"Mid-tier familiar summon, demonic spy!" Upon using the skill, Haruki conjured up a swarm of eyeball creatures with bat-like wings. "Keep an eye on Margarette and her son Riley."
Adhering to the order, they popped like balloons and turned into mist. The trail of dust left behind in their place, flew right out the window to travel along the castle's exterior. Peering in through the windows, while remaining unnoticed their job was to keep their master informed in case the duchess was plotting something against him.
"Your turn," taking a seat on the guestroom bed, Haruki's body was yearning for rest.
Puffing up her chest, Asuka huffed a sigh. The trauma from summoning Lulu last time had left a deep wound in her conscience.
"Mid-tier familiar summon, Miasmic flytrap!" Following her words, obscure miasma burst into the room. Slowly subsiding, it left behind sickly conjoined veins crawling up and down all corners of the room. "Make sure nobody can spy on us or get into the room."
Hearing her order, the veins slithered up to the door and held it shut by the hinges. After securing the entrance, the same miasmic fumes from before began to spray out of them. Weaved with presence cloaking mana, the fumes were a great deterrent to prevent any sounds from making it in or out of the room.
"The potions?" Haruki mumbled, glancing up at Asuka. "They didn't get mixed up through the journey, did they?"
"No, I kept them bound differently," Reaching into the pouch Moriyana had given her, Asuka took out a handful of the luminous pink potion. "The bottles kept whispering so it was hard to keep them a secret."
Handing the batch to Haruki, she reached into the pouch once again. This time as she took out another batch it glowed a striking red instead of luminous pink.
"Pink for women, red for men," remembering the instructions given to them by Moriyana, Haruki quickly hid the bottles in his clothes. "A few of these would be enough to corrupt their minds with lust and degeneracy."
Although the potions would help with corruption, to turn the victims into his servants Haruki had to finally make use of the ability moral corruption under the absolute corruption system.
'If I pair moral corruption with my new skill, then I might be able to turn Margarette into a servant sooner than expected.' Scanning through the screen of stats, his eyes stared at the alluring new ability tantalizing him for a use. Much like the potions, he could hear it calling.
"Master…" breaking the allure, Asuka called out to Haruki.
Turning to look at her, he noticed visible concern resting on her face. Her hands clutching the red potion nervously caressed them up and down.
"I'm not sure if I can turn my first servant," the fidgeting of her body reflected the angst she held over the topic. "I know that unlike you, being a succubus I don't have to have sex with him to turn him into a servant but still it's…"
'Tyrant's heart!'
"Do not disappoint me…" His eyes glowing a violet, Haruki glared at Asuka lacking all emotions.
"Master?" Noticing the glowing eyes, Asuka was utterly bemused. "Are you okay?"
Haruki moved his head in a twirling circle as if something had overtaken his body. At the end of the weird ritual, he turned to look back at Asuka before huffing out a drawn-out sigh.
"Mortal…" Crossing his legs, he began to admire his nails. "Do not impede the plan more than it already had, by the way things are moving it'd take centuries for this fool to have so much as a fourth of my former army!"
Shifting into the demonic body, Haruki's body began to lift up into the air. Taking a moment from admiring his nails, he briefly gave Asuka a piercing glance.
"What's happening, master? Is that you?!" In a moment of realization, Asuka gasped in horror. "Asmodia?"
"Certainly darling, ehehe," biting his lips, she made Haruki's body float closer to her. "It is me, the mother of all lust demons, Asmodia. Since your incompetence has failed me numerous times, I figured it'd be best to take matters into my own hands from time to time."
Her heart racing from the absurdity of the events unfolding before her eyes, Asuka leaped a few steps away from Asmodia.
"What did you do to master?" Asuka asked, still trying to piece together some sense in this bizarre situation.
Resting his finger on his lips, Asmodia let out a playful hum.
"What did you do to him? I'm simply claiming the body I gave him…" flying up closer once again, she pressed Haruki's nails against Asuka's unsure lips. "Temporarily that is, but don't worry my child, I won't do any harm to him. After all, I need him more than any of you, our contract won't let me lay a direct finger on him anyway."
Still shaken by the sudden audience with the mother of all lust demons, Asuka couldn't accept her words at face value alone.
"What do you want?" She asked, her eyes widening as Asmodia moved Haruki's face closer.
"For now? Just a taste," pressing Haruki's lips against Asuka, Asmodia forced his tongue in.
Twisting and coiling around Asuka, Asmodia could taste her sweet scent trailing down her nose. As her hands moved over to her breasts, however, Asuka gathered the courage to push her off.
"Get off!" She yelled before covering her mouth in disgust.
Brushing Haruki's hair off to the side, she gave Asuka an unmoving stare. She didn't need to voice her anger, nor did she need to voice any threat, her empty gaze drained sanity like the spiral stairs to the abyss.
"Keep this a secret, or the contract I have with your master won't be enough to keep him safe," a radiant smile plastered across Haruki's face, Asmodia moved himself back to the bed.
"But you said that the contract won't let you hurt him?" smirking even wider at Asuka's question, Asmodia rested Haruki's back on the bed.
"I'm the mother of lust, corruption, and more, did you really think I would keep my word?" With those words, the violet glow in Haruki's eyes completely disappeared.
[Check Haruki + Asuka's stats in Author's thoughts]