Alas, Damien was a bit too chaste for his own good.
So far, he had only won over Shuna, Shion, Darkness, and Velzard.
Well, that wasn't exactly a small number.
After all, Damien was just one man. If he went around charming every woman he met, he'd end up neglecting the ones already by his side.
Damien was quite sentimental.
This was evident in how he often kept Shuna and Shion close by.
Because of this, when it came to new beauties, unless they were someone he particularly admired from his past life, Damien's approach was to let things happen naturally.
"You…" Damien suddenly thought of something and turned to Carrera. "You didn't do anything to her, did you?"
"Oh, you caught me," Carrera said with a grin, opening the cell door.
Inside, a petite blonde girl was suspended in midair, bound by ropes.
If Damien had to describe the scene, he could only say... risqué!
"Mmm~~"
"Mmmph~~"
Tears streamed down the girl's cheeks, but they weren't from pain. Rather, they were the involuntary tears of someone overwhelmed by intense pleasure.
Her trembling body silently told the tale of the various indignities she had endured.
"No need to worry, my lord," Carrera said respectfully. "This girl is still pure, and I personally handled her… ahem, interrogation."
The reason for this approach wasn't because Carrera had any strange proclivities.
As a Devil Lord, she had seen through Litus's hidden masochistic tendencies.
This girl was a proper, virtuous type, so pure that she hadn't even known what that feeling was like.
Until she met Carrera.
Through a series of torments, Carrera had successfully awakened Litus's latent disposition.
"Hey, hold on…" Damien said, exasperated. "You didn't turn her into some kind of pervert, did you?"
"No, no, of course not!" Carrera waved her hands dismissively. "I followed your orders to the letter. There's no way I'd cause that kind of harm."
According to Carrera, if Litus were released now, she'd still defiantly claim she wasn't broken.
She wouldn't be reduced to some mindless creature, lost in ecstasy.
Only her body had been altered, not her mind or sense of self.
That was Carrera's brand of corruptive conditioning!
"Alright," Damien sighed. What else could he say?
Since Carrera had been careful, merely heightening the girl's sensitivity, it hardly counted as punishment.
It was probably more comfortable for Litus than a full-body massage.
"Speaking of which, you didn't do the same to Hinata, did you?"
"Nope," Carrera replied.
She'd love to see what a fallen Saint would look like, but Hinata was Damien's top-priority captive.
If anyone were to conduct such conditioning, it should be Damien himself.
"Oh, by the way," Carrera added, "Shizu-san stopped by earlier."
"Hm," Damien nodded, aware of this and unbothered.
Shizu was sensible.
She didn't immediately plead for Hinata but accepted her imprisonment.
After all, only by letting Damien vent his anger could she protect her student and ease tensions between them.
With that, the two descended to the sixth and lowest level of the great prison.
Unlike the upper levels, there were no wardens here.
The lowest level was enveloped in a barrier infused with the power of Damien's God of the Void, a fixed mini-Eden.
The laws and energy of this Eden were entirely under Damien's control.
Once inside, escape was virtually impossible.
Moreover, Damien could check on the sixth level's status at any time.
Of course, he had no such inclination.
Who would waste their time spying on prisoners in a prison?
"We're here, Lord Damien."
The sixth level was vast and empty, with each cell not only isolated but floating like black boxes in midair, completely sealed.
No guidance from Carrera was needed; Damien already knew Hinata's location.
Whoosh!
The two figures vanished, reappearing inside the cell holding Hinata.
The black box had no door; entry required permission from the sixth level's overseer... either Carrera, the warden, or Damien himself.
Before them, a black-haired girl in a restraining suit was confined.
Hinata had never experienced such humiliation.
Her magic was sealed, and the strange outfit rendered her immobile.
Even her eyes were blindfolded, leaving her unable to see her surroundings.
"Who's there?" Hearing someone enter, Hinata sat up straight, instantly on high alert.
She hadn't endured any torture.
From start to finish, she'd simply been left here, suffering the torment of nothingness.
Fortunately, Shizu had visited not long ago.
From her, Hinata learned the full story.
She'd been deceived.
That bastard Yuuki Kagurazaka had used her as a pawn.
Shizu hadn't been manipulated at all.
She was here simply because Monster Kingdom's master had the power to heal the children.
Hinata had heard about those children.
She never imagined the relationship between Monster Kingdom's master and Shizu.
"Remove it," Damien ordered.
"Yes!" Carrera stepped forward, removing the blindfold from Hinata's eyes and restoring her perception of the outside world.
"You are?" Hinata adjusted to the light, spotting Damien and immediately asking.
"Damien."
"Lord of the Monster Kingdom."
"You're the one they call Lord Damien?!" Hinata was stunned, never expecting the legendary figure to look like this.
In appearance, Damien showed no trace of being a monster.
If she hadn't confirmed his identity, Hinata would've sworn he was a fellow otherworlder like her.
And that aura…
It was like that of a kind older brother, instinctively making people want to get closer.
"No!" Hinata snapped out of the strange sense of familiarity, looking at Damien in alarm. "What did you do to me? Was that some kind of charm magic?"
"…" Damien wanted to say she was overthinking it.
Her feeling of closeness was simply due to his current status as a Dragon God of Creation.
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)