“What?”

“I suspected Lala was popular, but… so how many suitors do you have in total? Should I tear them all to pieces to prove my strength?”

Before Lucifer could commit any grotesque acts while making such spine-chilling remarks with complete seriousness, I firmly laid down the rules.

“Absolutely no murder. And I set the criteria myself.”

Lucifer looked confused but nodded obediently without arguing further. After saying he would work hard to impress Lala from now on, he gazed at her n*ked body, lost in thought.

“Do humans also engage in group mating?”

“Well… occasionally?”

Though not common, considering Eodiphia’s coming-of-age ceremony, such sights weren’t entirely unfamiliar.

“I see. So does Lala prefer men who are good at nighttime activities?”

Where did he learn such terminology? His subsequent explicit question made Lala unconsciously let out a small sigh.

“Though I don’t want to take Lala simultaneously with other men, if that’s also a form of competition, I suppose I must comply.”

Muttering these ambiguous words, Lucifer pulled her chin again and pressed his lips against hers.

‘Take me simultaneously?’

His strangely confident tone caused an inexplicable anxiety to creep up inside her.

* * *

At that moment, Rictusa, suffering from insomnia, suddenly sensed an ominous presence and rose from his bed.

It was the familiar, chilling demonic energy he had encountered dozens of times while hunting demon beasts—an enormous amount of highly toxic energy typically found only in top-tier demon beasts.

‘Third floor?’

Shasha’s room was one floor above. Precisely from there, suffocatingly thick demonic energy was pouring out. Rictusa drew his sword and rushed out, kicking the door open.

“Shasha!”

When he arrived, Shasha’s room was tightly locked. But for someone whose muscular body had been trained on battlefields for decades, breaking down a mere wooden door was nothing.

CRASH!

With one strike, Rictusa shattered the door and entered, only to witness an unbelievable scene unfolding before his eyes.

Countless tentacles covered the room, attached to a body the size of a house. The creature, clearly a demon beast, loomed threateningly over Shasha’s wet body.

Shasha lay unconscious with her long silver hair spread across the bed sheets, her lower body completely consumed by part of the monster’s form.

“Shasha!”

Yet there were no bloodstains that should have been present if her lower body had been eaten. The scene before his eyes was not just unfamiliar but somehow bizarre.

‘This looks less like she’s being devoured and more like…’

Seeing the black membrane combined with her white body, Rictusa’s expression gradually twisted into a fierce scowl.

“Uh, ungh, ahh, haaah…”

Shasha, moving rhythmically up and down, let out a soft moan.

Lucifer, who had been mating with her, also noticed the presence behind him and sharply turned his body.

WHOOSH!

The monster’s arm instantly stretched forward and plunged toward Rictusa. Having anticipated this movement, Rictusa easily avoided the indiscriminate attack. Then, with lightning speed, he leaped and swung his holy sword down toward the lower body of the demon beast that had swallowed Shasha.

SLASH!

Several tentacles of the demon beast, known for their abnormally fast regeneration, were instantly severed.

“KYAAA…!”

The monster, screaming what sounded like a shriek in demon language, launched a fierce attack with its severed tentacles.

Following the sharp movement, blue mucus splattered through the air like blood from the cut surfaces.

THUD!

Finally grasping the severity of the situation, the demon beast withdrew from atop Shasha and reduced its body to its original boy-sized form. Dozens of pairs of tentacles sprouted from his back, revealing sharp teeth and beginning to unleash fierce attacks.

“Kugh…!”

Unlike the motionless boy, Rictusa, battling with the poison-spewing tentacles, was eventually grabbed by the nape and roughly slammed against the wall.

“Ugh, cough! Shasha…!”

Far from worrying about his own safety, he continued calling Shasha’s name until the end.

This naturally displeased Lucifer.

Meanwhile, Lucifer was equally affected by the significant damage from his tentacles being shredded by the holy sword, unable to regenerate.

The floor glistened with the blue fluid spread everywhere—the blood of the demon beast.

Tightening the tentacle wrapped around the large man’s neck, he slowly stepped forward.

“Are you also one of Lala’s suitors?”

“What?”

Though they had lived under the same roof for a short time, the demon beast still didn’t understand the relationship between Rictusa and Lala.

From the beginning, he lacked the concept of family; bonds between females and males existed solely as mates, and living together represented the preceding courtship phase.

Lala called this man “brother.” But Lucifer neither knew the exact meaning nor particularly cared about it.

