This Isn’t an E*otic Game?

Corn was silent for a moment.
Just one look, and it was obvious he was grappling with something massive.

I stared at Corn with a tense expression.
And then, maybe a minute passed.
[……You’re really going to give me a body?]

Corn said something utterly despairing.
Lucifer laughed.
“[I’ll craft you into the most perfect form of a stallion. You’ll be able to mate with as many mares as you want.]”

[Fine. Let’s do that. That bastard Amayel—when I was with him, all I ever did was suffer. Might as well change sides now. It’s not like I’ve got a reason to stay loyal—wasn’t everything I did just to get a body? So why not switch teams? Right?]
A voice completely devoid of even a shred of guilt.
My hands trembled.
“Corn.”

[Shut the fuck up, you bastard!! Do you have any idea how much I suffered because of you?! You think I wanted to gain consciousness?! Think about it—it was humans that killed me in the first place! Fucking dumbass. When I think of all the shit I went through because of you, I grind my teeth!! Got that?!]
I had no idea what kind of expression I was making.
My body hurt.

My mind hurt even more.
And now, the betrayal of someone I thought was on my side—
It hurt so badly it was nearly unbearable.

[My body. You’d better make it the most perfect white stallion ever. Better-looking than that bastard Kardak at his prime. Back then, Kardak was the most handsome unicorn in existence.]
Lucifer laughed again.
“[So long as the Saint falls to corruption, I’ll give you everything you want, little creature. Now begin. Break the Saint’s mind. Do not—I repeat, do not kill him. The moment he dies, you die too.]”

[Of course. My psychic control precision is ridiculous. Ask Kardak over there—he lost to me because of how precise I am. Scrambling a human mind? Child’s play.]
The Bicorn bared his teeth in a vicious grin.
“It’s true, my lord. If there’s one thing that bastard excels at, it’s psychic precision… no one else could match it.”

“[I like that. Begin.]”
Light began to spill from the psychic «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» amplifier.
It slowly constricted around my body.

Asmodeus gave no reply.
The expedition team was nowhere near me.
The operation to retrieve Ponemkin had collapsed—and now Corn, too...

Had betrayed me.
I was just tired of everything.
Tired of my own stupidity.
Who did I think I was, making all that noise like I was someone special?

[Don’t blame me. I made the best decision I could from my position.]
And with those words—
The psychic wave pierced into my brain.

As my vision turned blindingly white—
“Ah… AAAAAGH!! STOP!! NO!!”
A scream of despair tore from my throat.

“S-STOP!! AAAAH!! P-Please, Miss Caretaker!! I don’t want any more rolled omelet!!”
A horrifying scream.
Even to a stranger, it would have sounded bone-chilling.

My face twisted in agony, snot and tears indistinguishable, as if I were writhing in hell itself.
“AAAGH!! I don’t want to sit on the men’s restroom toilet!! The 116 bus goes straight to Gungdong!!”
I was screaming in Korean.

Not the Empire’s common tongue—
But the language of a completely different world was pouring from my mouth.
Seeing my grotesquely contorted face and incomprehensible speech, Lucifer’s expression lit up.

“[It looks like he’s striking at memories from childhood—perhaps even pre-reincarnation memories. Ha ha! This little creature… he knows how to torture a mind. Starting from the foundation of identity—it’s the fastest way to collapse it!]”
My back arched like a bow.
As if being assaulted by a tremendous psychic force, I kept spewing more Korean.

“Why do they only play Pokémon on TwoX Bus, and never Digimon?! WHY!!”
“Not the neighborhood pool—AAAAAGH!! I want to go to Caribbean Baaaay!!”
Lucifer, Valram, and the Bicorn Kardak—none of whom understood Korean—watched my thrashing body and twisted expression with pure anticipation, clearly believing I was undergoing true psychic torture.

And then—
“WHO PUT BIBIM NOODLES WITH SAMGYEOPSAL!! AAAAGH!! IT HAS TO BE ROSÉ CHICKEN!! AAAAGH!! AAAAAAAAAH!!”
Anyone who understood Korean and heard my screams…

Would’ve immediately sensed something was off.
I stared blankly at nothing, listening to my own bizarre screams echoing inside my mind.
And the cries, echoing within my own mental world, sounded… strange.

I slowly turned my gaze to one corner of my inner mind—
And there, rummaging madly through my memories of Korea, was an awkward, scrappy little pony.
[…Corn? What are you doing?]

He plucked a memory from my Korean past and tossed it out—causing my physical body to erupt with yet another absurd string of Korean babble.
Corn looked over at me with a giggle.

[Yeah.]
[I made a degraded copy of your consciousness and layered it over the outside. To the eye, it’s indistinguishable. Your real self—I shoved it deep inside and sealed it for protection.]
I let out a laugh of disbelief.

