Lusting

Duke Bahman's Residence, Halima's Office.

Listening to the information brought by Cien left Halima speechless.

What he had just said could be a massive conspiracy. If the listener was not Halima, he could be accused of slandering the royal family.

"Are you serious about this, Little C?"

Halima asked again, questioning whether he was truly confident about the information he had just conveyed.

Cien nodded with great assurance, even though he couldn't provide evidence of its truth. He still had to convince Halima that the information was accurate.

Halima fell into deep thought, sitting in her chair while holding her temple.

"If what you're saying is true, how long have we been serving Asmodeus as the king?"

Cien shook his head. "I don't know."

"Where is the real King Abayomi? Since when and how did this happen? How is it possible that His Majesty's closest confidants are unaware of the change in the King?"

"I don't know when they switched. But I think the situation with King Mandora is similar to Dion's. Our closest associates only knew about Dion's transformation, but it never occurred to them that Dion is under influence from someone's spell. Perhaps the royal family feels the same way."

"..."

Halima leaned back in her chair, trying to calm herself while piecing together the current dilemma.

"What is Asmodeus's objective?"

Cien raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. I will find out mys—!"

Cien suddenly fell silent. Having accidentally consumed some poisonous wild plants in Death Valley, he was highly sensitive to any small changes in his body.

At that moment, for some unknown reason, Cien felt a burning desire within him.

His carnal instincts seemed to be raging. As Cien gazed at Halima in front of him, there were mysterious effects that inexplicably drew him to the middle-aged woman.

Although it was still vague, Cien could sense the urge to push Halima to the floor and engage in inappropriate actions with her.

'Something is not right! Could it be... Asmodeus?!'

Cien was certain that something strange was happening to his body. Feeling the surging desire whose origin he couldn't discern, Cien could only think of one creature as the cause.

Asmodeus!

Whether it was due to the [Prince of Lust] or [Hormone Control] skill, or perhaps for some other reason, Cien believed that this was the doing of Asmodeus.

'Goddamnit! When?! Was it when we locked eyes earlier?'

Observing Cien suddenly becoming silent and lost in thought, Halima stared at him, waiting for her friend to gain some inspiration.

However, as time passed, Halima noticed Cien's face growing darker. Sensing that something was amiss, Halima became restless and asked, "What's wrong, Little C?"

Halima started to rise from her seat, intending to approach him. But Cien immediately raised his hand, signaling her to stop.

"Wait, stay there, Sis Halima!"

"What's wrong with you, Little C?"

"There's something wrong with me."

Cien replied, taking a step back. He examined his condition more carefully.

The changes he felt were only slight, not yet affecting his self-control. But it's better to be cautious than to regret later.

Once near the exit, Cien took out his phone. To find out what was happening to him, checking his status was the best way.

He looked at his status, and of course, Cien noticed an abnormal condition in it.

The condition stated that Cien was currently poisoned by a toxin called Lusting. A name that seemed very simple to Cien.

But that didn't matter. Cien touched the word "Lusting" on the screen to see the details.

______________

[Lusting]

A poison created from the combination of the skills [Poison Master], [Prince of Lust], and [Hormone Control]. This poison was created by the Demon General of Abyss, Asmodeus.

The Lusting poison will cause an increase in the passion and sexual desire of the afflicted individual.

In small doses, the influence on the poisoned person only enhances their attraction to the opposite sex. However, if the dosage continues to increase, the person will lose control of their body and mind.

Those with a high dosage will turn into animals in a mating frenzy.

___________

'Is this some kind of prank?!'

Cien couldn't understand Asmodeus' mindset in creating such a poison.

Creating a substance that only triggers the instinct to mate in humans? What's the purpose?

'Wait a minute. If this is a poison, that means I'm poisoned not because of Asmodeus' gaze, there's something else!'

Poison cannot simply be administered like a curse. There must be a medium for the poison to be able to infect others, such as food, syringes, weapons, and so on.

If it's not the gaze, then Cien assumed that the poison must be somewhere else.

Before entering the auction, Cien didn't feel any change within himself.

He even had a long conversation with Cherry and showed no excessive interest.

'The poison is at the auction…'

Cien recalled every action he took at the auction. From the waiters, guards, to the details of the places he visited.

"There's nothing."

Cien concluded that there were no hidden attacks from the people at the auction, and he didn't feel trapped in that place either.

Even if Cien were pricked with a needle, someone with heightened sensitivity to surroundings like him should have noticed.

