Sitting on a desolate hill, a castle was encircled by a lush forest. Every corner of this castle had been built from irritatingly cold stone. Rather than a castle, it would be better to call it a fortress.
After spending three days in such an oppressive indoor environment, anyone would be plagued by nightmares of being crushed by stone. The complicated passages here meant that one could very well waste away and die in the labyrinth if one were to get lost. The castle's design evidently showed no consideration at all for the inhabitants, rather, there was a sense of rejection throughout.
The kitchen was not convenient to use at all, always shrouded in a claustrophobic feeling like a dungeon cell.
But even under the pressure of this sort of atmosphere, ingredients were still ingredients after all.
Wearing a butcher's apron, Sena Kaito rolled up the sleeves of his cotton shirt and crossed his arms with displeasure. In front of him was a despairing quantity of innards, piled up in a small mountain. These pieces of flesh, soft and glistening with complicated shapes, were releasing a distinctive odor.
Kaito sighed and decided to chop up the intestines first, so he used a sharp knife to cut open the intestines lengthwise. Next, he removed the white membrane around the heart. While he was taking care of this vast number of entrails silently like an ascetic monk, the kitchen shook violently. Even though stone fragments were falling from above, Kaito ignored the situation, still acting as though nothing had happened.
Even if this castle were to collapse soon, putting an end to his life, he did not want to care at all.
He opened a bottle of expensive-looking wine that he had taken from the wine cellar without permission then poured out of half of it into a silver platter originally dedicated to holding fruit. Then without any hesitation, he marinated several types of innards in the wine together with herbs whose names eluded him.
While he continued with his culinary work with a solemn expression, the entire castle shook again, but Kaito still did not let it bother him. Even if half the castle were to be blown away, all was fine so long as he survived unharmed. The world was peaceful, but an evil voice shattered this peace.
"Butler, butler!"
Adhering to the logic that his name was Kaito and not "butler," Kaito decided that he was not the one being called and resolutely ignored the voice. Finally, the manner of address changed.
"Kaito!"
"Too noisy! I hear you! Coming right away!"
Fearing for his life if he kept ignoring the voice, Kaito dropped the liver he had covered with flour onto the counter then rushed to the corridor. The corridor had several stained glass windows at least, which alleviated the claustrophobic feeling somewhat. But also because of the stained glass, disgusting patterns that creeped Kaito out from the bottom of his heart were also projected onto the floor. Dashing across the colorful corridor, Kaito climbed the spiral staircase and pushed open a massive set of double doors.
A strong gust of wind greeted him. Inside this throne room, on the pedestal was of course, literally a magnificent throne. There were even a few ancient tapestries hanging in the room, filling the space with solemnity. However, a quarter of all this stuff had now been blown away, opening a massive hole in the wall, exposing the sky's refreshing blueness.
It was totally no joke. What was happening right now could very well demolish half the castle.
In front of the remains of this wanton destruction, a girl was standing with her arms crossed, her perfectly shaped legs standing on the rubble, haughtily waiting for Kaito. With a click of her heel contacting the ground, she turned towards Kaito.
Her black and gorgeous hair fluttered in the air while her red eyes pierced Kaito.
Hanging on her peerlessly beautiful face was a smile that was in no way delightful at all. Kaito found her face repugnant. With nails painted black, she pointed outside and spoke in a bird-like voice, like a cat that had eaten her fill.
"Behold, Kaito."
Kaito complied obediently and looked out the hole. The clear blue sky and the refreshingly green forest were now shrouded by a sticky red color and a rust-like stench, it was nauseating.
In front of him was a nasty scene from hell.
Dozens of iron stakes had sprouted out of the ground, impaling a creepy creature.
With his face frowning to the limit, Kaito scrutinized the pitiful corpse that was a bloody mess.
"What are your thoughts, Kaito?"
"What else can I say...? It's not only creepy but also pitiful."
"Hmph, what an accurate description of your senses. Not only are your words inadequate in expressive ability, but you also lack the wit to please your master. You are such a boring guy."
