Asmodeus System: Stealing My Bully's Mother

​The absolute silence in the Main Coliseum was finally shattered by the frantic shouts of the medical team.

​They swarmed the arena with levitating stretchers, crowding around Kurt von Rosenberg’s body, which lay in a pool of black blood. The bone-chilling frost radiating from the obsidian floor made the medics shiver, but the Duke’s heir was hanging by a thread. His mana circuit had been utterly annihilated.

​Amidst the chaos, the Head Instructor raised his voice-amplifying staff, his hands trembling violently.

​"T-The winner of the opening match... ETHAN VALEN!"

​The eruption from the stands wasn’t a roar of admiration. It was a cacophony of confusion and sheer terror. Noble students whispered frantically amongst themselves, their faces pale as ghosts.

​"H-he defeated Young Master Kurt without chanting a single spell?!"

"That ice rose ring... did the academy secretly take him in as a hidden disciple?"

​Ignoring the thousands of piercing gazes stabbing into his back, Ethan turned around. He casually descended from the arena, strolling down the dimly lit corridor toward the VIP Rest Area.

​There wasn’t a single drop of sweat on his forehead.

​However, he had barely taken a few steps onto the corridor’s red carpet when a silhouette blocked his path, leaning arrogantly against the wall.

​"Quite the brutal display for an F-Caste student."

​The melodious voice dripped with arrogance. Kaelia von Ashford.

​The fiery red-haired girl crossed her arms beneath her chest. Her golden eyes scanned Ethan from head to toe, searching for a single trace of weakness or exhaustion. Nothing. She found absolutely nothing.

​"Madam President," Ethan replied calmly, his pace not slowing in the slightest. "I thought you preferred watching from the comfort of your balcony."

​"I prefer observing anomalies up close," Kaelia countered, stepping into the center of the hall to block his path.

​She leaned in, narrowing her eyes. "That ice magic in the arena... and the ring on your finger. I know that mana signature perfectly, Valen. It belongs to the Vice Principal. What exactly is your relationship with her?"

​Ethan stopped mere inches from Kaelia.

​The scent of burnt roses wafted from her body—the overwhelmingly dominant, savage scent of pure fire mana.

​But Ethan didn’t retreat a single inch. Instead, he leaned his face in. He allowed a wisp of Sin Mana to bleed into the air, blending with the lingering Frost Pheromone on his clothes.

​"Hmm? Why the sudden interest, Kaelia? Are you jealous?" Ethan whispered.

​His velvety baritone slid smoothly into the girl’s ear.

​Kaelia flinched. Her golden eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "J-jealous? Tch, in your dreams! You’re just—"

​"You’ve always craved someone who could extinguish your flames, haven’t you?" Ethan cut in sharply.

​His eyes flashed with a piercing crimson glow, stripping away Kaelia’s mask of arrogance. "You are sick to your stomach watching the weak men around you turn to ash under your ego. Deep down... you need a man whose fire you cannot burn. Someone... you cannot control."

​Kaelia’s breath caught in her throat. Her heart suddenly hammered out a frantic, erratic rhythm.

​H-how is this possible? Kaelia panicked internally. How could this low-caste boy read the darkest desires I’ve hidden even from myself?

​The freezing aura rolling off Ethan’s body, combined with that absolute predator’s gaze, made Kaelia’s knees feel weak for the first time in her entire life.

​Ethan smirked faintly at her physical reaction. He stepped forward, deliberately brushing his shoulder against hers, forcing the fiery girl to step aside.

​"Save your curiosity, Madam President," Ethan said as he slowly walked past her. "My turn to play with your fire will come later."

​Kaelia stood frozen in the corridor. Her hands unconsciously gripped the hem of her uniform skirt.

​A furious anger boiled in her chest. But at the same time... a strange, intensely intoxicating desire began to crawl up the back of her neck.

​Click.

​The sound of a steel lock turning echoed inside the Exclusive VIP Rest Room.

​The room was perfectly soundproof. Luxurious furniture and thick velvet curtains blocked out all light from the outside. In the center of the room, Isolde von Rosenberg stood, trembling violently.

​Her formal gown was horribly wrinkled. Her elegant platinum hair was a mess. Her face was stained with tears that had completely ruined her flawless makeup.

​The maddening stimulation from the Incubus Mark during the match had drained her physical stamina dry. However, the mental blow of watching her son vomit blood with a shattered circuit had completely annihilated her sanity.

