Chapter 810: The Ruler of Lust
The bottom of the Abyss seemed even more oppressive below the ninety-fifth floor. The constant feeling of pressure made the space itself seem compressed around them, as if reality were being slowly crushed by some invisible force buried in the depths of that ancient place. There was no wind, heat, or cold as such. Just a suffocating presence spread throughout the entire environment, something too heavy to be explained simply as ordinary demonic energy.
The three advanced slowly through a colossal rock formation that stretched until it disappeared into the absolute darkness above them. The walls of that level of the Abyss were different from the upper floors. They no longer had a mineral or architectural appearance. Everything there seemed too organic. It pulsed slowly in some places, like petrified flesh trying to breathe after millions of years buried under darkness.
Lilith walked ahead of the group without apparent hesitation. Her red eyes constantly observed the surrounding environment while an extremely thin black energy silently spread through the nearby structures, functioning as a kind of conceptual tracking. Since they had descended beyond the ninety-fifth floor, even Sapphire had noticed changes in her posture.
More caution.
More silence.
More attention to detail.
That said a lot.
Because Lilith knew the Abyss better than practically any living creature.
Sapphire walked a few steps behind, keeping the summoned spear partially at her side. The weapon emitted small golden distortions around the blade, dimly illuminating parts of the grotesque structures scattered along the path. The glow revealed enormous organic cracks in the walls and something resembling fossilized eyes trapped within the dark matter of the place.
Sepphirothy followed closely behind the two, clearly less comfortable as they continued descending. Unlike Sapphire, who hid tension behind sarcasm and arrogance, Sepphirothy simply seemed irritated by the whole situation. Her eyes constantly scanned the surrounding darkness while she kept one hand near the sword strapped to her waist.
She was the first to break the silence.
"This is becoming a bad idea."
Sapphire didn’t even look away from what was ahead.
"You started saying that on the eighty-ninth floor."
"Because on the eighty-ninth there was still time to go up without traumatic consequences."
Lilith continued walking without immediately responding. Her attention remained focused on something very distant, far beyond the broken structures of that level.
Sepphirothy let out a small, irritated sigh before continuing:
"We are below the ninety-fifth floor. Not even the celestial records have complete information about this region."
"The celestial records don’t have complete information about half of existence," Sapphire replied calmly.
"Exactly my point."
The energy around them seemed to pulse slowly at that moment, causing small red cracks to temporarily appear on the dark floor before disappearing again.
Sapphire looked up at the colossal void above them.
"If something really happened to Guerra, then running away now solves nothing." Her voice was firm and practical. "It’s better to understand what’s happening than to rush up and wait for the problem to get worse on your own."
Sepphirothy immediately looked at her with a tired expression.
"You say that because you clearly have suicidal tendencies."
"I prefer to call it strategic curiosity."
"I prefer to call it an unconscious will to die."
Lilith finally slowed her pace for a moment.
"Can you two stay quiet for more than twenty seconds?"
Neither answered immediately.
Silence returned to fill the air as they continued advancing through the depths of the Abyss. Distant sounds echoed far below them, slow, dragging noises like gigantic structures being moved somewhere impossible to see.
Then Sephirothy spoke again, now in a more serious tone:
"I really don’t want to die here."
Sapphire made a small, amused noise through her nose.
"Relax. If you die, I’ll probably laugh first and resurrect you later."
"That’s not comforting."
"It wasn’t meant to be."
Lilith slowly raised one hand.
They both immediately fell silent.
Her posture had changed.
Her gaze now remained completely fixed on the darkness ahead.
"Listen."
The two obeyed immediately.
At first there was nothing.
Only the crushing silence of that level of the Abyss.
Then came the sound.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Very slow.
Something was walking towards them without any hurry.
The noise echoed through the surrounding organic structures in a strangely soft, almost relaxed way. It didn’t seem like an immediate threat. It didn’t seem like a chase. Whoever was coming simply didn’t bother to hide their presence.
Sapphire immediately summoned her spear completely.
Golden energy exploded around her body by automatic reflex as she assumed a defensive stance.
Sephirothy partially drew her sword.
Lilith remained motionless.
The footsteps continued to approach slowly through the absolute darkness ahead of them.