The girl shrugged. In front of her, the terrifying beast, an amalgamation of human corpses, was already dead. On the surface of the grotesque beast were hundreds of faces, attached to one another by stretching their cheeks and scalps to the limit, giving off groans in abject agony. Instead of a mane, the beast's back featured a line of human arms with a huge number of breasts hanging from its bloated belly.
The girl scoffed at the sacrilegious and grotesque abomination and said:
"Follow me, Kaito. The Knight has declared war on me. Or rather, he has come to pick a fight."
The girl licked her red lips, overjoyed. Surpassing leopards and wolves, she was more like a giant ravenous lion. Suppressing the revulsion in his heart, Kaito turned away from the beast's corpse and sighed.
"I don't mind, but the food will be ready in one hour. Whether you want to fight or to torture, save it for after the meal."
The only reason why Sena Kaito was currently stuck in this absolute mess of a situation was because he had been murdered.
* * *
"Since you did not answer, I shall ask again. Pledge your allegiance to me."
"I refuse."
Confronted with the haughty demand from the girl calling herself Elisabeth, Kaito refused on the spot. The stranger had suddenly appeared before him, even though he was supposed to have died as a murdered victim just now, asking him to be her servant. Kaito was very confused, but he answered without hesitation. This was due to the mountain of bizarre corpses, the blood lust in the crowd, Elisabeth's sadistic smile... and most crucial of all, the title of "Torturchen."
With all these danger signals gathered in one place, the girl before his eyes was evidently the one responsible for creating that tragedy. Hence, Kaito had no response other than refusal.
Kaito expected Elisabeth's mood to be ruined as a result, but for some reason, she nodded, impressed.
"Oh? What decisiveness. Perhaps you viewed my memories while you were being summoned? Even so, such a decisive answer is still quite unexpected."
"Putting aside whether I'm working for you or not, did you just say 'summoned'? ...Hey, what is this place? Why am I here...? And most importantly, I should be dead."
"Yes, you are completely correct! You are already dead. Pitifully, tragically, brutally, killed like a worthless bug! In spite of that, summoned by me, you have obtained new life through a doll's body. This is a rare act of grace, so rejoice to your fill."
"......A doll?"
Hearing the word that Elisabeth had said out of the blue, Kaito could not help but touch his own body. Although she called him a doll, he found no difference between the texture of his skin and a human's. Although he did not have a mirror to check his appearance, there was nothing wrong with the height of his eye level, so he did not think his height had changed. He plucked out a hair from the back of his head and it was the brown color he had been born with.
Just as he was examining his body in doubt, Elisabeth spoke in exasperation.
"What are you doing? The vessel for your soul is a golem body created by none other than I. Unlike the ones that would collapse into a pile of dirt as soon as you alter the writing on their foreheads, this is a masterpiece created by yours truly, the great sorcerer and skilled artisan. This is also the reason why my words sound like your own country's language to your ears. Durability guaranteed, your body features all human organs with the same red blood coursing through your veins. However, you will not die even if more than half your body is destroyed. On the other hand, if you were to bleed dry of the blood imbued with my power, your soul would run the risk of disappearing."
"But my physique and hair color haven't changed."
"Your stupidity is truly incurable. As I have already explained, do not compare my masterpiece with those cheap varieties that are not worth mentioning. If a soul were to be placed into a body that differs excessively from the form of its previous life, the dissonance could very well cause a breakdown. This blank body was designed to conform to the soul in the first place. Although external injuries and internal maladies are automatically purged, appearance and physique... be it a face of poverty or a weak and skinny body, everything is consistent with your state when you were alive. Go ahead and express your rapture, grateful for my generosity."
At that moment, Kaito noticed an important difference in his body. He looked at his arm and found that the burns and lacerations covering it densely had disappeared. The constant pain that thoroughly gripped his body over the long years was gone.
(I see... What a shock. This body really isn't mine.)
