[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties":3,"chapter-dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-159":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Dungeon of Lust: Managing Otherworldly Beauties",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1445615,1897,"Chapter 159: First Seal of Despair","dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-159",159,"\u003Cp>Mias pulled back slightly, studying the half-dead woman’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia let out a light laugh at his confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The oracle. They said when I awoke, we should travel east immediately lest Greed find and kill us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t think immediately means a couple of minutes, taking a few bites of meat and sips of water, does it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Can’t a girl get a few minutes of rest after one of the top three worst months of her life?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia flashed Mias a grin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know... so, uh, we should probably get a move on.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he said that, a chilling wave cut through the air and crawled down their spines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without a word, smoke curled beneath Ophelia and lifted as Mias swept her into his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, he was sprinting through the forest, not daring to look back, smoke bursting from his heels to propel him faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia, far larger than the small-framed Mias, looked up at his face as the wind rustled their hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression stayed flat, but a hint of emotion flickered in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, not that much could be gleaned from his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But still!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As delusional as Ophelia was, she wasn’t a fool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew his loyalty didn’t belong to her — not fully. His life was still tethered to Lust’s dungeon. He was definitely worried about what Greed was doing so close to his master’s domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the Vices didn’t play nice with anyone — not even each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or perhaps his worry was for himself and her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of that...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What does he even think of me?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was Ophelia merely a means to an end? A possible answer to his questions? Or did she herself have value to him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some reason, Ophelia felt she didn’t want the answer to that one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia sighed at the dismal prospect that was her future...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite the terrible state of her body and depleted Aether, she enjoyed her princess carry as Mias dashed through the woods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was probably going to be the highlight of her life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A branch whipped past her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which was... deeply pathetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From how Diligence described it, it was all downhill from here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her expression dimmed as she remembered where they were headed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias hopped over loose branches and avoided crushing leaves. Birds burst from the canopy, fleeing the same terrible pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold pressure of wants hardening into needs, pressing in from all sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feeling was resistible, but its power was slowly growing as Greed grew closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Ophelia wasn’t sure exactly what want would be turned into a need in Mias’s mind, she didn’t want her own wants to take claim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If her desire for revenge hardened into a need, it would cost her life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Though maybe it’s already become a need...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or perhaps it would be the other desire... the one tied to the pretty man carrying her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either way, once sidetracked, Greed would catch up and kill them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore... trap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia braced herself as Mias swiveled around a tree, only for something unseen to slam into him, shredding the smoke trailing from his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then even the sound of their breathing felt swallowed, as if the world had been wrapped in velvet. It claimed their sight and even paused the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias muttered to himself as he clutched his head and dropped to his knees, barely maintaining his hold on Ophelia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What the...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia, still plagued by tremendous pain, kicked her legs while still aloft in Mias’s arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh? Did I forget to mention the Lost Expanse is east of us? And that it’s full of ancient traps? Oops.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias clutched his head as he struggled to control his smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this space, power could only be exerted within the body. Something Mias would come to realize soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still in pain, Ophelia chuckled, then added:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, and when we meet the others... I’m Rose. Don’t use my real name.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias muttered under his breath as he shakily stood up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lost Expanse? Others?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flash of torchlight shone, taking claim of the darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forest was gone. In its place stretched a narrow stone corridor, walls cracked with age. Torches lined both walls, illuminating a path that led in only one direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The walls gave off a damp, mossy smell, and each footstep Mias took echoed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes had also been stripped of the gray outline, returning to the endless onyx void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After shaking off the effects a little more, Mias stood and began sauntering down the hallway. A slight strain in his face, having been weakened by the trap’s effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re a little heavy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’This— seriously?!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As much as Ophelia wanted to slap Mias, she couldn’t help but laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia barked out:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You really don’t have many friends, do you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Mias trudged along, he grimaced and looked down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh? How’d you reach that conclusion? Where’s the correlation? And can you stop moving?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ophelia swiveled her head left to right, trying to ignore the throbbing of her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seems I was right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias shrugged and kept lugging along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, a heavy spruce door came into view... two iron rings for handles and a wooden figure carved into it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The figure seemed to be a crest...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked like a fusion of a skull and a heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heart-skull crest was split cleanly down the middle, one half smooth and rounded, the other jagged and hollowed, as though something had gnawed its way out from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cracks webbed through the wood around it, old and dark with age, yet the carving itself looked strangely well-kept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias lightly set Ophelia down and began inspecting the stone walls around them and the torches upon them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He began tracing his fingers along the cracks and held his hand to the smoke radiating from the fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he sauntered over to the wooden door and placed his hand on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he did, he looked back at Ophelia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Rose, something is wrong with my senses, so no conclusion I reach can be fully trusted, but I don’t feel any other traps. I think it’s safe to open.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias slowly dragged his hand down, gripped the iron ring, and began to pull.\u003C\u002Fp>",1037,"2026-06-06T01:43:37.938Z",1,"novelbin.me","95ba5326d0df2beea9cc3839c1bead95c3c7ba9777ace0684b1863c0daff5007","dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-160","dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-158",306,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-cover.jpg"]