Dungeon of Lust: Managing Otherworldly Beauties

Chapter 149: Eve of Attrit

The sun rose, then fell again as the four in the dungeon rested.

The warriors and Toy were still holding their positions around the village all throughout the day, retreating whenever a mob came out to greet them.

Yet, that mob would always return to the village as if bound there, never trying to run away.

As for Ophelia, she was still knocked out, and Mias was actively escorting her unconscious body further and further away.

At the same time, Awilix and Vale were resting and recovering, for they would soon embark to join in the siege.

Vale had been hesitant in actually going in person, but he felt that if he was going to order a massacre, he needed to be strong enough to witness it.

He had to make sure he recognized the human element and the result of his orders, else he would become the tyrant who doesn’t care about the terror his words bring to people.

After all, it’s easy to ignore the moral consequence if you never see the action.

Although...

Getting Awilix to save her strength throughout the day was quite the chore as she’d try to attack Mias every time his voice sounded, even if she couldn’t see him.

While it was annoying to constantly have to calm her...

’It’s good to see getting gutted wasn’t too detrimental for her.’

If Vale had suffered the same stabbing Awilix had, he definitely wouldn’t have the vigor to be constantly jumping around chasing shadows.

Sure, Salome had healed her to near maximum capacity, but there were still some lingering effects the cat was definitely dealing with!

Awilix didn’t readily show it, but her stomach acids had leaked out and were burning her other organs, causing constant pain. With her improved constitution and form as an Aether Construct, her condition would improve with time, and it wouldn’t jeopardize her life, but that pain didn’t seem like a trivial matter.

Vale sighed as he watched Awilix slash at the air, who looked back and screamed at him:

"Vale! Can you free the Ice Bitch already so she can freeze this bastard!"

***

As the sun rose again on the next day, Vale and Awilix took fateful steps out of the dungeon.

’Ah, I hate this feeling.’

At least it wasn’t as oppressive as before.

Vale’s Aether was starting to leak, yes, but he had much more to spare than he had before. As long as he didn’t overexert himself, he could probably last a couple of months, three and a half at the most.

Mias, hidden via Nevermore, talked from somewhere down the ramp.

"I have three incarnations with each warrior group, and I will send one with you. But don’t count on my direct assistance; I am only there to relay information."

Vale, with a straight face, while desperately holding Awilix back and gagging her, said:

"I’m putting my trust in you, don’t betray it again..."

Mias’s voice sounded solemn as he replied:

"Yeah, you can count on me. I’ll make up for my past failure."

While it seemed stupid to leave a traitor behind to defend the dungeon, he’d also left Salome behind.

And Salome was the one existence that Vale knew of who could beat Mias in a fight, especially now that Mias was merely at a fraction of his former power due to idiocy.

Even if she were in a sorry state, having only woken up a few moments ago, Vale trusted in her ability.

Though he was scared that now Salome knew what Mias did, she might just go and kill him herself...

But, at the same time, if she couldn’t bring herself to kill Ximena, her mortal enemy, on account of Vale’s request and desperate self-trickery of pragmatism, she definitely wasn’t going to unleash her fury upon the Demon who didn’t necessarily mean harm.

At least, she wouldn’t outwardly.

Plus, Salome seemed to understand why Mias did what he did, even if it was misguided.

Vale sighed as he took his arm out of Awilix’s mouth and began to saunter away toward the wall.

Awilix, her mouth freed, screamed back at the fading entrance to the dungeon:

"You’re dead when we get back smokey! You’re dead! You hear me?!"

Vale glanced at the cat as he set her down.

"You can have at him all you want once we get back. But for now, we have a different mission."

Awilix growled, but thankfully, she seemed to listen as she didn’t run back to the dungeon on a fruitless expedition of ashen revenge.

Vale shapeshifted his body into his smaller form, then made his hands into reinforced hook claws and began pulling himself up the cliffside.

Despite having zero climbing experience, in a non-urban environment, he found himself scaling it with ease.

Awilix was having it much easier, running up the wall on all fours as if it were solid ground.

’Impressive...’

Vale looked up and watched as the cat perfectly jumped from foothold to foothold and made her way onto the first landing within minutes.

Vale slowly followed and, after a dreadful quarter hour, had joined Awilix.

The two then began the second half of the climb while Vale got lost in his mind...

After all, Vale was scared this oracle wasn’t done with him yet, nor what their end goal was.

Sure, while their desire may have been to save Ophelia first and foremost, there’s a high chance that his death was also a part of their design.

With that in mind, going up himself seemed quite idiotic, but then again...

Mias had said if the oracle did anything unexpected, he’d make sure to kill Ophelia before Vale died.

Meaning, Mias, if to be trusted, was tying the oracle’s hands by forcing them into inaction against Vale, as any action would result in their primary goal of Ophelia’s life to be forfeited.

That was assuming Ophelia was the oracle’s primary goal.

In any case, this oracle still had yet to be found...

As Vale continued to climb, he looked over toward the waterfall, far away, but its grandeur was ever-present.

’The woman of the waterfall awaits, huh...’

Vale had to keep Sloth’s prophecy to himself, but the opening line of it... he felt he had it figured out.

He felt he knew where the oracle was.

After all, Ophelia had revealed to Mias she’d only awoken her powers after she’d been sacrificed. Plus, all of this started due to the two who’d survived being cast off the waterfall...

It was almost obvious that either this woman of the waterfall was the oracle, or it was Ophelia herself, who’d fallen over the waterfall.

As Vale continued his rumination, he pulled himself up over the lip and bore witness to the scenic view.

"Beautiful..."

"Disgusting."

Awilix, who’d been up for a few minutes already, looked at Vale as if her were crazy for liking the sight after being nearly killed by the woman whose entire gimmick was roses...

Vale had only seen roses in boutiques; never before had he seen a rose field. Especially one this expensive.

Not counting Ophelia’s dress and weapons, of course...

Nearly the entire ground was covered in the red roses utop a plethora of knolls, all the way until the border of the village.

But other than the roses...

’This is where they must have fought.’

Ophelia’s ability seemed quite special as the formations she created were accepted by the world.

In other words, they maintained their existence without her direct desire or involvement. Meaning, any ability she used in a fight that hadn’t been dismissed was left behind.

Vale looked around at the off mounds of viney thorns and gigantic roses.

It was both beautiful and terrifying.

After marveling at the beauty for a little longer, Vale spoke:

"Let’s go..."

Awilix, who had very little protecting her legs, jumped on Vale’s shoulders as he stepped into the rose field, his boots and pants warding away most of the meaningless damage as he made his way toward the forest’s edge, where he could see Edith hanging from a tree branch, waiting for him.

As he walked, he looked over toward the half-desecrated village.

’A week...’

There was no way they survived more than a week without an external factor.

Half the buildings were burned, forcing them all into cramped spaces.

While they’d spaced out their reserves, a lot of their food had still been lost in the battle.

And, while Vale didn’t know the seasonal schedule, he’d known that they’d just come out of a cold season, meaning their harvest had already been pitiful.

In truth, despite Vale’s force lacking numbers, they were in a much better state than their enemies.

This battle of attrition was Vale’s to win. After all, Mias’s strategy was only losing if Ophelia was there and they didn’t have time.

In any case, the only logical solution remaining for the villagers would be to run away, which would result in Vale’s initial desire either way.

But, they seemed intent on fighting to the bitter end.

Vale and Awilix reached the forest’s edge, meeting up with his warriors.