Kaito understood completely. A body without pain could not possibly be his own body. This painless feeling, one that had been long-absent in his life, was quite comfortable, but at the same time, he could not help thinking he was like an inflated rubber doll.
While Kaito was feeling his arm in a daze, Elisabeth continued.
"To obtain a servant, I summoned an innocent soul. Although nothing prevents me from summoning an evil being to run errands for me, if the Church were to find out, punishment would be unavoidable. Furthermore, the brutality of your murder was beyond proportionate to your sin in life, hence you are perfect... Hmph, this rather strange feeling, could it be that you are from another world? To be drawn here from a parallel dimension, I really have no idea whether your unusual fortune is a blessing or a curse. Whatever, I care not about your original identity. From now on, you shall work for me with sincere loyalty."
"I refuse."
"Oh?"
Kaito's answer caused Elisabeth to blink her red eyes with delight. She placed her finger, as slender as a blade, on Kaito's forehead, then licking her gorgeous lips, she whispered sweetly.
"You have been killed. Killed pitifully, tragically and brutally like a worthless bug. That low-functioning brain of yours can understand that much at least, yes? Although you are qualified as an 'innocent soul' by the condition that 'your sins from your past life did not deserve a cruel death,' your physiognomy predicts a destination of hell for you. Now that I have said this much, are you still going to give up your second life and seek death like a trampled bug?"
"That's right. I've had enough of living as someone else's plaything. I grew tired of living a long time ago."
Kaito replied firmly. This was how unmentionable his life had been, a fate worse than hell.
He had only attended school for a couple years before moving from place to place, forced to take on illegal jobs to help his father, but it was never appreciated. Whenever his father did not need him for manpower, he would be abused as a tool for venting frustrations. There was no part of this life that Kaito did not find repulsive. He did not even know what his mother looked like, but presumably, subjected to dual suffering from malnutrition and pain, his mother had lost the ability to think normally. Deprived of the will to even run away, she ended up killed.
Kaito wanted a body without pain but he would rather die than cater to another person's whims again, because even if such a shitty life could continue, it would just be a longer and smellier piece of shit.
"I'm tired. I give up. If you want a servant, find someone else."
"Is that so? Then I shall make you my butler against your wishes."
Elisabeth did not heed Kaito's answer at all. Kaito frowned deeply, but she shrugged lightly.
"It would be a hassle if the Church's pointless nose were to get wind of the fact that I summoned a servant. Making a new doll would take substantial trouble, hence it would be utterly ludicrous of me to go through all that sundry work to find a substitute errand boy. I do not have that kind of time, after all, I..."
At that moment, the door behind Elisabeth was blown away with a loud noise.
Like a joke in poor taste, the heavy door simply flew in the air and crashed next to her. Bits of wood flew past her face, but she did not even bat an eye in that direction. Kaito's eyes widened in shock as he looked towards the doorway in trepidation.
Over there was a rider on a giant horse.
The rider was carrying a terrifying spiked chain while straddling a saddle made of bones, but the most bizarre thing about them were their bodies. Whether the horse or the rider, neither had any skin. Like anatomy models, their muscles were exposed, with blood vessels visible on the surface and glistening fat, presenting the pink color of their bloody flesh... Such ugly bodies caused Kaito to instinctively refuse to understand the entities before him. Only after a long while did Elisabeth turn to the entrance, speaking in a laid back manner.
"After all, there are fourteen ranked demons, namely, The Knight, The President, The Grand President, The Earl, The Grand Earl, The Duke, The Grand Duke, The Marquess, The Grand Marquess, The Monarch, The Grand Monarch, The Sovereign, The Grand Sovereign, and The Emperor. And with the exception of The Emperor, who has been captured, I must brutally execute these thirteen demons and their contractors."
The horse neighed and the rider howled. But what came out of those hollow mouths of bare flesh was ear-splitting noise as though a storm was blowing into broken musical instruments. Feeling the unpleasant vibrations on his eardrums, Kaito understood from the bottom of his heart.
Indeed, such a terrifying being could only be described as a demon.
