Erick Blight was a thirty-five-year-old pessimist who had long concluded that romance was an elaborate scam that was designed by nature to drain a person’s time and sanity.He was living proof. Throughout his twenties and early thirties, he had put in the effort. He had dressed well, showered every day and listened attentively, hoping that his good deeds would eventually lead him to the right person. But the universe had other plans. Every time he thought he had built a genuine connection with a woman, reality opened a nasty can of worms. He had courted Selene for three months before discovering she had a husband who worked overseas. The second attempt, the sweet and timid Tara, had conveniently neglected to mention her fiancé until Erick bumped into them at the mall. By the time he hit thirty-two, Erick had stepped off the carousel entirely. He locked his heart behind an iron wall and tossed away the key.Erick managed to buy a modest single-bedroom apartment on the third floor of a

Erick pressed his shoulders flat against the drywall, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The glowing purple circle on the hardwood slowly lost its luminescence, fading into an inert, chalky ring. The room was suddenly plunged into dimness, illuminated only by the amber glow of the city streetlights filtering through the blinds.And there she remained. Kneeling on his floor, her nakedness shielded by nothing but her long hair, the demoness kept her head bowed. Her lilac skin caught the amber streetlights with an almost iridescent sheen, and the spade-tipped tail behind her gave a faint, tentative twitch.Erick stood paralyzed, regretting every choice that had led him to his current predicament. Eventually, he mustered the courage to move.“Wait – don’t move,” he blurted out, his voice cracking. His eyes darted everywhere except directly at her. “Just... stay right there.”He scrambled backward toward the hallway, practically tripping over the edge of the rolled-up c

“Yes, you are Pearl,” Erick breathed, still trying to wrap his head around the sight.“Thank you, Ma… Thank you, Erick,” Pearl said happily. “You have my eternal gratitude.”Just then, his 8:15 AM alarm rang.“Damn it,” Erick cursed, throwing the covers off. “I almost forgot today was a work day!”Erick prepared for work and showed Pearl where the food was. He strictly ordered her to refrain from wandering outside and hurriedly left.The morning commute felt entirely different. Walking through the lobby of his office building, Erick noticed subtle changes that made him wonder if he had stepped into an alternate dimension. The security guard, who usually grunted indifferently, gave him an energetic nod and a hearty “Morning, Blight!” before laughing at his own pun. Everything seemed… manageable.Erick walked with his back straight, his shoulders back, moving with a fluid confidence he was surprised he still possessed. The lingering essence of the succubus had left an invisible aura aro

The world outside the apartment was also changing. The succubus charm imparted by Pearl acted like an invisible, magnetic beacon. It smoothed away his awkward edges and gave him an effortless, grounded charisma that drew people in like moths to a porchlight.And then, the greatest shift in his life came. Corporate restructured the data division. The department manager, the good Mr. Shoal, was replaced by a younger, energetic female counterpart. Her name was Vanessa Evinns.She walked into the office on a rainy Thursday morning. Vanessa was stunning, carrying herself with catlike grace. She had sleek chestnut-brown hair cut into a sharp bob that framed high cheekbones, piercing hazel-green eyes that seemed to miss absolutely nothing, and an athletic, poised frame flattered by a tailored charcoal pantsuit.Yet, despite her commanding presence, she wasn’t cold. In fact, she looked pretty nervous when she introduced herself to the department staff.“Good morning, everyone,” she announced

Erick froze, his brow furrowing. A defensive irritation flared in his chest. “Pearl, come on. Are you... are you jealous? Look, I know this dynamic is weird, but you knew from the start why I performed the summon. I feel like Vanessa is something real… and I don’t want to lose this.”“This is not jealousy!” Pearl cried, her voice rising from the seductive whisper for the first time. Tears swelled at the corners of her eyes. “Master, look at me! Smell the air!”She grabbed Erick’s wrists, pulling him close. Her skin was ice-cold.“Her… her soul does not carry the scent of ordinary people,” Pearl stammered, her chest heaving. “Beneath her perfume she smells of consecrated steel and fire! She is a Purger!”The word hung heavily in the bedroom, foreign and sharp.“A Purger?” Erick repeated, his skepticism warring with the genuine terror that radiated from the succubus. “What are you talking about?”“They are the executioners in this world,” Pearl explained, her voice cracking with dread.