[{"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-203":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},1445687,1897,"Chapter 203: Puppeted Master Vale","dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-203",203,"\u003Cp>’What the...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In all of Mias’s years, he’d never seen something so monstrous. So horrific.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It took a lot to scare the Reaper, but whatever that thing was, it was doing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far off in the distance, looming over the ashy knolls and shrouded by dust storms, an abomination crawled across the land at a slow pace, its body as wide as the gorge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it stood up, its head would no doubt breach the clouds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An amalgamation of multiple human and bestial limbs compressed and tied together into a carapace upon its back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its liquid black head took the shape of a star-nosed mole, while a multitude of black tendrils writhed from beneath the shell, dragging it along and displacing mountains of ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t just look dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias was spared from the full brunt of its presence by the weird force containing the Lost Expanse, but he could easily tell a fallacy he’d committed...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Hope and Despair.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beast way off in the distance, shrouded by the ashen haze, was as strong as those two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias had told Vale they’d know if one of those two were on Pandora because they’d disrupt the world’s balance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I was wrong.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they were here, they’d fit right in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias didn’t know if it had noticed him, but he didn’t dare to find out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale picked up where he left off before he got distracted by [Stay Safe] and, subsequently, by Akkuron showing up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was by no means calm or at peace with his situation, though it wasn’t as if he could do much at the moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First and foremost, he spent his time looking over the Items he hadn’t. Plus the rest of the [Dawn’s Eye].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Immutable, unchangeable, death saves corruption.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Incinerated by fire, he patiently waits.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Scorn for the girl whose fault had made him forget the light of day]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [And when it smolders, it awakes]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Audit the flame and resume temperance.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Pray the net is strong enough to hold back Despair.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [A man’s will forged by fate.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Weave the web of silk and strand.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [Still, your path leads to defeat.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale, as he read through the descriptions, found little sense to be made; however, some lines were starting to draw parallels and intersections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A web or net had been mentioned. Despair had been mentioned again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Is \"he\" also Despair?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale continued to read through the descriptions of each Dawn’s Eye until he happened upon one that stole his entire train of thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dawn’s Eye] - [It’s your choice, Valentin.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’That’s...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was directed to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had to be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s no way another Valentin would see this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’But how?!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Why?!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d been mightily curious before about finding out the secret of the Dawn’s Eye, but now it seemed more like a necessity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who’d made the Item? How was it made?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who’s Dawn? Or is it dawn as in time of day?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is this spider real? Where are the rest of the Dawn’s Eye?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And why? Why is my name in the damned description?!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale gripped his head as he rested on the Wingback Chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed gave him a confused look, studying his consternation for only a moment, then went back to reading a book she’d summoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale was so shellshocked, he turned to the brazen woman for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Greed?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale held up the orb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Care to look at this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed’s eyes widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’So, youcansee it without the glasses.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale would question her about it, but it was the last thing on his mind at the moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed shoved her book into her subspace and sat up, crumbs falling from her chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh my...\" A dark smile crept on her face. \"Someone has plans for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale was frozen as Greed took the orb from his hand and glanced at the one in the ceiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale muttered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What...? Huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed laughed lightly, then said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Item descriptions are not random by any means. They are created by the engineer, enchanter, and\u002For the Item itself. They usually detail the process of creation — the story behind the Item. But if the crafter is skilled and so wishes it... they can make the description whatever they want.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed sat down with a plastic smile on her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It is no mere coincidence this ended up in your hands.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed tossed the orb in the air, then snatched it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone orchestrated it. That someone most likely Sloth.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed chuckled as she tossed the orb back to the baffled Vale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale absentmindedly caught it, then thought to himself:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’The mysterious oracle or Sloth.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the two had meant for him to not only receive multiple [Dawn’s Eye], but also for him to read their descriptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’But why?!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was the point?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale sighed deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that if either of them were involved, whatever they wanted from him most definitely wasn’t following a path of sunshine and rainbows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Wait a second...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale’s face paled as he thought back to the description.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’It’s your choice, Valentin.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded eerily similar to something in the prophecy Sloth had given him in the initial gathering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’You must follow the destined Strait. Whether to life or death, your choice to make.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prophecy...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t something he’d ignored, but he thought it was something that would only matter later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale recalled the words, which seemed ingrained in his memory. As if even if he wanted to forget, he wouldn’t be allowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Call upon the dawn of time.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dawn. There was a mention of dawn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would that mean [Dawn’s Eye] is in relation to time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’The eye of time’s dawn?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t make much sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not that there was much sense to be made.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then there was the part about Wrath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Where Wrath slings fire.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the line that followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And Patience waits.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two more lines that seemed reflected in the Dawn’s Eye descriptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale’s head lowered as he fell further into contemplation, seeking the implications.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe this would be important only in the future, but if he could understand it now, there was no reason not to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he tried as he might, he failed to draw a bottom line; other than Sloth probably being the culprit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed cracked her knuckles and neck before sitting back down on the couch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seems like I wasn’t wrong to keep an eye on you. If Sloth is interested in you, that means you’ll do great things.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale spoke evenly, too shocked to add any sort of inflection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"While I’d love to be happy. I doubt those great things are all that great for me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greed’s smile widened as her glare tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You really are a sharp one, Lust.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few hours passed, and Vale had gone back to reading the rest of his Items descriptions and Enchantments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Seriously! What is going on?!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale looked at Calumma’s spear in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Iron plea] - [ Lust, when a tide of blood surges in a sea of iron, you must save Envy.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simple, yet so loaded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’And so, so damn confusing!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d gotten the spear so long ago, and this entire time that’s what the ’plea’ meant?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Is my life mine to live anymore?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or were these oracles just puppeteering him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, Vale was starting to doubt his own mind and will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had every choice he’d made been truly his? Or were they choices of another?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale had thought he only had Lust to worry about invading his mind, but now he had Sloth and a mystery seer as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was frustrating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything was so frustrating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His life would be much simpler if it amounted to fighting the beasts in front of him, not those in his own head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What about Greed?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way that if Sloth was messing with his life, she hadn’t invaded Greed’s — or the other Vice, for that matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Even if Sloth did...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How would Greed be able to handle it any differently than him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale didn’t know much about Greed’s circumstances or her time before he’d been summoned, but if Sloth was a major presence then as she is now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Are all of the Vice Sloth’s minions?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That didn’t seem to be the case, but at the very least, they were being guided by her will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mias had explained the stings of fate to Vale before, and from that, he learned that an oracle’s job is to guide a future toward their intended conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Vale had indeed surmised correctly, then he was somehow integral to Sloth’s or the other oracle’s future. Possibly both.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Or maybe even the opposite.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale’s existence may be a throwaway one in the grand scheme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’But if it is...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vale didn’t know what the hell to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If that situation arose, there was only one man to look to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man who claimed to be able to fight fate better than any other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Reaper of Knowledge.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was time for the scholar to cook up one dastardly scheme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A scheme so large it would shake the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps even bring them down.\u003C\u002Fp>",1537,"2026-06-06T01:43:37.938Z",1,"novelbin.me","92a6b77d6111a80347b504c12037452d2215e4fe0d38694abd773b4625c1f927","dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-271","dungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-chapter-270",306,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdungeon-of-lust-managing-otherworldly-beauties-cover.jpg"]