"Hey, what's up with that guy? Is he 'The Knight' you mentioned?"
"You are quite calm for a squashed bug of an imbecile."
"This level of judgment is normal as long as the brain isn't atrophied."
"Unfortunately, this thing is merely The Knight's servant. Rather than the man himself who had entered a contract with a demon, he is someone who volunteered to become a subordinate. In other words, a small fry. But he was formerly human, indeed."
Listening to Elisabeth, Kaito involuntarily looked at the horse and rider again. That this thing was originally human, he could not believe it at all, neither did he want to believe it. If a man volunteered to turn into this as she said, all he could think was that guy must be insane. Presumably guessing Kaito's thoughts, Elisabeth grinned.
"I understand. I understand very well. Very ugly, isn't it? Selling one's soul to a demon merely for the sake of obtaining power beyond human, finally abandoning one's original appearance... There is no greater ugliness than this, is there? Laugh as much as you like, I permit you to laugh. This is more than likely his ultimate wish—A clown's ultimate wish is to make others laugh, wouldn't you agree?"
Even as a taunt, her words were far too tactless. Even sharper howls were emitted from the rider's mouth. The high-pitched sound waves resembled a roar of rage, almost tearing eardrums, making Kaito cover up his ears.
The rider tightened the reins and kicked the horse's belly. The horse proceeded to shatter the floor with its hooves, instantly reaching top speed to close in, trying to smash Elisabeth to death in a direct collision.
"Small potatoes are unworthy of my sword—Iron Maiden."
Elisabeth whispered quietly and raised her hand. Immediately, red petals and darkness were released into the air from her fingertips, swirling in a vortex. With a thunderous crash, as though the vortex had penetrated space itself, a human-sized doll emerged from the floor.
Iron Maiden—was the name Elisabeth had used to call this elegant doll, a name that did not match its appearance.
Long soft hair draped over the doll's back like golden silk. The two eyes glowed blue like gemstones. A smile of tender love on its lips. The doll's arms were outspread in welcome, whereas the rider charged mercilessly.
The maiden's warm embrace was about to be trampled by iron hooves... Just as Kaito made this prediction, he heard the sound of gears turning. The doll's eyes widened, rolling the blue eyes back to become burning red. Her offering of tender love rejected, the doll proceeded to show hatred on its face and opened up its belly suddenly.
Iron arms equipped with sharp claws rushed out from within, hurtling towards the horse and rider, mercilessly breaking their arms and legs with mechanical motions. Unconcerned with the enemy's pitiful screams, the iron arms compressed the horse and rider's body parts that were in the way, crushing them inwards until they were turned into a bloody pulp resembling pieces of caterpillars.
Without even time to resist, the horse and rider were turned into a meatball with heads, then dragged into the doll's belly. And the interior of the doll's belly featured a dense array of countless needles like symbols of maidenhood.
Gyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Accompanied by screams of pain, the doll's abdomen slammed shut.
Displaying a smile of tender affection again, the maiden hugged her lower abdomen tightly. One could hear sounds of mad struggling as well as screaming that could drive a listener insane.
"Those embraced by the Iron Maiden are not afforded an immediate death."
Amid the extremely terrifying screaming, Elisabeth commented nonchalantly. Turning her face towards Kaito, she grinned.
"If death is what you seek at all costs, then so be it. I shall generously grant you your wish. However, since I did bring you back from the abyss of death, if I had to kill you again, it must be done according to my methods. What are your thoughts? Make your choice, butler or meat?"
"Please let me be your butler."
"Now that is a rapid change of mind."
Thus, Kaito entered Torturchen's service.
This was how things came to be.
* * *
"DIS-GUS-TING!"
With a soul-wrenching yell, the dish, a fork, and the "roasted heart with aromatic vegetables, paired with fruit sauce" flew into the air. A fatal rain was showered upon the ancient tablecloth.
Next, Elisabeth angrily stomped her foot on the dining table.
