24 Hearts

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Chapter 3. Flag Competition.

‘She’s cute.’

Looking at the Count’s daughter reminded him of a tomboyish, stubborn girl, but she was more than that. Her brown hair was tied up into a ponytail by strings, and her beauty showed her parents and their excellent genes. Despite the Count’s embarrassing call, the girl waved her hand slightly while blushing, looking at other people instead.

“Isn’t she really pretty?”

Satisfied with just the wave of her hand, the Count sat down with a joyous grin before nodding. What answer should he give? He wasn’t trying to match them, but the girl was actually cute and beautiful. Once she got older, she would surely steal the hearts of many men. The Count furrowed his eyebrows.

“You just have to say she’s pretty… Why didn’t you answer?”

“Haha.”

Judah laughed awkwardly.

“She’s truly our child. My wife resembles her beauty.”

“And her personality?”

“Personality? Um, her personality resembles mine… She’s kind of like me. I mean, she’s cute but also stubborn. That’s the problem. Except for that, everything is perfect. But she’s yet to mature. She’s still a child.”

Despite admitting his daughter’s shortcomings, he didn’t stop pouring out compliments for her. The girl, Sarah, went down the stage to wait for her next match. Unsurprisingly, they paid no attention to the games after that. Cupping his chin, he couldn’t hide the boredom in his eyes that stared down at the stage as they ate.

“Are they holding just preliminaries all day today?”

“Maybe? But looking at this pace, it will end in the morning.”

“You seem bored. Do you plan on seeing it until the end?”

Not knowing which venue Kain was in for the preliminary round, he asked the Count if they could leave.

“Look! This will be quick. The Red Flagstaff qualifier won’t be so boring, and they won’t hold the battle in groups just like this.”

“Will the Red Flagstaff happen here?”

“Yes. So I guess I’m staying here. We’ll just watch the awards ceremony, including the finals, in this venue, and then we can watch it. Don’t worry. If it’s not here, we won’t die just because of it. Let’s stay here and leave right away if that happens.”

He replied, chewing his cookies out loud. Judah wondered why so many people watched the Green Flagstaff contest, which could be said was less interesting than other games. Red Flagstaff should be anticipated more. Judah was bored but tried his best to watch the competition.

‘…Kain isn’t here.’

Judah tried to keep his eyes open, with Count Genuine, Jeanne, and Arhil fought their boredom. Kain was nowhere to be seen in their venue, even until the Green Flagstaff ended. Judah sighed, sipping his drink, thinking he could be at another venue since he couldn’t have missed the preliminary round.

+ + +

Calypso Kingdom, the mansion of Count Jinmu.

Quazzik!

The moment the man’s head met the sharp heel of her high heels, it burst out. She stepped on him just lightly, but his skull broke, and all its innards scattered through the floor. It was terrible to see his exploded eyeballs as it rolled on the floor. But the woman who committed the slander continued to move further into the mansion, with a small smile on her mouth as if she liked it.

The echo of her footsteps stole the attention of mages standing in the library under the stairs. Their eyes snapped to the staircase at the unexpected sound. The moment they did, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

A beautiful woman was standing there.

Purple hair, pure white skin, and the face of the word ‘fascinating’ itself.

Her clothes were so erotic that it took all the attention of everybody.

The front part of her chest was hollow, barely covering only her nipples and showing the rest of her lower flesh. From behind, the line of her back was exposed, and the lower skin of her ass was visible. It wasn’t just that it was too erotic. None of the mages could open their mouth until she went down all of her steps, whispering. She chuckled, and the mages, as if half-awake, could only gape and gulp.

“Who, who…”

“Are you curious about that? Aren’t you curious about the blood on my body?”

It was only then that his eyes realized what was before him. The bloodstains on her body cleared into his vision. The beaut shook her hand, and before he could even react, the man’s neck was cut off by something sharp whipping in the wind. Other mages nearby had no other options. Their throat was cut off before they could even open their mouths and scream. Along with the faltering sound of screaming, blood spurted out like a fountain, and their bodies dried out.

“Huh.”

As if she was satisfied with the fishy scent of blood in the room, she kept moving. She smiled, humming, and enjoying herself. As if she knew the way, she passed and opened the secret device leading to the second and third basement levels.