[That’s… even possible?]
[It’s not perfect—I did it in a rush. The moment that Demon Lord Lucifer suspects something, it’s over. But I perfectly copied your external psychic signature. Unless they literally dive into your brain, they’ll think you’re suffering for real.]
The scrappy little pony grabbed another memory and hurled it.

My body twitched and screamed again, shouting incomprehensible Korean.
[I’ll stall for time as best I can. Let’s try fooling them, just once.]
I stared at Corn, who was desperately digging through my old memories of Korea and flinging them out like trash.

[Why… why are you doing this? What are you buying time for?]
[Someone will come save you!! Whether it’s the expedition, the Pantheon, or Ponemkin—someone, fuck, someone will come!! After everything you’ve sacrificed and suffered, you can’t go down like this!!]
[But they promised to give you a body. Wouldn’t it be easier to just take the deal? Why go through all this danger?]

The moment he’s exposed, Corn is finished.
Lucifer will crush the psychic amplifier without hesitation, and Corn’s consciousness inside will be destroyed with it.
Corn was walking a high-wire act of terrifying danger.

[That Bicorn—Kardak. Doesn’t something about what he said sound familiar?]
I searched my memory for a moment.
What had that bastard said?

Almost as if to help jog my memory—
Kardak chuckled and threw a line from outside my mind.
“Hey, little pony. You made the right choice. Once you’ve got a body, you’ll get to live like me. You’ll trot through every stable and mount every mare you see. One-and-done with the finest virgin mares. That was the life you envied, wasn’t it?”

Ah. That line.
[…Wasn’t that the line you said to me when we first met?]
He once claimed to have deflowered every virgin mare in his region.

One thrust. One finish. Anything more and she wasn’t a virgin, he said. Or some shit like that.
I remembered thinking how absolutely insane that line was.
[I copied his lines. I wanted to sound tough. I practiced it over and over. To impress this unicorn mare I liked. He was the alpha stallion—I wanted to be like him.]

Corn tossed another memory and responded.
[I used to envy that bastard Kardak like crazy. Unlike scrawny little me, he was handsome, popular, got all the mares he wanted… Until he stabbed me in the back and killed me. But now, seeing him again after all this time? That fucker… he’s just pathetic.]
Corn gave a hollow, self-deprecating laugh.

[He’s completely consumed by lust, spiraling out of control. I’ve never felt a more revolting psychic wave than his. Out of every creature I’ve ever sensed. And so… I just didn’t want to end up like that. That’s why I’m helping you.]
[So he’s a cautionary tale.]
[Exactly. But that’s not the only reason.]

Corn’s gaze sharpened and snapped toward Valram.
Among the mana stones dangling from Valram’s neck, Corn’s eyes fixed on one in particular.
[…You see that mana stone?]

[Yeah.]
[Doesn’t it look familiar?]
It resembled the shape of the psychic amplifier.

Something about his tone struck me as… sad.
[That’s the horn of the unicorn mare I loved. That thing.]
I was left speechless for a moment.

[Those fuckers. I’ll rip them apart. I swear to god.]
Corn muttered, voice thick with barely-held tears.
I sat, collapsed in my own mental world, listening to my body scream out bizarre Korean nonsense.

“AAAH!! Mister Bus Driver, does this bus go to Daejeon Station?! AAAAAAGH!!”
Lucifer laughed, not understanding a word of it.
“[You’re doing well, little creature. Keep torturing him. Start from his deepest, most personal memories—shatter him.]”

I silently watched Lucifer, Valram, and the Bicorn Kardak from inside my own mental world.
[Hey. Corn.]
[What?! I’m busy!! You need to dig up more past memories and toss them out too!! They need to see you suffering!!]

[I thought of a way to escape.]
[…You did what?]
I quickly explained the plan to Corn.

And as soon as he finished listening to the explanation, Corn let out a hollow laugh.
[You think this’ll work? No way. I mean, come on—it’s way too obvious. There’s no way they’ll fall for it…]
[They will. There’s a very high chance it’ll work. High enough to bet everything. Those guys—they’re followers of Arrogance. You think they won’t fall for something like this?]

[...You’ve got a point. Alright, then. What do we do first?]
[Knock me out. My body’s already weak, so passing out won’t look unnatural.]
[Alright. I’ll go for it.]

Just as Corn tried to retreat from my mental world, I grabbed him.
[Corn.]
[What, you bastard.]

[…Thanks.]
[Good. You get it, then.]
Corn withdrew from my mind.

And with that—
My body began to convulse.
“GUUAAAAAGH!! BANANA BREAD—BANANA MILK!! WHY IS THERE NEVER A SINGLE DECENT LUNCHBOX IN THE GODDAMN CONVENIENCE STOOOOORE!! URGHHHH!!”