​The moment Ethan turned away from the locked door, Isolde abandoned any lingering pretense of dignity.

​The grand Archmage, the most feared Vice Principal in the academy, threw herself to the floor.

​Thud. Her knees slammed into the plush carpet.

​"P-please..."

​A ragged sob broke from Isolde’s trembling lips. She crawled forward in a pathetic display. Her shaking hands grabbed the toes of Ethan’s boots, hugging them tightly as if they were her only lifeline.

​Ethan stared down at the woman at his feet with eyes as cold as glaciers. "What are you doing, Isolde?"

​"S-spare him... please, spare Kurt..."

​Isolde looked up. Her icy blue eyes were now red and swollen, brimming with absolute despair. "You’ve already shattered his mana circuit... you humiliated him in front of the entire kingdom... He will never recover from this. Please, let this be the end of it. Don’t murder his soul..."

​Isolde’s heart-wrenching sobs echoed in the room. Her maternal instinct had completely swallowed the Duchess’s towering arrogance whole.

​Ethan slowly crouched down. He reached out, his thumb wiping a stray tear from Isolde’s pale cheek.

​The touch caused Isolde to reflexively close her eyes. The warm jolt of Sin Mana from Ethan’s fingertips now felt like the only anchor keeping her sane.

​"He was the one who drank the Bloodfire Elixir, Isolde. He destroyed himself," Ethan whispered without an ounce of mercy. "But... I suppose I could pay him a visit later. Whisper the truth about ’our relationship’ into his ear one more time, and watch his brain completely snap into madness."

​"NO! Don’t!" Isolde shrieked, her voice cracking. She desperately gripped the sleeve of Ethan’s shirt.

​The woman swallowed hard, her chest heaving frantically. She had made her decision. An absolute sacrifice to atone for her son’s past sins against the devil.

​"Take it all," Isolde whispered hoarsely. Her voice trembled, yet it was laced with absolute certainty. "Not just because you force me through this demonic mark. But I... I am surrendering it to you voluntarily."

​Isolde’s tears fell, dampening the back of Ethan’s hand.

​"My body, my magic, my pride... I will be your servant, your puppet, your whore, or whatever you desire. Forever. But in exchange... please, let Kurt live in his ignorance."

​Ethan fell silent. His crimson eyes stared straight through Isolde’s soul, stripping bare every layer of the woman’s desperation.

​A dark, incredibly lethal smirk finally formed on Ethan’s face.

​This was his ultimate victory. He hadn’t just tamed the Archmage’s body and magic. He had just fractured her soul from the inside out, forcing her to her knees and making her surrender her absolute entirety of her own free will.

​"A very tempting offer," Ethan murmured.

​He pulled Isolde closer, embracing the shoulders of the woman who was now sobbing uncontrollably, burying her face into his chest.

​"Deal accepted, Isolde. You are absolutely mine."

​At that exact second, a barrage of blood-red screens aggressively exploded, flooding Ethan’s entire vision.

​[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: MENTAL DESTRUCTION & ABSOLUTE SUBJUGATION]

Target: Kurt von Rosenberg (Mental Breakdown 100%)

Target: Isolde von Rosenberg (Voluntary Servitude 100%)

​[SIN MANA CALCULATION COMPLETE]

Initiating Host Rank Upgrade...

[Host Status Updated: Rank D ➔ Rank C (Master)]

[Mana Capacity Increased by 300%]

​BZZZZT!

​A colossal wave of energy detonated from within Ethan’s heart. An incredibly dense, scorching heat swept through the entire room.

​Isolde, still in his embrace, jerked violently. The woman let out a long, breathless moan as the radiation from the Rank C Sin Mana flooded her nerve receptors. The extreme euphoria completely drained the last of her stamina, causing her to pass out cold in Ethan’s arms.

​Ethan took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, savoring the rush of new power tearing through the limitations of his mana circuit, elevating him to a realm he had never imagined.

​A final notification materialized with a pure, golden glow.

​[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: LUST DOMAIN (Area of Effect)]

[NEXT SUBJUGATION TARGET CONFIRMED]

Name: Kaelia von Ashford

Mental Attraction Progress: 15% ➔ Spiking sharply.

​Gently stroking the platinum hair of his sleeping, submissive servant, Ethan stared at the curtained window.

​Out there, the Magic Evaluation Tournament was still roaring. And his new target... was impatiently waiting for him in the arena.