KPG | Chapter 1.5

“What else? We move forward, obviously. It’s a bit fast, but we’ve got no choice. I’m not risking my life for this, no matter what.”

“Shall we use this next, then?”

“Not a bad idea. I’m dying to see how effective that guy’s gift is.”

The servant picked up one of the items clattering on the tray. A satisfied smile spread across Louis’s face.

“Sweet little Kedrick. I was just following His Majesty’s orders, but… too many people want your body. Should’ve been nicer to those around you, huh?”

But the unconscious Kedrick could hardly respond.

* * *

“……Hah!”

Kedrick jolted upright. A splitting headache hit him like a hammer, forcing him to grit his teeth and clutch his head. His vision blurred, dizziness overwhelming him.

For a moment, he groped through the blank gaps in his memory.

‘……Where am I…….’

The room was unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, filled with furniture that echoed the layout of the chamber where he’d first changed clothes. A sudden thought struck him, and Kedrick glanced down at his body.

His face flushed red with embarrassment.

A tiny, delicate bell dangled from his nipple, jingling softly. His fists trembled with shame and rage as memories of being mocked and toyed with by mere servants flooded back.

“What the hell…….”

The man barely swallowed his anger. Throwing a fit now would be pointless—his tormentors weren’t here, and it’d only earn him more resentment.

For now, he needed to get this damned thing off his chest. Slowly, he raised his hand. The bell, hanging from his swollen, reddened nipple, chimed faintly with every deep breath he took.

“……Ugh.”

The moment his rough, calloused fingers brushed against it, a strange sensation shot through his chest. Kedrick instinctively held his breath, hunching over, curling his massive frame to suppress the bizarre pleasure.

No way this was happening.

There was no way something like this could feel good instead of painful. Fighting the ticklish urge to squirm, he nudged the bell.

“……!”

The piercing shifted with the bell, sending a jolt through his stretched nipple. Kedrick bent forward, enduring the sensation.

Between his bare legs, his manhood stirred. He let out a short curse.

His nipple burned.

Unaware that aphrodisiac cream had been applied while he slept, Kedrick sensed something off with his body. Nipples were just useless body parts, yet here he was, unable to move freely, feeling pleasure from a mere piercing…. It was disgusting, yet he couldn’t stop wanting to touch it.

Snap out of it.

They must’ve done something weird to his body again. Convincing himself of that, Kedrick scanned his surroundings. There was nothing to cover himself with, and no sounds came from outside.

Careful not to jostle the bell, he gingerly stood. With slow steps, he reached the door and turned the handle.

“……?”

He’d expected the iron door to be locked, but it swung open effortlessly, revealing the outside. Kedrick cautiously poked his head out, peering into the corridor. Cool air brushed past his skin.

Aside from the flickering candles spaced along the walls, there wasn’t a single sign of life—no guards, nothing. He recalled the winding path that had led him here.

‘……Did they think they didn’t need guards?’

Maybe they were certain he couldn’t escape. Or perhaps they figured he wouldn’t wander around stark naked. Scoffing at their stupidity, Kedrick stepped out without hesitation. His backside felt oddly hot with each step, but he ignored it.

The upper levels of this place likely led to the temple. His plan was clear: meet His Majesty the Emperor, report the outrageous treatment he’d endured, and demand a safe, dignified solution that wouldn’t humiliate him further.

But the path kept splitting, one fork after another, no matter how far he walked.

At first, Kedrick sensed something was wrong and stuck to the left path, but the corridors looped endlessly. Next, he deliberately scratched his hand with his fingernail, drawing blood, and marked the wall with it.

‘……What the hell.’

Despite choosing paths he hadn’t taken before, he eventually faced the same blood-marked wall. Kedrick’s face twisted in disbelief.

“Magic?”

Am I caught in a spell? He couldn’t believe it. Kedrick hated magic—no, he despised it. He’d always believed such cheap tricks were for lowlifes, and he couldn’t understand people who fell for them.

After racking his brain, he firmly concluded it couldn’t be magic. There had to be some mechanism in this place. He refused to believe he was that gullible.

Then, his sharp senses picked up something. A sound, like a snake slithering, brushing along the ceiling and walls, approaching. Kedrick pressed his back against the wall, holding his breath.

Something slimy and elongated was creeping toward him, clinging to the floor and ceiling from the end of the corridor. A monster.

But Kedrick didn’t look troubled. If anything, he sneered. A monster as a guard? To a man who could take on multiple trained assassins at once, a monster was just a mindless beast to slaughter.

Armor or sword didn’t matter.

Though he served in the Emperor’s knight order and moved with a unit, some said Kedrick alone could handle a monster-hunting expedition.

“What a nuisance…….”

Kedrick grabbed the slick tentacle lunging at him from the wall and crushed it with a squeeze. Slimy flesh splattered to the ground, viscous liquid oozing out.

Without hesitation, he seized every tentacle that came for him, pulverizing them with his grip. Those aiming for his legs he stomped, smashing them flat.