There it was!

A sound like a stone being pushed rumbled from far away. As she descended to the third basement floor, she saw a magic circle filling the basement cavity. She glanced at the mages and adventurers standing around below. They all looked toward the stairs when they heard the way open. She did not care about such gazes and came down the stairs like a model on a runway. They looked at her with ecstatic and lustful gazes, fully fascinated by her.

“Who are you?”

A man, guarded by hostility despite his longing stare, opened his mouth. She floated to the circle, clapping her hands lightly. That very little movement made her chest shake, and the hem covering it seemed to be peeling off. She looked at the man with a cunning face.

“Do you like that?”

Her voice had the power to seduce others. The moment he heard the strum of her voice, he grew flustered and bit his lips. He bit so hard, his teeth penetrated his skin, causing blood to trickle from the mark.

“…I don’t know what bullshit you’re talking about. Everyone! Prepare to attack!”

Waking up from the pain from his lips, he shouted with magical power in his voice as he pulled out his sword. His voice boomed to shake awake all the other men, freeing them from the haze she had them in. Still, they hesitated. At the sight, she fluttered her eyelashes and grinned.

“Although my seal looks like this… you humans overcame my beauty. Is your potential superior, or am I weakened?”

“Seal?”

“Oh, hold on.”

Her eyes turned black, and her iris turned golden. Horns sprouted on her head, and wings unfurled on her back. Her evil aura radiated out of her body.

“A demon?!”

Devil, demon… Inhabitants of the demon world were called was was a question, but her black eyes were enough to know her nature. The moment they saw her true form, they snapped out of daydreams like a brainwashed kid. She attacked first before they completely came to their senses and acted on their leader’s command.

First, the commander.

She had appeared in front of the man who first resisted her temptation. He lifted his sword, panicking when she rushed in front of his nose. He didn’t see her move. He just raised his sword containing magical power according to his intuition. That movement saved him.

Caaang!

Using the sword to prevent her invisible attack, he could not resist the force that pushed back.

“You’re lucky.”

On that remark, she rushed to the other adventurers. Kaora Castle’s adventurer branch manager, Poga, couldn’t think of getting up from the fall. The moment she hit the sword, he felt the overwhelming difference in power. And the moment he was attacked, his body ran out of strength for reasons unknown. Only he, who owned a white silver plaque, barely resisted the temptation. The other adventurers with a silver plate couldn’t handle her.

“Restraint!”

Jerian Andria, who was dispatched from the tower of Langrisa, triggered the magic as he memorized all the spells. She appeared in front of an adventurer but froze. Just to capture the lady moving at an impossible speed, he triggered his range-type magic, even making other adventurers nearby frozen.

Subsequently, the mages were preparing thin magic to target her. The magics that slowed her movements paralyzed the muscles of her body and restrained her limbs that flew ceaselessly. But despite all the magic they threw, her body continued to resist and move along.

Although her real body was sealed in an underground labyrinth, it was not so weak that her body could be bound by such low-level magic. Shaking off the magic latching onto her body like a ghost passing through the walls, she cut off the body of the adventurer right in front of her and took turns dealing with the wizards.

Even a skilled mage dispatched from the Langrisa tower could not do anything. His ankle was cut off, then his arms when he tried to get up from the floor. His neck, wriggling like an earthworm, fell last. The smell of his blood filled their noses. Only the branch manager and the official survived.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Are you still talking about that? You should know just by looking at me. You see and talk to me, and you’re still clueless? Okay, who are you?”

She squatted in front of him, knowing well she could kill him in one swift gesture. Her sensual body filled his eyes. He turned to her chest as his male instinct took over.

“I… I am Poga, the branch manager of Kaora Castle.”

“Okay, Poga. That’s a weird name. Whoo. You introduced yourself, so shall I introduce myself?”

She knelt on her knees and climbed like a snake over his frozen body. It should smell of blood, but a sweet smell lingered in his nose instead. Her soft body tempted him with just a brush of their skin. Then her face grew closer to his ears. Softly, she opened her mouth, biting his earlobe as she chuckled.

“I am Asmodeus, one of the seven deadly sins.”

The moment he heard the name, his breathing hitched.