"Now then, become my sustenance — Iron Maiden!"
"Reverse! I made it in time!"
A creepy iron doll resembling a kokeshi appeared before Letitia, red lines running down its face from the eyes.
Soon, with a screeching sound, the doll split open from the neck down, the halves peeling outward from the center, and red blood was drawn from Elize and the others toward the pitch-black void within.
That was close — I almost didn't make it in time.
I'd teleported to the location I'd identified with Perfect Research — namely, Elector Count Letitia's stronghold — and she was just about to activate Iron Maiden.
What even was that ominous iron doll?
I activated Reverse, flipping Iron Maiden's effect — the part that steals youth and beauty — from taking to giving.
Perhaps because Iron Maiden had tried to drain blood all at once, the noblewoman's body shriveled before my eyes.
Her golden hair turned white in an instant, and it began falling out in clumps.
Her face grew gaunt, covered in spots and wrinkles.
Aging had progressed too far for her to maintain her skill, so the iron doll spawned by Iron Maiden vanished — ending with having drained a bit more of Elize and the others' blood than intended.
"Ah..."
"Mmm... ah..."
"Hauun..."
Iron Maiden's effect produced pleasure when blood was drawn, so seductive sounds escaped from them, but a gentleman simply pretends not to notice.
Additionally, thanks to the reversed Iron Maiden, Elize and the others had grown a little younger.
Probably by about a year or two.
But putting that aside, once the iron doll disappeared, there stood a hideous old woman on the verge of death.
"W-Why... are my hands covered in wrinkles and spots..."
I had no obligation to tell her why.
"Sounds like you've been draining young girls' blood for a long time. But it's over now. If you hadn't been so obsessed with superficial beauty and done something like this, you could have lived a long life."
"What could a man like you... possibly understand... G-Give me back... my beauty... my youth..."
She could no longer even stand, and as she collapsed, the old woman reached a hand toward me.
"I'm sure the people you drained all thought the same thing. Besides, that stolen youth was never yours to begin with."
"H-How dare you! N-No... I don't want to lose... my beautiful form..."
She was already on her last breath, her final words hoarse and barely audible.
I spoke to Letitia, who lay prostrate on the ground, looking up at me.
"Right now, you're the ugliest you've ever been."