Chapter 43: The Phantom of Pleasure.

Late at night.

Merorin had long since fallen into deep sleep.

Her breathing was steady and slow.

However, her dreams were anything but peaceful.

All around her was boundless darkness.

Only a hazy white light floated at the center.

Suddenly, a crisp and familiar laugh echoed through the darkness.

“Hahaha—congratulations, congratulations!”

That voice was filled with undisguised delight.

It was Phantom.

“Stop playing tricks!” Merorin suddenly emerged from the darkness.

Her fists clenched tightly.

Anger burned in her eyes as she stared fixedly at the white light.

“Come out!”

“I know it’s you, Phantom!”

The white light slowly condensed.

Phantom’s figure gradually took shape.

“You,” Phantom chuckled softly.

She stepped forward unhurriedly.

“You really didn’t disappoint me.”

“On this path toward becoming a true succubus, you’ve gone farther and farther.”

Merorin’s whole body stiffened.

She stepped back half a pace warily.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’d better explain yourself clearly!”

Phantom looked at her tense, guarded posture.

Her smile deepened.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Haven’t you noticed?”

“Today’s you is already different from the you of the past.”

She tilted her head slightly.

As if admiring a piece of art.

“Then again, that makes sense.”

“After all, you’ve been given a hard shove down this road of corruption.”

“If Lilith hadn’t stepped in just in time…”

“Before this month was over, you would’ve completely become me.”

“Nonsense!” Merorin roared.

“I didn’t do anything today!”

“How could I possibly become you?!”

She tried desperately to recall every detail of the day.

Her loss of control in the bath.

The embraces from Sylvia and Cassie.

Yet she could find nothing abnormal.

Everything stemmed from the Demon King’s torment and her own weakness.

“No need to think about it,” Phantom said lightly.

As if seeing through her struggle, she interrupted with a smile.

“You wouldn’t be able to notice it.”

“Because the change starts from the deepest part.”

“Only when you completely become me will you understand.”

“How the past you and the present you truly differ.”

“Shut up!” Merorin cried in fury.

She lunged forward.

She grabbed Phantom by the throat.

“I don’t need you to tell me who I am!”

However, the instant her fingers tightened—

A powerful suffocating sensation struck her!

It felt as though invisible hands were clamping tightly around her own throat!

Her vision went black.

Her breathing stopped.

Her heart pounded violently.

She hurriedly released her grip.

She staggered back.

She collapsed to her knees.

Her hands clutched her neck as she gasped for air.

It was as if she had just been dragged back from the brink of drowning.

Phantom stood where she was.

She gently touched her own neck.

There wasn’t the slightest mark of being attacked.

Instead, her smile grew even brighter.

“My dear,” she said.

She looked down at the kneeling, panting Merorin.

Her voice carried mocking amusement.

“How am I?”

“You really are foolish.”

“Grabbing my neck is the same as grabbing your own.”

“Our sensations are connected.”

“Pain, pleasure, emotions.”

“Everything is shared.”

She stepped closer.

She crouched down.

Her fingertip flirtatiously lifted Merorin’s chin.

“You are me.”

“And I am you.”

“We were one to begin with.”

“The more you resist, the deeper the tearing pain becomes.”

“Why bother?”

“You’re not me!” Merorin shouted.

She flung Phantom’s hand away.

She struggled to her feet.

She pointed at Phantom.

Her voice trembled with anger and fear.

“I will never become you!”

“Never!”

“Is that so?” Phantom laughed softly.

Her crimson eyes locked onto Merorin.

“But you know it’s not true, don’t you?”

“You can already feel it.”

“That desire.”

“The craving for pleasure.”

“The craving for release.”

“The craving to be filled.”

“You’ve started enjoying that feeling of being dominated.”

“Haven’t you?”

“I haven’t!”

Merorin roared.

She swung her fist at Phantom’s face.

“Bang!”

The punch landed.

Phantom let out a muffled groan.

She staggered back, covering her cheek.

