The butler thought the Mayor of the City of Pleasure was insane for launching a preemptive strike against the Foundation.
Considering the military power of both the Foundation and the city, it was only natural.
An organization that defends the Middle Realm from invasions by the Spirit Realm while launching counter-offensives.
A small city busy trying to protect itself and establish a name for itself in the power struggle of the Middle Realm.
The difference in military strength was unmatchable.
Yet, half of the executives who commanded the troops to defeat the legions had gone silent.
“Anton. Observe.”
“My mana level 4 has usage limits. Do you still wish to proceed?”
“It’s that serious.”
Mana Insight Level 4.
Sight that detects mana, Search Eye.
Sight that perceives the essence behind mana, Pierce Eye.
The spying vision that hides magical reactions and activates continuously, Spy Eye.
The future-seeing eye that uses super-precise sensing to glimpse near or far-off futures, Prognosis Eye.
The academy graduate butler Anton had barely grasped some aspects of Mana Insight Level 4.
He imposed a restriction on usage—something that originally didn’t exist—yet gained the ability to foresee the distant future that hadn’t been allowed to him.
“Please specify the target.”
“The Mayor of the City of Pleasure.”
[Level 4 Prognosis Eye]
[Sharp Eye]
[Designated Target: Mayor of the City of Pleasure]
Anton’s vision was instantly cloaked in darkness.
Dense darkness that felt as if souls would be crushed.
In the bitter cold that made bones ache, emaciated beggars knelt, begging for mercy.
Once out of the alley, the Empire nobles and knights, stripped of their clothes and wearing collars, were evaluated by the greedy gaze of the Pleasure Nobles, laden with rare metals, as they ascended to the auction stage.
In the distance, somewhere in the skies beyond the city, a light flickered.
With a deafening roar, the city’s protective magic circle began to collapse.
At a moment when aerial bombardment ceased in the face of a defense stronger than the palace, pleasure slaves, whose souls had been subjugated, soared into the air from the top of the Lord’s Castle, bearing a sight too much to behold.
The half-demon, half-horse monstrosities destroyed the Empire’s non-fair flight hidden behind the clouds, and the Lord watched this spectacle, leisurely swirling a cup.
The world-altering plane of the long-vanished imperial territories served as snacks.
Markers of the offensive and conquest of the enslaved cities engulfed by the boundaries of the City of Pleasure.
Taaaang━.
Sucked in by the clear sound of the glass, Anton’s gaze met the Mayor’s gaze in the air precisely.
The Mayor’s cruel smile made his eyes widen, and Anton instinctively realized that it was a technique surpassing his Mana Insight Level 4.
An eye known to be extremely rare at the Gift Academy, surpassing even a student’s level, was the critical eye, Read Eye.
With the ability to read the essence of a target clearly, piercing through their past, present, and future, the duration and depth of insight far exceeded the limited predictions of lesser future-seeing eyes.
The distant, unrealized possibilities of the new Three Great Evils, Lust Demon Asmodeus, were such that he could reverse gaze at Anton.
At that moment, Anton understood why countless previous Mana users had been warned not to peek into the futures of the Principal, Demon King, Sovereign, and the Three Great Evils.
━━━
If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze back into you.
━━━
Just as the ancient philosopher’s saying, abyss-level beings could peer back at Mana users.
-If you’re so curious, let me enlighten you. The city lord forsaken by the world became the lord of a city that would swallow the world, empowered by the Lust Demon.
“I-I’ll… go back. I have no interest in you. I just want to go back…!”
-It’s too late.
At the instant the Lust Demon’s eyes sparkled, Anton felt an overwhelming flood of pleasure.
Simultaneously, he sensed the wicked dark mana rising behind this massive wave of pleasure.
[Obey]
Dark mana restricts weaker beings based on the degree of power. If the disparity is significant, it can even force submission.
Yet, the Lust Demon did not command submission.
This was a fleeting reprieve for more complete submission, a wait for greater destruction.
━━━
Those who accept the pleasures bestowed by the realm of pleasure shall pay with their souls.
━━━
This law was inscribed in the world.
Before the Lust Demon Asmodeus, no one is exempt.
Not even Anton, a butler from the Wahyhiemhai Foundation’s Division 1 who had only glimpsed the distant future possibilities.
-When you return, tell your master what true power to serve is and what they are up against.
The non-fair flight crashing beyond the wasteland caused a massive explosion, the Empire nobles and knights dragged away wailing, and the pleasure slaves, with twisted frames and outstretched wings, soared towards the Western Three Kingdoms.
Forced pleasure given and the freedom of a soul paid for; from the pinnacle of the city, now turned into slaves of pleasure, Anton’s soul lost its light.
*
“That’s severe.”
In an instant, Anton’s body morphed rapidly and uncontrollably.