The bell on his chest jangled with his movements, but he forced himself to ignore the sensation and kept fighting. This monster, though, was unnervingly clever.

“……Tch……!”

It seemed to notice Kedrick’s hesitation whenever the bell shook. Suddenly, tentacles targeted his chest, rushing in at once. He dodged in a panic, but a sticky tentacle grazed the bell. The monster didn’t miss the moment he froze.

“Let… go…!”

As if sensing his strength, multiple tentacles wrapped around each arm, binding and lifting him. From his feet to his calves and inner thighs, the monster clung like tight ropes. Kedrick’s face twisted in frustration.

“Damn it…….”

From what he knew, tentacled monsters usually tore humans limb from limb to feast. The tentacles squeezing and lifting him felt revolting. He tried biting at the ones on his arms, but another tentacle suddenly shot into his mouth.

“……Urk!”

Nausea surged. He tried to bite it, but the tentacle plunged deep into his throat. Kedrick trembled, thrashing. Veins bulged on his neck, his vision flashing white, seeing nothing.

Thinking he’d suffocate, the tentacle suddenly withdrew.

“Cough, hah…….”

As he gasped for air, another tentacle forced its way into his mouth. A sickeningly sweet taste lingered, making him swallow instinctively. The tentacle tugged his tongue, grazed his teeth, and pressed against his palate, its sensation utterly alien.

Desperate to escape, he tried biting, but the tentacle sensed it and pushed deeper, forcing a pained groan from him. It wouldn’t let him be.

“……Mmph, ugh……!”

Something large and slimy crawled over his chest. The piercing on his nipple rubbed against it, making his hips tremble uncontrollably. Agony and pleasure mixed, his mouth falling open, and the tentacle seized the chance to delve deeper.

Unable to breathe with the tentacle in his throat, Kedrick’s head tilted back as the hot, squishy thing rubbed his nipple. He couldn’t even pant, clenching the tentacle with his throat as he writhed.

Soon, he couldn’t think at all. Oxygen stopped reaching his brain. His heart pounded wildly, his hips bucking. Breathing no longer mattered.

The searing sweetness on his tongue and the pain in his chest morphed into overwhelming pleasure.

“Ugh……Uuuuh…….”

The tentacle, slick with saliva and fluids, slowly slid out of Kedrick’s mouth. He gasped heavily, head drooping. His eyes were red and teary, tears streaming down his face.

Sweat or tears—hard to tell—dripped onto the floor.

Like a panting dog, he stuck out his tongue, wheezing. The sticky liquid from the tentacle clung to his pink tongue, trailing down to his chin.

“What… the hell…… ugh… ah…… hng!”

Kedrick’s vision went white again. The tentacle tugged at the piercing on his chest, making him cry out with “ah, ah” screams. He thrust his chest forward to ease the pain, but it was futile. The agony of his nipple being stretched made him shake his head frantically.

“No… ugh, ah! Ah…… it hurts, ngh, ah, hiiik……!”

But the tentacle seemed to realize his sensations weren’t just pain. It gathered his heaving chest, and instead of smooth, slimy tendrils, rough, knobby ones covered in bumps kneaded his flesh mercilessly.

The bell on Kedrick’s nipple jingled wildly. The ticklish, hot sensation seemed to relieve something, and the thrashing man soon quieted, panting as he looked down at his chest.

“Ugh, ah, nng…… ah…….”

His vivid pink nipple, adorned with the bell, was being ravaged by red, bumpy tentacles. Just days ago, he couldn’t have imagined this.

As a knight protecting the Emperor and the royal family, he’d believed only honorable days of dignity awaited him.

Kedrick clenched his teeth, but his body refused to muster any strength. It was probably the liquid from these tentacles. They must’ve evolved to sap their prey’s energy. His face flushed redder with shame and heat.

“……Ugh, nng…… hng…… stop…….”

Kedrick’s entire body was coated in sticky fluid. He stared down at himself in disbelief, then squeezed his eyes shut. But the tentacles, as if displeased, yanked his piercing hard again.

“……! Ah, ah, it hurts, ah, it hurts……!”

His face contorted as if he’d burst into sobs, shaking his head wildly. Yet, even in pain, his manhood, rubbed by the tentacles, stood painfully erect. His pale skin, ravaged and groped among the red tentacles, looked obscenely provocative.

“S-Sorry…… hng, ugh…… nng…… ugh…….”

Kedrick’s head was jerked back painfully by the tentacles. A tendril slowly crawled over his protruding Adam’s apple. Unable to look down at his body, he felt a sudden fear.

Fear? From a mere monster…? He felt pathetic.

And as he saw countless tentacles slithering along the ceiling, that fear grew into full-blown terror. His negative emotions swelled uncontrollably, but the moment a tentacle’s strange sensation touched his chest, all thoughts vanished in a white haze.

“Wait, ah, wait, no…… aaah! Ngh, ah, aaagh……!”