Then a figure slowly emerged from among the black structures of that floor.
A tall woman.
Extremely pale skin.
Long, slightly bluish-white hair cascaded down her back like cold silk under the purple light of the room.
Two long horns curved upwards from her head, gleaming in intense pink tones that partially illuminated her face. Her eyes were a magenta color too vivid for that lifeless place, and the small smile on her lips carried something dangerously calm.
Her clothes were elegantly almost offensive for the grotesque environment around her. A tight black dress covered her body with violet details shimmering softly on the fabric, while parts of the garment left enough skin exposed to make her appearance deliberately provocative without seeming exaggerated.
But it wasn’t that that was frightening.
It was her presence.
The exact instant Sapphire looked directly at her...
Her body burned from within.
The pain came immediately.
Violent.
As if her veins had been filled with molten metal.
Sapphire fell to her knees before she could even understand what had happened, clutching her chest with one hand as her breath hitched for a few seconds.
"GHK—"
Her spear immediately lost its balance.
But she wasn’t the only one.
Lilith also took a step back, clutching her arm tightly.
Sepphirothy fell partially to her knees beside them, her eyes wide with pure physical discomfort as she felt her heart race violently in her chest.
None of the three understood what was happening.
The woman’s presence seemed to attack their bodies simply by being near them.
The stranger observed the scene calmly.
Then she smiled a little more.
"Look..." Her voice was too soft for that place. Slow. Almost intimate. "...we have visitors."
Sapphire pressed her hand even harder against her chest as she tried to control her breathing. The sensation inside her worsened with each passing second. Strange desires, emotions, and impulses began to surge through her mind in a chaotic way, as if something were directly invading her most primal instincts.
Lilith narrowed her eyes immediately.
She recognized that feeling.
And it made her genuinely uncomfortable.
Sephirothy managed to partially lift her face despite the overwhelming pressure on her body.
"Who..." She took a deep breath with difficulty. "...who are you?"
The woman tilted her head slightly.
Then she casually pointed to herself with one hand.
"Me?"
Her smile slowly widened.
"I am the Regent of Lust."
The energy around her seemed to pulse along with the words.
Her magenta eyes shone brighter as she observed the three before her.
"Victoria Asmodeus."
Silence returned to partially dominate that forgotten layer of the Abyss after the woman’s casual introduction before them. Her presence continued to weigh uncomfortably on the entire environment, but unlike brutal entities such as Hunger or War, it didn’t feel overwhelming because of its violence. It was worse precisely because it felt too intimate. The air around the stranger carried a warm, invasive, and emotionally corrosive sensation, as if every thought buried deep in the mind was slowly beginning to rise to the surface without permission.
Lilith remained motionless, observing the woman seated before them as small currents of purple energy slowly coursed through the area around the newly manifested throne. Sapphire still held one hand to her chest, attempting to stabilize her own demonic energy. The burning sensation had lessened slightly, but not completely disappeared. Sepphirothy seemed even more irritated than frightened, mainly because her own body had reacted involuntarily to the mere presence of that entity.
Victoria Asmodeus slowly rested her face on one hand, observing the three with a small smile, clearly amused by the whole situation. Her long, light hair flowed over her shoulders as her eyes glowed with a pink hue too intense to seem natural. The enormous, purple-illuminated horns emitted small cracks of energy into the surrounding air, slightly distorting the reality of that layer of the Abyss.
Then she chuckled softly.
Not as someone threatening.
But as someone genuinely entertained.
"That’s really interesting to feel personally," she commented calmly as she analyzed the three of them without any hurry. "You have a lot of lust in your own hearts."
Sapphire immediately narrowed her eyes.
"Are you reading emotions?"
Victoria gave a small, sideways smile.
"Reading? Not exactly." She slowly raised one hand as small purple particles danced between her fingers. "Lust doesn’t work like that. I don’t need to look for it. It simply exists in everything."
Her gaze then slowly passed over Sapphire, then Sepphirothy, before finally stopping on Lilith.
"Well..." She tilted her head slightly. "...you are demons of absurdly advanced levels, after all." Her smile widened a little. "Right, progenitor?"
Lilith didn’t answer immediately.