Meanwhile, Rictusa held his breath, focusing on the demon beast’s next actions. His holy sword lay pathetically out of reach.

Despite having exterminated countless demon beasts, he had never encountered one with this level of demonic energy. It must be at least mid-to-high rank. How could such a monstrous creature infiltrate Lala’s bedroom?

Gritting his teeth, Rictusa grabbed the tentacle wrapping relentlessly around his neck.

He planned to gather his remaining strength to tear it off in one go and then grab his sword.

But the next moment, a dry voice penetrating his eardrums forced Rictusa to abandon his intended action.

“If you’re Lala’s suitor, I’ll let you go. I want to conduct the competition fairly.”

The pale lips bathed in moonlight parted slowly once more.

“And Lala said no killing.”

Suitor?

A questioning expression flashed across Rictusa’s face. Though he didn’t understand the meaning of his opponent’s words, the urgent matter was getting Lala to safety.

He could have torn the demon beast’s tentacles with his own strength and aimed for a counterattack in one go, but he refrained.

Unnecessarily provoking the demon beast might only endanger Lala.

“First, release this.”

“Answer my question first. I asked if you’re Lala’s suitor.”

“…Yes, I’m in the same position as you, so release Lala now.”

The tentacle, which had been tightly constricting him like tough plant roots, loosened. They vanished into thin air, and the remaining tentacles on the monster’s back disappeared without a trace.

Rictusa rushed to Shasha’s side in one bound.

The woman, revealing her dazzlingly white n*ked body, still hadn’t regained consciousness.

Lucifer didn’t stop Rictusa from carefully taking her into his arms.

Though his fists trembled with suppressed resentment, compared to the devil who had s*x with Lala in the imperial garden, this was relatively mild.

The restraint placed by that man had long been released, yet Lucifer stubbornly adhered to the conditions Lala had set, refraining from further violent actions.

Rictusa quickly walked to the bathroom and brought back a clean towel.

He then meticulously wiped off the dirty bodily fluids from Lala’s body and covered her with a blanket.

His hands trembled slightly while caressing between her chest and thighs. Well, what man could remain calm when the woman he loved lay n*ked before his eyes? Annoyed by Rictusa’s trembling hands touching Lala’s body, Lucifer simply turned his head away.

‘This man must love Lala too.’

Since he claimed to be a suitor, it must be true. Lucifer examined the man before him with a cool gaze like a broken moon fragment.

Human? No. His physical condition was too superior to be a pure-blooded human. The firmly raised muscles, shoulders spread wide like mountain ranges crossing a continent, distinctly masculine facial contours with open features, and golden skin.

Typically handsome, and probably…

‘A beastkin hybrid.’

Usually, those born with non-human physical conditions were half-beastkin.

Lucifer easily reached this conclusion and approached Lala again.

Rictusa was now arranging her wet hair and hands blackened by poison with trembling fingers.

“Is this your doing?”

At the angry voice, Lucifer’s gaze also turned downward.

The blackish-blue poison spread like a thin membrane was something he hadn’t noticed either.

His desire for Lala, virulent like syphilis, had made him lose his rationality and fail to control his demonic energy.

Yet alongside the irredeemable guilt of contaminating Lala with poison, a dirty possessiveness crept up.

He didn’t find it unpleasant to see the territorial marking clearly engraved on Lala’s body, rather than traces easily washed away like bodily fluids.

Of course, Lucifer didn’t verbalize the fact that he had marked his beloved with poison to claim ownership.

Even for a demon beast, he knew his thinking wasn’t entirely sound.

Had Rictusa not confronted him directly, he would have leisurely admired that poison blooming like flower petals.

“It will disappear if you infuse holy power into her body.”

Lucifer dismissed briefly.

Bodies defiled by demon beast poison or demonic energy were typically healed with holy power.

With a deep breath, Rictusa slowly drew up what little holy power he had from his toes. To be honest… he wasn’t suited for this kind of task.

Though he could utilize it, the amount was minimal, and most of his holy power didn’t circulate within his body but was injected into weapons for offensive purposes.

Drawing the holy power that enveloped his sword back into his body was difficult enough, and even if successful, Shasha might be seriously injured through carelessness.

But at this late hour, he couldn’t seek help from anyone else.

By now, the room bathed in moonlight was completely silent and still.

Seeing Lala’s increasingly pale face, Lucifer deeply regretted his thoughtless actions.

With a feeling like the whole world had collapsed, he watched Rictusa push holy power into Lala’s mouth.

“Lala, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault…”