'Hmm... consumption?'

Cien pondered next. He ordered food and drinks. But he remembered not eating his order.

No, he drank plain water. And a lot of it!

If he remembered correctly, the water came from Duke Bahman's lake. In that case, does it mean the poison is in the water?

Cien frowned. He wasn't sure. He glanced at Halima, seeing the worried expression on the middle-aged woman's face.

Thump!

"..."

Fuck! Cien cursed silently. He didn't expect that just one glance would make the middle-aged woman so attractive.

He shook his head and covered his gaze with the hood of his robe. He spoke to Halima, looking at the woman's feet.

'Damn! Even her feet have a pink effect! This poison is troublesome!'

Halima, observing Cien's strange behavior, grew increasingly anxious. She tried to approach, but Cien vehemently forbade her.

Cien knew he could control himself. But right now, he wasn't sure how much of the poison he had already consumed. If this was just the initial symptom, it would turn into a nightmare.

"What's really going on with you?! You've been acting strange since earlier!"

"I'll explain, Sis Halima. But for now, may I ask for a glass of water?"

Halima frowned but complied with Cien's request. She called for the servant waiting outside the room and instructed them to bring a glass of water.

While waiting for the servant to bring the water, Cien began to explain what had happened to him.

He informed Halima that he had been affected by a strange poison that aroused his sexual desires towards the opposite sex, in this case, referring to Halima.

Upon hearing this, Halima was immediately stunned.

"What?! Are you serious, Little C? I'm already old, you know..."

"Yeah. That's why it's so troublesome."

Upon hearing that, she took a step back and returned to her position behind her desk.

"Do you know when you were poisoned?"

"I have an idea. But first, I need to see the water here."

"The water?"

Knock, knock!

The door suddenly knocked. A servant entered. There was a small jug and two empty glasses on the tray.

The servant poured water into one of the empty glasses and handed it to Cien. Cien felt somewhat relieved since the servant was a man.

Cien examined the water, but found nothing unusual. He opened the camera feature on his cellphone and took a photo of the glass of water in his hand.

__________

[Mineral Water]

Just ordinary mineral water. Sourced from a spring in Ashur City, Mandora Kingdom.

__________

"..."

Just mineral water.

Cien didn't know whether to feel relieved or cry. If it wasn't the water, then it meant there was something wrong with the jug.

With that, a new question arose. Was the servant in the auction one of Asmodeus' accomplices?

"Ugh."

Cien was becoming increasingly confused. Since he didn't know what else to do, he thought about searching for an antidote recipe on his phone.

"Is something wrong with the water, Little C?"

"Hm? Ahh, no. There's nothing wrong."

Cien then explained that one of his assumptions was that the poison might be in the water he had been drinking.

The water came from Duke Bahman's spring, so he just wanted to make sure that the poison didn't originate from there.

However, after Cien explained this, Halima's face turned pale immediately. Cien realized that something was seriously wrong.

"Sister Halima..."

"Quickly, fetch water from the lake!"

Halima immediately ordered the servant who was still standing in the corner of the room.

Hearing Halima's panicked command, he hurriedly walked out. Cien himself was stunned. He then heard Halima's explanation.

The water Cien had been drinking did indeed come from Duke Bahman's spring. However, the water was collected at the beginning of the month and stored in several large tanks.

The Duke's people would always refill those water tanks once a month.

Now, the problem here is...

King Mandora visited Duke Bahman's lake yesterday.

Halima didn't know what His Majesty the King was doing there, but her nephew, Dion, reported that King Mandora inspected the water in Ashur.

Halima didn't pay much attention to this because her priority was her brother's condition. However, if Cien's assumption was correct, then something terrible had just happened.

"The water you drank at the auction was water from the lake that was delivered earlier this afternoon. If your theory is correct, it means that Asmodeus has contaminated that water."

"..."

Cien fell silent. Because the water source is polluted, isn't that very bad?

"Sis Halima... umm, how much water has been distributed today?"

Halima showed a wry smile.

"What do you think? This is the main source of water in Mandora. Almost every day, many merchants in the cities of Mandora come here to buy water. So perhaps it would be more accurate if I answer your question with… hmmm, well, the amount is sufficient to sustain the entire population of Mandora."

"...ha ha ha."

Cien laughed dryly. If that's true, wouldn't Mandora be heading towards a crisis?

It didn't take long for the servant to return with a sample of water from the lake. Cien took it immediately, took a picture, and as expected...

"I think Mandora is already heading towards destruction..."