She simply continued observing Victoria in absolute silence, showing no visible fear or discomfort, although her eyes were too attentive for that to be mistaken for tranquility.
Victoria noticed. And she seemed to like it.
Then, slowly, she crossed one leg over the other while the demonic throne beneath her emitted small luminous cracks across the black surface of that forgotten layer of the Abyss.
"Honestly..." She let out a small, amused sigh. "...I was expecting something much more aggressive from the three of you."
Sepphirothy finally stepped forward, still maintaining evident caution in her posture.
"You attacked our souls the moment you appeared."
Victoria immediately raised an eyebrow.
"I didn’t attack." She casually pointed to her own chest. "That was just my presence existing too close to you." Then she flashed a lascivious smile again. "It’s not my fault if your repressed desires are so absurdly noisy."
Sapphire let out a small, irritated noise.
"You talk too much."
"And you think too much."
The answer came quickly.
Naturally.
As if Victoria were casually chatting in an ordinary room, not at the bottom of the Abyss.
Then she observed Sapphire for a few more seconds before smiling in a dangerously amused way.
"Especially you."
Sapphire immediately grasped the direction this was taking.
"Don’t even start."
Victoria completely ignored the warning.
"Because honestly..." She rested her arm on the throne while leaning slightly forward. "...this Vergil really seems too important to you."
Silence followed immediately after the sentence.
Short.
But perceptible.
Victoria laughed again.
"Ah, so I was right."
Sepphirothy crossed her arms.
"You’re jumping to conclusions too quickly."
"No." Victoria slowly shook her head. "I’m sensing extremely obvious emotions."
Her bright eyes slowly slid between the three again.
"Sapphire has clearly desired him emotionally for a long time." She raised a finger. "You..." She pointed casually at Sephirothy. "...try to feign rationality, but you’re just burying unresolved emotional tension." Then she finally looked at Lilith. "...and you’re the most interesting one."
Lilith remained motionless.
Victoria smiled.
"Because you still haven’t quite understood what you feel."
The energy of the room seemed to fluctuate slightly at that moment.
Not because of power.
But because of Lilith’s silent reaction.
Victoria noticed this immediately.
"Hatred?" she asked casually. "Curiosity? Interest? Resentment?" Then she shrugged without much concern. "Or whatever. Fuck it, right?"
Sapphire partially closed her eyes.
"You really don’t have any instinct for self-preservation."
"I do." Victoria replied calmly. "I just don’t have a reason to use it right now."
The carefree sincerity in her voice was more unsettling than common arrogance.
Because none of those three could sense a lie coming from her.
Victoria then slowly leaned back on the throne while observing the infinite ceiling of that deep layer of the Abyss.
"But honestly..." She seemed genuinely thoughtful now. "...Lilith seems less interested in conversation." Her eyes slowly returned to the demonic progenitor. "You seem to want to wrest answers from the Abyss by force."
Lilith finally spoke for the first time since Victoria’s arrival.
"I just want to find Guerra."
Victoria tilted her head slightly.
"So you really are investigating that."
That made the atmosphere slightly heavier.
Because her tone changed.
Very slightly.
But it changed.
Sapphire noticed immediately.
"What happened down here?"
Victoria remained silent for a few seconds while small purple currents still slowly drifted through the space around the throne.
Then she smiled again.
But now the smile seemed less amused.
"You’ve gone too far down."
Sepphirothy let out a small, irritated sigh.
"Great. Another person saying that."
Victoria ignored the comment.
"The bottom of the Abyss has always been unstable." She rested her face on her hand again. "But recently..." Her pink eyes narrowed slightly. "...some things have begun to awaken."
Lilith immediately grasped the weight of the sentence.
"What?"
Victoria observed the three for a few seconds before answering.
"You really don’t feel it yet?"
Sapphire slowly tightened her grip on her spear.
Because, deep down...
She felt it.
They all felt it.
Something below.
Far below.
Something ancient enough to make even that deep layer of the Abyss seem like mere surface.
Victoria then crossed her legs again as small luminous cracks ran along the arms of the demonic throne.
Finally, she asked calmly:
"So..." The lascivious smile slowly returned to her face. "...what exactly do you want?"
