Just as my fingers made contact with her skin, Elara's eyes snapped open. The hazy, honeyed lust in her pupils was suddenly incinerated by a shock of brilliant, white light.
"Back, demon!" she cried, her voice echoing with a power that wasn't hers.
A barrier of golden energy flared around her body with the force of an explosion, throwing my hand back with a stinging, agonizing hiss. I recoiled, my fingers blackened by the divine feedback.
[Warning: Divine Protection Active]
[Target: Elara is using 'Sanctified Soul']
[Resistance to Mental and Physical Corruption: +80%]
The Arousal Mist swirled around her like a frustrated predator, but the golden light acted like a filter, burning away the pink haze before it could reach her lungs. She stood up, though her legs were still trembling, and lifted her silver censer high. A shockwave of holy mana surged through the corridor, blinding my Imps and sending them scurrying back into the vents with shrieks of agony.
"I am the voice of the Goddess," Elara declared, her robes billowing in a wind that didn't exist. "Your filth has no power over a soul that belongs to the Heavens!"
I gritted my teeth, the Wife-Stealing Rod in my hand vibrating so violently it felt like it would shatter my bones. It was fighting against her "Marriage Bond"—a bond that wasn't just a legal contract, but a sacrament sanctified by the Church itself. It was like trying to crack a vault made of celestial diamond.
"Silas! Close the exits! Don't let her see the sun!" I barked.
Shadows slammed shut behind her, plunging the corridor into total darkness, save for Elara's radiant, golden glow. I needed to drain her. If I couldn't break her mind, I would starve her spirit.
[Dungeon Point Expenditure: 200 DP]
[Activating: Mana-Drain Floor Tiles & Whispers of the Damned]
The stone floor beneath her feet began to glow a sickly, necrotic green, pulling at her energy like a thousand leeches. Simultaneously, the walls began to speak. I used the dungeon's acoustics to project distorted, weeping voices—the voices of the people she thought she had failed.
"Why didn't you save us, Elara?" a voice sounding like a broken Sarah whispered from the dark.
"You're here for your own pride... while we rot in the dirt..." a voice resembling Marcus groaned.
"No... that's not true!" Elara gasped, her golden barrier flickering.
Every time her doubt spiked, the light dimmed. And every time the light dimmed, the Arousal Mist crept an inch closer to her skin.
"Your Goddess isn't here, Elara," I said, circling her in the shadows like a wolf around a dying campfire. "She's watching you fail. She's watching your husband, Kaelen, celebrate his 'victory' at the border while you're down here, forgotten and discarded."
"Kaelen... he loves me..." she whimpered, her hand going to the holy symbol around her neck.
"Does he? Or does he love the statue of the High Priestess?" I moved closer, my voice dropping to a predatory whisper. "When was the last time he actually touched you, Elara? Without a prayer? Without a vow? Without the cold permission of your Church? He treats you like an altar, not a woman."
The golden shield shuddered. The logic was a poison more effective than any mist. As her focus shifted to the cold, distant nature of her marriage, the Wife-Stealing Rod gave a triumphant thrum.
[Divine Protection: 40% and dropping]
[Marriage Bond: Vulnerability Detected]
A bead of sweat rolled down her cleavage, and this time, the mist didn't burn away. It clung to her, turning the sweat into a slick, aphrodisiac oil. Elara let out a choked, desperate gasp, her knees finally hitting the glowing green floor.
"Stop... please..."
"I'm just getting started," I whispered, stepping into the edge of her fading light. "I'm going to show you what a 'Holy Marriage' is really worth when the lights go out."