It looked as though she had truly been struck.

At the same time, searing pain exploded through Merorin’s own body.

Phantom quickly regained her balance.

She looked at Merorin in shock.

“You’re really heartless…” she murmured.

Her tone even carried a hint of grievance.

“To hit even yourself that hard.”

She stepped closer.

Her voice sounded like a dreamlike whisper.

“But still…”

“Isn’t this version of you even more…”

“Enticing to me?”

“Don’t try to seduce me!” Merorin snarled.

Her chest heaved violently.

The last traces of stubborn resolve burned in her eyes.

“I will never become you!”

“You’re nothing more than a byproduct of my succubus transformation!”

“Once I get rid of this cursed succubus body, you’ll disappear completely!”

Hearing this near self-deceiving declaration, Phantom couldn’t help laughing.

“That’s not necessarily true, my dear,” she said.

She slowly shook her head.

After all…

“I am you.”

“You… what did you do?!” Merorin glared at her.

Her voice trembled slightly.

An unfamiliar sensation churned violently within her body.

Phantom lifted her head.

A flushed look of pleasure colored her face.

A sly smile curved her lips.

“I am you, and you are me.”

“My sensations…”

“You can feel them too, can’t you?”

“Damn it! Stop this right now!” Merorin shouted.

She tried to rush forward to stop her.

“That won’t do,” Phantom replied lightly.

A mischievous glint flashed in her eyes.

“Ah—!!!”

Phantom admired her collapsing form.

She laughed as she spoke.

“Now you understand, don’t you?”

“You are me.”

“And I am you.”

“Your body.”

“Your nerves.”

“Your pleasure.”

“They’re all connected to me.”

“You can’t escape.”

Merorin lay sprawled on the ground.

Her fingers dug deeply into the empty void beneath her.

Her nails were nearly breaking.

She panted heavily.

Her voice trembled with humiliation and rage.

“Damn it…”

“You must have used some strange method…”

“Otherwise this wouldn’t be possible…”

“If you don’t believe me,” Phantom said.

She slowly stopped her movements.

“Then let me show you…”

“The real you.”

As she spoke, she slowly raised her other hand.

A dim glow gathered at her fingertips.

Without hesitation, she thrust her fingers into her own temple.

As if prying open her skull.

“No… don’t!” Merorin cried instinctively.

She tried to stop her.

But Phantom had already finished.

Her fingers stirred deep within her own brain.

As if flipping through a book belonging to the soul.

In an instant, Merorin felt her consciousness ripped apart.

Then forcibly reassembled.

Countless unfamiliar memory fragments flooded her mind.

Twisted emotions.

Repressed desires.

All surged into her subconscious like a tidal wave.

She saw herself laughing in the Demon King’s arms.

She saw herself主动 kissing Lilith’s hand.

She saw herself feeling at ease in Sylvia’s and Cassie’s embrace.

She saw herself longing for the next lesson.

A never-before-felt succubus awareness took root in her heart.

Like a seed.

It sprouted rapidly.

It began eroding her identity as a hero.

She felt herself melting.

Changing.

Becoming something she no longer recognized.

“No… don’t…”

“I’m Merorin…”

“I’m a hero…”

“I am—”

Her consciousness struggled in chaos.

At last, her eyes completely lost focus.

Her gaze turned empty.

As if her soul had been stripped away.

She collapsed limply to the ground.

However, the strange transformation did not last long.

Phantom withdrew the hand from her head.

The distortion of the dream receded like a tide.

Merorin’s awareness slowly returned.

She lay on the ground, gasping for air.

Cold sweat soaked her dream-formed clothes.

“Now… you believe me, don’t you?” Phantom said with a smile.

Her fingertip still lingered at that hidden place.

Drawing gentle circles.

“Damn it…” Merorin’s voice was hoarse and broken.

Tears spilled uncontrollably.

“Why…”

“Why are you doing this to me…”

She demanded an answer.

Phantom did not respond.