"W-What the devil is this? I never thought food could taste bad to this extent. It looked decent in appearance, but the inside of the heart was not cooked thoroughly, whereas the surface was too tough to chew. Rich in the distinct odor of innards, the sauce was strangely sweet and sour, producing an absolutely terrible symphony on the tongue that was impossible to dispel... In a certain way, it was a miracle."
"I'm amazed by your critique."
(I can't believe she gave such a vigorous reaction.)
With dead-looking eyes, Kaito plucked out the fork that was embedded in the wall.
A couple of days had passed since he was coerced into being Elisabeth's butler. Although he started out scared to death of Elisabeth's every move, he had spent a lifetime lingering on the brink of death, after all, so he was pretty much used to this type of interaction.
Dressed in a butler uniform that could hardly be considered a good match for him, Kaito sighed deeply.
"Can you not throw utensils around every chance you get? It's not like you're an old man from the Shouwa period."
"Whether Shouwa or old men, I have no idea what you are talking about. However, how can I not flip the table when the food is this disgusting!? Good grief! Even swine feed would be much better than this! How can your cooking skills be so bad!?"
"You've said the same thing to me countless times already, which is why I used wine to remove the odor today."
"......Hey, don't tell me you used my wine to make this kind of garbage?"
Kaito chose strategic silence. Seeing Kaito's guilt, Elisabeth silently waved her hand.
With a rumble, a chair appeared from under Kaito. As though in a cartoon scene, the chair rammed into his bottom then strapped him to the seat with belts. From its design, one could tell that spikes, spikes, and even more spikes would clearly emerge from the entire surface of the back rest, the seat and the arm rests. Abandoning all measure of composure, Kaito struggled as hard as he could.
"Hold on, wait a sec! Let's talk first! Think about this, don't you think you're asking for the impossible, forcing a novice to start with cooking internal organs right off the bat!?"
"You need not seek excuses. Incidentally, what is with your lack of respect for me, the one known as Torturchen? How brazen of you? Would turning your back into a sieve improve your arrogant attitude?"
"My senses towards fear and danger have numbed after I was killed once! It's my fault, please don't torture me!"
"Hmph, then I shall be merciful... Oops, I almost approved of you. But judging from the tone of your voice, aren't you insinuating indirectly that you have no reason to respect me except out of fear?"
"No, that's not true at all, err... I think?"
"Kaito, you cannot even be bothered to find an excuse now?"
"No, let me rephrase myself!"
Despite crying out, Kaito already knew his fate... Namely, to be turned into a human pincushion. However, Elisabeth apparently changed her mind and dismissed the torture chair with a "hmph."
"Very well, so be it, I am generous and forgiving, so I shall offer you a chance to redeem yourself—Make pudding for me."
"Pudding?"
Hearing Elisabeth solemnly issue an inexplicable order, Kaito cocked his head in puzzlement.
"Pudding indeed," Elisabeth repeated herself and nodded seriously. Crossing her legs conceitedly, she leaned back against her chair.
"It would be too unrealistic to rely on someone like you who cannot even cook a meal properly, so I was about to give up. However, the possibilities inherent in sweetness are slightly greater, so I shall allow you to make an attempt. If you tell me even this is beyond you, then I shall consider scrapping you as a garbage creating machine."
"Don't say something as frightening as scrapping a human being. You're making the wounds on my soul bleed. By the way, what is pudding? It does sound familiar... Uh, is it something like purin?"
"Purin? I know not of this purin, but judging from the name, is it not the same thing?"
Confronted with this extremely sloppy response, Kaito nodded. In fact, the custard pudding known as purin in Japan was something quite memorable for him.
One day, a woman who was cohabiting with Kaito's father had made pudding for the young Kaito. The woman had smiled shyly in front of the happy Kaito before disappearing the next day. Now that he thought back to the time, Kaito realized she had made the treat to alleviate her guilty conscience in leaving the young Kaito behind to escape on her own. However, to Kaito, his joy from back then remained a vivid memory. He had also memorized the somewhat unusual method of making the dessert.
