Venomania Event



The Venomania Event was the name given to the mass abductions throughout the Beelzenian Empire, carried out by Duke Sateriasis Venomania. Through his demonic powers, the Duke of Asmodean enchanted, collected, and sexually defiled women for over a year before his untimely demise.

Origins
Born to the Duke of Asmodean in the Beelzenian Empire, a boy was locked away by his father and neglected for years due to his deformity; his only friends were his younger half-brother, Sateriasis, and the daughter of Marquis Glassred, Gumina. The boy was later freed from his confinement and made a servant to the Venomania household. Although reviled by the other servants for his deformity, "Cherubim" remained close with Gumina and Sateriasis, having fallen in love with the former. Suspicious of Cherubim's relationship with his fiancee, Sateriasis planned to assassinate his brother. Having learned of Gumina's engagement to his brother, the deformed young man attempted to confess to her. With Sateriasis watching them, Gumina attempted to ward off her fiancé's suspicions by publicly scorning Cherubim.

Broken-hearted, Cherubim slaughtered his entire family the next day. Immediately afterwards, the man was approached by I.R. while he attempted suicide. The sorceress allowed Cherubim to steal his half-brother’s face, and then encouraged him to make a contract with the Demon of Lust to give him its many powers, including the power to enchant women. In return, Venomania was expected to aid her in future dealings. The young man accepted the offer and forged a contract with the demon, assuming his brother’s identity and birthright as Duke Sateriasis Venomania.

Demonic Abductions
Over the next year, the Duke set about gathering beautiful women from across Asmodean to be part of his new harem. Following Lasaland's New Year Festival of EC 136, he used his powers to enchant Lukana Octo and lure her back to his mansion; the following month, he seduced Mikulia Greeonio at her farm in Abito. In March, he infiltrated Gumina's estate and enchanted his childhood love, as well as her servant Carol Shields, and wiped her memories of their childhood in the process. By April, the duke abducted over a dozen women into his harem. By this time, Princess Maylis Beelzenia began investigating the sudden disappearances across the region and numerous nobles began looking into the incidents.

Early that month, Sateriasis visited Mystica with I.R. in order to obtain a magic tool in the Misty Mountain ruins; while visiting the adjacent town, Venomania seduced Lilien Turner over several days. During this time, he massacred the entire Ferdinand estate, whose earl was investigating the disappearances. He later enchanted an undercover soldier, Tette Cetera, as well. When placing Lilien under his control, Venomania also encountered her childhood friend, Rajih, who witnessed his depravity and demonic power. Briefly battling with Rajih, the duke defeated him and left Mystica once the town's memories of his visit were erased. Having over 15 women in his possession, Venomania seduced even more victims over the following months, enchanting Hakua Netsuma, the lesbian dancer Lolan Eve, and later Queen Yufina Marlon.

In the summer of that year, Maylis recruited Count Kachess Crim of Marlon to assist in the investigations. Suspecting a connection between Lilien Turner's disappearance and the Ferdinand Mansion massacre, Kachess interrogated the nephew of the deceased earl at Mystica and later pursued Rajih, who had been raving of the Duke's involvement. Recruiting the young man, he learned of Venomania's involvement and forwarded the information learned to Princess Maylis. After Maylis' spy, Neruneru Nerune was enchanted by Venomania, the Duke used her to help him capture and brainwash the Empire's third princess. Growing increasingly absorbed in his harem, the duke's lustful and sadistic nature became more and more warped. Around the same time, some of the women experienced increasing strain from the brainwashing they were receiving. Required to take their life energy through sex to fuel his powers, he eventually began taking the lives of some of the women; after exchanging information with him, Lolan Eve was discovered dead the next day and buried by I.R.

Rescue
Due to both Maylis and Yufina's disappearances, Elluka Clockworker was hired to help both Beelzenia and Marlon find the missing women and solve the case. Meeting with Count Kachess, the two agreed to work together and concocted a plan to free the women from Venomania. Kachess, having an affair with Yufina, deviated from the plan and disguised himself as Elluka. The Marlon count infiltrated the Duke's mansion and approached the inviting Venomania. During their embrace, Kachess stabbed Sateriasis with the Golden Key after it transformed into a knife. The duke collapsed and the Lust magic infused in him from the Demon leaked from his wound. With his power broken, the women were freed of his spell and fled from the estate. He died shortly after due to his injury.

Aftermath
The women killed by Venomania were later discovered by imperial officials although most were able to return their families unharmed. Levin professors of the Held sect soon established Venomania as a demon and many of the women faced intense discrimination for their relationship with the Duke. Among those, many of the women were pregnant with his children and were identified for spreading his lineage and scorned for generations. Due to Venomania's parentage, a handful of the women gave birth to children that acted as carriers for HER Syndrome. For arbitrarily murdering one of the Five Dukes, the Beelzenian Empire began hunting Kachess after he fled with Yufina and eloped. With their affair uncovered, Yufina's husband, King Martius, also began hunting for the pair. Two years after Venomania's death, the two staged a coup to remove Martius from power and establish a "legitimate Marlon country", with no ties to Beelzenia. Gumina, having fled with her family to Elphegort, became the nation's first female prime minister and became a huge advocate for women's rights in politics.

Civilian Perception
The citizens of the Beelzenian Empire were baffled by the sudden disappearances throughout the region, each girl seeming to have simply vanished without a trace. Nobles who attempted to look into the incident were usually unsuccessful, and close friends and relatives to the victims became increasingly distressed by their absence. Due to Venomania's power over memories, few citizens recalled him at the site of each disappearance; because of this, none suspected the duke of his involvement and believed he was merely investigating, himself, with the other nobles in the Empire. Even after Venomania's death, many details about the event remained unclear to the public, including the exact number of women abducted into his harem or Venomania's true identity as Cherubim.

In Asmodean history, many citizens venerated Venomania as a hero for his exceptional tenure as duke; this veneration lead to Venomania having a significant impact on Asmodean culture, adopting military and cultural traditions connected the Venomania family dukes and the man himself. In other parts of Evillious, particularly among Levin believers, Venomania was instead reviled as a demon. Because of their bodily association with him, women who had been confirmed part of the duke's harem were feared and publicly shunned; this discrimination extending to all their descendants and continuing for many centuries. It was only by the tenth century EC that Venomania's crimes and legacy faded from public memory, although still remembered in history by some.

Curiousities

 * The Venomania Event is the first major incident caused by the Demons of Sin; fittingly, the duke would also indirectly cause the next major Sin-related incident, fathering Banica Conchita's ancestor.
 * The criminal Scherzer attempted to recreate the incident, kidnapping several famous women and locking them in his mansion's basement before they were discovered.