Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

On the fourth floor, Ryuji felt a strange sense of disgust. His skin crawled with the feeling of something watching, gazing at him from every inch. After an hour of pacing through the spiralling tunnel, there were no monsters, creatures, or living things. Nothing had attacked or even made a sound. Ryuji stopped and activated his observation skills.

'For what? Am I searching for nothing?' he internally spat.

Erika stood beside him and mimicked his actions but said nothing as she moved her head from side to side, ears perked while leaning close to his arm, causing Yumiko's tail to swish violently.

"I don't like this place," Ryuji admitted his feelings, and they seemed to resonate with the party. Because Paul, Simon, and Alicia all nodded while Sheila's hands grasped her mace. "Let's keep moving forward, though." His observation skills mapped the dungeon and scanned for different minerals and monsters.

The feeling of being watched persisted until the spiral ended. Ryuji felt the walls breathing a strange sensation before the mist cleared to reveal a peculiar, narrow staircase. From the mouth of the cave, a red mist rolled in, its origin and effect a mystery.

"Wait... This doesn't give you deja vu, right?" Paul's voice quivered. He held two runes in his hands, feeling as if this moment was familiar.

Ryuji nodded and felt Sheila lean closer to him. Her eyes were wide with concern, and Yumiko's hackles had raised, her sharp teeth gleaming as her lips curled back into a vicious snarl. "I can sense a strange miasma from that opening, Ryuji." Sheila's stern words echoed down the stairs leading into the red mist. He didn't react for a moment because the mist felt pleasant on his skin.

Paul and Simon both had sweat trailing down their faces, and Ryuji felt a strange paranoia grip on Erika when she stepped behind him. He could feel her arms trembling, and her eyes looking into the darkness seemed to become confused, swirling with an odd pattern. 'That's not a defensive instinct—it's more dangerous.'

He only realised her change because of the observation. It told him that Erika suffered from several mental states: confusion, berserk, and terror. Ryuji reached back and gently grasped her shaking hand. Then felt her calm down before Paul yelled out.

"We need to go!" Paul's legs buckled under him as Simon staggered forward. "This place, the mist, is deadly; if we don't rush through, we might kill each other or ourselves!"

Ryuji couldn't argue because his observation showed him the mist carried a powerful hallucinogenic poison, and Paul was right—it would cause people to hurt themselves or their party. He grabbed Erika's hand and took the lead and raced into the red mist. Because he didn't seem to be affected, he reached out and grasped both Yumiko and Sheila and dragged them forward.

'Strange... when they are close to me, the effects seem to diminish.' Ryuji thought while Simon chugged a brown potion, his face turning pale while gagging before he almost vomited. Paul covered his face with a barrier, but the strange shapes in his eyes still formed, just at a slow and gradual pace.

"Alicia, Sheila, drink the brown potions. It's not a cure, but it'll suppress the effects!" Simon yelled and saw the pair quickly pull out the vile potions before taking a swig. Like Simon, the pair almost vomited, but Ryuji had no time to help them.

Desperate to finish them, Ryuji began racing down the steps. He led the party, ignoring the strange hallucinations that formed in his vision as he moved further down. Ryuji felt Erika's symptoms become worse as she gripped his arm and chest, her face close to his neck while tears streamed down her face.

"Make it stop, Ryuji, make the shadows end," Erika whimpered. "Father, stop! Wait, come back!" Sheila muttered while Alicia fell behind a few steps. Yet seemed to only be in a mild state of hallucination.

Ryuji increased his speed as Paul and Simon started muttering and yelling, causing Sheila and Alicia to cry. 'It's affecting Erika more than expected. I thought heroes would be immune like me.

Maybe it's because I am not human or fully human?' He then looked at Yumiko, who became just as strange, but her illusion seemed gentle—where the humans saw fearful things, the elf and beastkin saw a pleasant illusion.

"Yumiko, grab Simon and pull him along. Don't let him go!" Ryuji's sharp words were a contrast to their hallucination. This caused them to snap out of it for a moment. However, Simon started hitting Paul because his illusion caused him to see a monster eating the mage.