The ingredients in the kitchen were sufficient to recreate the dish, but he lacked the right cooking utensil, so he asked Elisabeth.
"Hey Elisabeth, since you can use earth to make golems, doesn't that mean you can also make a clay pot?"
"How dare you make demands from the master who is considering to have you scrapped, do you not know your place...? Fine. What is this clay pot?"
"The clay pot is like this, a pot made from heat-resistant clay, it's round."
With clumsy language ability, Kaito tried to describe a clay pot. Elisabeth looked intrigued but proceeded to snap her fingers. Soon enough, tiny footsteps could be heard from the corridor.
Creak—
The dining hall door opened and a mini golem composed of rectangular earthen blocks appeared. Then the tiny golem waved and suddenly collapsed, leaving a small pile of earth.
"Ehhhh, hey Elisabeth, look what you've done! Isn't that so sad?"
"Pay it no mind. Despite appearances, it was not actually conscious. You wanted a pot, yes?"
The earth squirmed and formed a pot's shape. Kaito explained further, making the pot more shallow and adding a hole in the lid for letting off steam. The automatically shapeshifting clay finally turned into his familiar pot after repeated tries.
"This earth is imbued with fire resistance. This eludes my understanding, but take it and use it however you like."
"Thanks, this really helps."
Kaito picked up the pot gingerly in his arms and walked to the kitchen. He first filled the clay pot with water then added flour to cook. Doing so sealed the small hole at the top of the pot. Then using a smaller pot to boil milk, he dissolved white sugar in it then carefully added a beaten egg after it had cooled, taking care to avoid bubbles and frothing in the process. Next, he washed the clay pot and coated it with butter. Using a clean cloth, he filtered the egg mixture. However, the crucial step had yet to come, namely to cook gently with the lid on for around ten to fifteen minutes. Putting a wire mesh over the stove, he placed the clay pot on top but he was not confident in fine-tuning the heat.
"Now then, how did it turn out... Hmm? It seems just right."
It looked like Elisabeth's application of fire resistance was superb. Even the thermal energy from the stove's fierce flames was transmitted as gentle heat. The rest of the process was now up to luck.
Soon after, a sweet fragrance began to fill the kitchen. After waiting for residual heat to dissipate, Kaito placed the clay pot in cold storage powered by an ice spirit spell. Once it had cooled down sufficiently, he took the clay pot out to the dining hall.
Elisabeth probably had nothing to do. Surprisingly, she was waiting patiently for Kaito.
"Hmm? I thought you ran away but you ended up returning. How unexpected."
"Yeah, thanks to you, I guess it's done. Try it out."
Kaito placed the clay pot before her. Elisabeth craned her neck, looking like she was waiting for Kaito to open it for her. Gripping the handle, Kaito lifted the lid, instantly releasing a burst of sweet fragrance. Seeing the large lump of light yellow substance, Elisabeth tilted her head in puzzlement.
"What is this? It is not pudding, is it?"
"Oh, I guess it's not the same thing after all. This is purin. Purin."
"Purin? Oh?"
Elisabeth repeated like a parrot and scooped up a small spoonful. Faced with the wobbling yellow substance, she frowned suspiciously.
She delivered the spoon to her mouth. After a moment's silence, the spoon moved again.
"This, how odd...... No...... Hmm...... Quite...... delicate...... smooth."
The spoon kept entering her mouth. Elisabeth began to eat ravenously nonstop. Soon after, the pot was empty. She slammed the spoon hard on the table.
"You are off the hook!"
"Thanks."
See, you can do it if you try... Elisabeth smiled contentedly. Kaito could not help but imagine a pair of cat ears popping out of her gorgeous black hair, moving smugly with satisfaction.
(...She's unexpectedly simple, even though she threatens others with torture at every opportunity.)
Just as Kaito was thinking that, she snapped her fingers. Kaito jumped in surprise, thinking she had read his mind and the torture chair was about to attack, and braced himself in a defensive stance.