The butler’s final words left on what was once called Anton escaped from the butler chief’s lips.
“This is crucial information. There have been many new threats or powerful beings who succumbed to external temptations and became spirit contractors, but the emergence of an abyss-level strength is unprecedented.”
Jeff, the butler who always kept by the chief’s side as his aide, handed over a towel.
The chief burst Anton’s heart and wiped the blood and viscera from his gloves.
“The soul of a being with Level 4 domain capability can warp and induce physical transformation and mental disruption. At this point, the lord of the City of Pleasure must be dealt with as a top priority.”
The test battles utilizing the executives to annihilate one legion at a time have come to an end.
As the chief stood up, the butlers that followed him shadowed behind like shadows.
“I command, under the authority of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation’s Director’s third division. Do not allow the City of Pleasure to see tomorrow’s sun.”
A total war was about to begin overnight, determining beginning and end.
*
The Executive Oknodie sat in his chair, tapping his feet.
“Oh, is that what happened?”
“I believe you’ve had enough rest. Please help the butler chief in launching a surprise attack on the City of Pleasure.”
“Well, do I have to?”
The feet that wobbled rhythmically like a metronome showed no sign of change.
“I’m curious about the chief’s abilities, but Asmodeus isn’t exactly a tempting Fourth King!”
“…”
The butler bowed his head.
A smile crept onto Executive Oknodie’s lips.
“Uncle, I noticed.”
“…I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“But your attitude is odd.”
As Executive Oknodie began to speak formally, the butler lowered his head even further, as if he shouldn’t make eye contact.
“The butler chief’s orders should be followed by the executives; otherwise, there will be retribution. You should have been stronger in that regard. You’re not treating me as an executive now.”
“…”
“How did you know?”
“Because the deceased Anton was an old colleague drafted from your executive branch.”
“Whoa. I didn’t know that!”
With a dramatic surprise, pretending to tap his head with one fist while sticking out his tongue and winking, the butler couldn’t lift his head in front of the executive meeting room.
“Ugh, this is boring. No matter what I say, there’s no fun in response.”
Executive Oknodie’s feet stopped.
The butler’s senses became extremely sharpened.
As if each drop of sweat held a thousand years, every breath felt like it could be his last. Just a subtle poke from Executive Oknodie made him feel overwhelmed.
“Care to dance?”
“…What?”
“I’ve always thought it would be funny to see a butler in stiff attire like Jonna do tap dance.”
“……”
“Unless you want me to stop.”
As if to soothe the boredom, strands of mana swirled around Executive Oknodie’s fingers.
Would he be able to endure even for a second if those strands of mana all attacked him at once?
Just imagining it filled the butler with dread.
Tap. Tap.
The butler’s clumsy tap dance prompted a ringing laugh from Executive Oknodie.
“Wow, you’re really dancing when I said so!”
“…….”
What kind of suffering was this?
Even though he held a backup position as the youngest of Division 1’s butlers, this place was the most dangerous.
The butler trembled at the humiliation yet feared showing it lest he give reasons for his head to roll and remained frozen in place.
“Well, that’s enough. You danced well.”
“Are you helping the chief?”
“Curiosity got the best of me!”
Luck Academy.
Surviving the academy through luck.
The Wahyhiemhai Foundation and the chief of the direct third division, the butler chief, were characters not present in the original work.
What kind of person could he be?
What does he think, what goals does he pursue, and how does he achieve domains and function contracts, and what are the crossroads of happy endings, normal endings, and bad endings?
Which one would pique the most interest?
The youngest butler’s story only answered a small piece of this curiosity, yet it was enough for Executive Oknodie to stop his dress-up and follow the butler chief.
“Please keep an eye on Sing when he arrives. That place is on another level of battlefield!”
Long after Executive Oknodie kicked the window open and left, the butler barely lifted his head.
The sense of pressure felt in that brief moment, like a storm of mana, made sweat pour down as if it were raining, soaking the carpet beneath his feet.
[Spy Eye]
The constantly activated Spy Eye of the youngest butler made him inadvertently observe who Executive Oknodie, Oknodie, was.
As a result, the butler couldn’t help but glimpse part of what Oknodie thought.
-What would lead the butler chief to a doomed ending?
“…!”
To entertain thoughts of doom against the chief, at the forefront that moved between the world’s hinterlands.
To even regard such a powerful being with pure curiosity was the epitome of pure evil.
Was it truly the right action to seek assistance from such a being? He began to regret it.
Yet, he could not release him.
He read it.
The thought that Oknodie, who had been unable to endure the boredom and was tapping his feet, had crossed his mind.
-Dang. I’m bored because I usually wipe everything out in a massacre route… Should I try to dip that one…?
Being someone barely back from the brink of death, thinking of others was a luxury.