"No... don't eat Paul!! He's my brother!! I'll kill you, monster!" Simon screamed. Yumiko grabbed his arm and dragged him down the steps while Ryuji focused on Sheila and Alicia.

"Both of you, grab onto my body and stay close!!" His fierce words created an odd world difference the moment his commanding voice sounded. It calmed them slightly and allowed them to cling to Ryuji's chest.

Ryuji ignored Sheila's soft breasts, pressing into his back while Alicia's plump thigh rubbed against his hips. Her arms clenched around his waist, and her hood fell off her head, revealing her beauty. He almost lost focus when he saw tears flowing from her emerald eyes.

'I hate this dungeon floor! Why is there both Irregulars and Irregular floors!?'

****

The tapping of feet echoed, and a repeated staircase with the walls undulating and breathing as if the dungeon had become alive. Ryuji felt sluggish, carrying three women while trying to observe for threats and danger. Yumiko helped Simon, and Paul had his barrier spell.

'Observation doesn't work on irregular creatures? What is an Irregular floor? It makes no sense. Why would a dungeon have places that cause its adventurers to go insane!? No. If the dungeon wasn't designed for adventurers.

Then it's logical that there would be traps we are unaware of. Then who made the dungeons?' Ryuji felt Erika clinging to his arm. Her breasts wrapped around her arm while she panted, exhausted from the constant running.

"Mother, I'll be a good girl. I won't wear the wrong clothes anymore, don't hit me!!" Erika's hallucination had changed. Ryuji could tell it wasn't an illusion of monsters or terror, but she was reliving a traumatic memory.

Simon and Paul had calmed from their hallucinations because the potion had suppressed the poison in their system. However, their eyes remained red, with strange symbols swirling around them. Ryuji was unaffected by the poison.

However, his observation told him that he also had the same symbols in his eyes.

Paul, Simon, Sheila, Alicia, and Erika - had a red substance in their veins that had entered the bloodstream, causing hallucinations and illusions.

Yumiko and Ryuji - had a red substance in their veins. Effects blocked by race.

'The dungeon did try to affect me. Then does it know I can't be affected or understand the hallucination effects?' He remembered the monster calling him a traitor or betrayer... those words continued to linger in his mind, though he never mentioned them to the party.

While mulling these things over, the end of the tunnel appeared. A strange madder-red light in the distance was approaching rapidly. Ryuji could sense no monsters, creatures, or living things within the room, only a cold, oppressive force of death.

'Observation cannot detect undead. Is it because they lack life? Or is there another reason, and there is nothing there?'

With each step closer, Ryuji became more irritated with the whispers from the woman around his neck. Sometimes, the woman blew hot breath down his neck with their erotic sighs. Their lips touched his skin, other's hysteric screams and terrors as they clawed his flesh. He swallowed a tremendous amount of air, preparing to shout.

"Wake up!" Ryuji bellowed.

His voice woke up Erika and the others, who shook their heads. Only Yumiko stayed calm because she only saw a pleasant illusion. Much to the irritation of the others, not to mention she recovered faster.

"Ryuji?" Erika shook her head, clearing the remaining effects, while Sheila and Alicia trembled as Paul regained control of his magic barriers.

"Simon, are you okay!?" Paul cried while his mana exploded out from him, forming a barrier around the group as they all shot through the red light, a sudden brightness blinding them all momentarily.

"Ready your weapons!" Ryuji's voice once again echoed before the clash of steel sounded, and cries of pain rang out.

Paul and Simon were the first to react to his order. Because Ryuji's voice shattered their dazed state, he could see dead bodies moving, eyes like glass, and bodies covered in armour and rusted weapons. However, they were shuffling towards the party.

The sudden appearance of an enormous cavern revealed skeletal archers, swordsmen, and mages with a strange corpse sitting on a throne in the distance, watching them with its dark eyes void of emotion and life.

"Oh god... an irregular floor and boss!?" Simon's gasp caused him to delay drawing his sword; he turned to Ryuji and the party before shouting. "Take care. These monsters will not act like mindless dungeon beasts! Your life is your responsibility!"