Duckweed, he advanced step by step.

― Kugugugugu...

― Splash... Splash...

The immense crystal castle gate opened, and dozens of warriors and mages poured out.

Bizarre movements.

As if they were drunk, or like sleepwalkers in a deep slumber.

"Aah... there's an intruder..."

"He's here to destroy... our paradise...?"

Their eyes, unfocused, were clouded with a pink glow.

With drool trickling from their lips and grotesque smiles of bliss twisted on their faces.

"No... The queen is ours..."

"Don't wake us from... this sweet dream..."

"We will protect the queen... forever..."

They muttered lazily while raising their weapons.

Their attitude was uniformly dreamy and sluggish, but the aura radiating from them was sharp.

Among them were several peak-stage Swordmasters, and even some at the threshold of Grandmaster.

― PAAT!

― KWA-RRUNG!

Along with their listless movements, murderous Sword Ki and magic flew toward Ian.

Ian frowned slightly.

'They're not demonic humans.'

The energy he sensed from them wasn't Demonic Energy but human mana.

They hadn't fallen to become demonic humans, but were merely victims whose brains were melted by Rosalia's authority.

'They must not be killed.'

Ian re-gripped Heliodin.

There was no better tool for extracting the curses rooted in their minds.

'I will save all of them if possible.'

Ian kicked off the ground.

― PAANG!

In a flash, he closed in on the knight at the vanguard.

― THUD!

"Kuh, kuhak!?"

He struck the knight in the solar plexus with Heliodin's hilt, and the knight's eyes rolled back as he was sent flying.

"Aaah...!"

A mage cast a fireball, but Ian lightly swung Heliodin and cut the spell in half.

― FWAAH!

At the same time, Heliodin's holy power radiated out in a wide fan shape.

― SWAAA!!

"U-ugh!"

"Heupppp!!"

When the sacred wave swept over them, the cursed puppets convulsed and collapsed.

Rosalia's brainwashing clashed with sacred power, causing violent reactions in their bodies.

― Shoooook!

Ian didn't miss that gap and weaved between them, striking disables with the sword hilt and his fists.

― Whack! Crack! Crunch!

Like puppets with their strings cut, Rosalia's dolls slumped weakly to the ground.

"Kkeok!"

"Kkeeeee..."

Just three minutes.

That's how long it took until Rosalia's prized collection was left unconscious, floating atop the lake.

"When they wake up, their minds will be much clearer."

Leaving them behind, Ian stood before the glass castle's main entrance.

― CLAAAANG!

― KWAAANG!!

With a single kick, Ian shattered the heavy crystal gates.

"... H-hiik!"

At the far end of the throne room's long hallway.

Atop a bed that stood in place of a throne.

Rosalia jerked to her feet.

"A-already! H-how...!"

Her face went deathly pale with terror.

The hallucination mist she'd been so proud of had dispersed in an instant, and the elite slaves she had collected over decades were subdued in mere minutes.

Yet that man bore not a single scratch, and his eyes didn't waver for a moment.

Proof that the gap in class between herself and the intruder was insurmountable.

― Thud. Thud.

Ian's footsteps echoed as he approached.

Steady or methodical, making them even more chilling.

"Y-you...!"

Rosalia shrieked as she backed away toward the head of the bed.

"Don't come any closer!"

Ian did not reply, just kept striding forward.

In his hand, the holy sword Heliodin radiated golden light.

"D-don't! If you come any closer...!"

Rosalia trembled like a cornered rat.

She could never win by force.

This man had felled her vaunted slave collection in less than five minutes, after all.

Her specialty—charm and mind control—clearly wouldn't work on this man either.

He'd dispersed even the hallucinogenic fog she herself found overwhelming and arrived here unharmed.

Only one option remained.

'Kuh...! This is basically my lifeline!'

Rosalia pulled out her secret demon artefact, "Tears of Lilith."

A last resort that could draw forth a person's strongest subconscious desire and show it as a vivid illusion.

"E-eat this!!"

― SPLASH!

Rosalia flung the crystal-clear droplet at Ian's face.

"Mm!"

The droplet struck Ian square in the eyes.

In that instant, the scene before Ian changed.

"... Ah."

Ian's eyes trembled.

It was not a barren demonic fortress.

Instead, he stood in a sunlit bedroom in Sunshine Castle.

And on the bed sat two women.

Naked, not wearing a thread of clothing.

"Ian..."

"Master...?"

It was Yuria and Sophia.

Crimson and jade-green eyes gazed at him tenderly, and their white arms reached out.

"We've been waiting. Come here."

"You've had a hard day, haven't you? You've worked so hard, as always."

Yuria offered him an alluring smile. Sophia traced her voluptuous chest with her hand.

"Tonight... I'll do anything you wish. Anything at all."

"I'm yours, master. You don't have to hold back..."

Yuria wrapped her arms around Ian's neck, and Sophia nestled her face into his chest.

This was the perfect illusion, cunningly mixing the love and lust at the deepest core of Ian's heart.

"Huhu..."

Rosalia saw Ian freeze and grinned in triumph.

'Got him!'

No matter how strong or iron-willed, when faced with their deepest desires, they could not hope to resist.

While he was captivated by the illusion, she'd cut his throat.

Rosalia drew a dagger and was about to lunge—

― SHIIING!!

A trail of sunlight flashed.

Rosalia's chest was slashed deeply, and the hallucination clouding Ian's eyes dissipated like smoke.

"W-what...!? Kuek!"

Rosalia vomited blood, her eyes bulging.

"H-how...!"

That man had definitely fallen for the illusion of his deepest desire.

In that attack there wasn't a hint of hesitation or regret.

What he had cut was surely the sweetest, most tempting fantasy.

How!

"..."

Where before Ian's eyes had been cold, now they glowed with fervor.

"Thanks to you, now I want to go home sooner."

Ian gave Heliodin a little shake as he spoke.

"I need to hurry home and take care of things."

"... Whaaat!"

Rosalia's mouth dropped open, but she couldn't even scream.

― CRACK!

Ian's hand clamped her neck in an instant.

"K-kuh!"

Rosalia's body was lifted off the ground.

Ian looked coldly at the struggling woman.

― Crack!

"Kuhek!"

― Thud...

And so ended the hunt for the Cult of Lust.