My spasming psyche—
Or more precisely, the false persona Corn had layered over the outside of my mental world—flickered out like it had passed out.
I saw my body go limp.

Lucifer’s smiling face turned to one of confusion.
“[Why is that happening?]”
Corn responded with a lie—completely unfazed.

[That guy’s body’s already wrecked from divine effects. With the mental torture added on top, he couldn’t hold out long and just broke.]
He let out a troubled sigh.
[…We should let him rest a bit before continuing. If he dies, that’d be a problem, wouldn’t it?]

Valram rose sharply to his feet, snapping at Corn.
“You wretched little beast! Show proper respect when addressing the Demon Lord of the Abyss!!”
But Lucifer held up a hand to stop him.

“[Let it be, Valram.]”
“But, Father…”
“[It doesn’t matter in the slightest. The only thing that matters now is the Saint’s fall. And what this little creature says is true—it’s better to take a short break and resume later.]”

Lucifer slowly rose to his feet.
“[No one will come. Not the worms of the Abyss. Not the gods of the Pantheon. No one can reach this place. We have time. What matters most is breaking the Saint’s spirit completely.]”
Even as he moved, Lucifer’s body seemed… weary.

From deep within my mental world, I observed every detail carefully.
“[Valram. Come here. Damn this cursed Great Labyrinth—just using a bit of authority and my body’s already overloaded.]”
“As I’ve said again and again, Father—you’ve pushed yourself too hard.”

“[Just to dominate one dragon and take out a few expedition pests… and I end up like this. Help me stabilize this body, Valram.]”
“Gladly.”
Still holding Corn in his hand, Lucifer carefully lowered himself to the ground.

With a boom, his massive frame—easily over three meters tall—slumped against the crystalline wall of the Flame Dragon’s lair.
Valram approached and began cautiously checking over Lucifer’s condition.
Lucifer closed his eyes and focused on Valram’s adjustments.

He almost looked asleep.
So far, everything was going according to plan.
Now—

It was Corn’s turn to act.
 
****

Valram frowned as he worked on stabilizing Lucifer’s body.
Two Dragon Hearts.
Two Dragon Horns.

And even then, this vessel wasn’t enough to contain all of Lucifer’s authority.
And this flesh vessel didn’t even house Lucifer’s true form—
It was just a fragment that had once lodged itself inside Valram’s soul.

[Is he asleep? Lucifer?]
The Saint’s psychic amplifier, still held in Lucifer’s hand, resonated faintly with that question.
Valram didn’t reply.

This pitiful little beast.
If he hadn’t been useful, Valram would’ve crushed him long ago.
As expected, the Saint hadn’t resisted the beast’s psychic interference.

No.
It was more accurate to say—he chose not to resist.
Because if he had drawn on Asmodeus’s power to resist, the creature inside that necklace would’ve been damaged.

Knowing the Saint’s nauseatingly soft-hearted nature, Valram couldn’t deny that this unicorn creature was far more fitting to corrupt the Saint than the very god he served.
[So even Lucifer overexerted himself.]
Valram glanced at the necklace.

“Shut up, you wretched beast. Stop trying to speak in my mind and interrupt my concentration.”
Before his sentence even finished—
A whisper of psychic energy—so faint it was nearly undetectable—slipped into Valram’s thoughts.

[Hey, Valram. Asmodeus. Don’t you want it?]
Valram’s hand, adjusting Lucifer’s form, hesitated for a moment before resuming.
[…What are you playing at?]

Valram’s reply was also a subtle, almost invisible psychic signal.
To that, the unicorn in the necklace answered nonchalantly.
[Just look. The Saint is unconscious and strung up. Lucifer’s asleep. The Pantheon and the evil gods—none of them can interfere in the middle of this Great Labyrinth. I’ve already wrecked the Saint’s mind. All you’d need to do is nudge him a little, and he’s yours.]

Valram stared at the necklace.
[You’ve been alive for over a hundred years, haven’t you? You still look young, but your hair’s silver. And your psychic frequency… well, it doesn’t feel youthful. It feels old. No matter how much you try to hide it with magic—I can sense it. But you know what? With the Saint’s authority—you could really become young again. That’s the blessing of the Goddess of Life, after all.]
The unicorn’s persuasion was painfully obvious.

And yet—
[What do you say, Valram? Don’t you want to be young again? Look at that meal, set and ready, just hanging there in front of you. For a mage of your caliber… a simple spell of mental domination would make the Saint yours. All of Asmodeus’s authority… would belong to you.]
It was too tempting to laugh off.

The unicorn's words from the necklace…
Were dangerously sweet.