However, what appeared before him was a glowing chessboard formed from red light, apparently created by Elisabeth's magic. Kaito widened his eyes in amazement and she said to him:
"Seeing that you are slightly useful, I shall bestow a little knowledge upon you, to help you understand your current situation."
With a wave of Elisabeth's pale hand, the chessboard spun and approached Kaito. Kaito could not help but lean back when the chessboard stopped in front of him. As though singing, Elisabeth continued:
"Rejoice as much as you can. Knowledge is very important, because the ignorant are nothing more than ants toyed with by fate. Only by acquiring knowledge could humanity surpass insects to become beasts, finally becoming human, and sometimes surpassing God."
Two large chess pieces appeared on the board, one black and one white. Both pieces featured wings. Pointing at the two pieces from above, Elisabeth said:
"In this world, God and demons exist. They reside in a higher dimension imperceptible to the unaided eyes of humans, but corroborated by certain members of the clergy, occult scholars and sorcerers, their existence have been proven beyond a doubt. But ultimately, 'God' and 'demons' are merely names given by humans out of convenience. Humans named as God the supernatural being that created the world and named as demons the supernatural beings that would destroy the world. Hence, according to this logic, demons are only capable of intervening in the mortal realm when God wishes to abandon the world. But there are exceptions... It is a separate matter when contractors are involved."
"Contractors?"
"A name given to people who use themselves as the medium to summon demons that are not supposed to exist in this dimension and form contracts with them. When a demon merges with its contractor, the contractor's physical body is warped into a bizarre shape as the price for acquiring the ability to use the demon's powers freely. Due to the difficulty in summoning them as well as the lack of vessels strong enough to withstand them, demons powerful enough to destroy the world have yet to manifest. Nevertheless, a portion of demons, wielding fearsome powers, have already been summoned to the human world."
The black piece crumbled a bit and fell off the board, turning into fourteen new chess pieces in a row. At the center of these chess pieces, featuring forms resembling beasts or lumps of flesh, one piece with a crown on its head was bound by chains.
"Fourteen humans have contracted with fourteen demons. The fourteen ranks of The Knight, The President, The Grand President, The Earl, The Grand Earl, The Duke, The Grand Duke, The Marquess, The Grand Marquess, The Monarch, The Grand Monarch, The Sovereign, The Grand Sovereign, and The Emperor are the names given by mankind to these demons, generally used to refer to the fourteen and the contractors who have merged with them. Furthermore, there is a different type of being, devotees who have sworn allegiance to demons and their contractors, thereby obtaining part of their powers."
In front of the fourteen chess pieces with bizarre appearances was a row of pawns. The fourteen grotesque pieces each placed their hand on the forehead of the pawn in front of them, causing the pawns to turn into ugly monsters as well. Elisabeth picked up one of them and said:
"The skinless rider you saw last time was precisely The Knight's devotee. Devotees of demon contractors—This description is quite a mouthful, so it is simply shortened to 'devotee'."
Elisabeth returned the piece to the board, then the fourteen bizarre chess pieces and the deformed pawns began to march forward.
"Demons would derive power from the laments of God's creations, especially human suffering. Hence, in this world, atrocities committed by demons and their devotees have spread across the land."
The chess pieces opened their mouths in unison and using ugly and disorderly teeth, they cruelly chewed up new pawns that had appeared. With a snap of her fingers, Elisabeth summoned a female chess piece to the other side of the board.
"The Church—a religious organization that worships God, who had possessed a human temporarily at one point, to guide the masses along the right path under God's will, protecting the peace and stability of the human world—has tasked me with hunting down the remaining thirteen demons apart from the captured Emperor. And this time, my opponent is The Knight."
Before Kaito's eyes, a horse-mounted chess piece walked out from among the grotesque pieces. Riding a red steed, clad in creepy armor, the piece charged at Kaito. At that moment, the female chess piece swung a sword glowing with red light at it.
"The Knight is the most insignificant among the fourteen demons, but to ordinary people, he is a nightmare."
Suddenly, the floor began to shake violently. Just before the sword struck The Knight, all the chess pieces disappeared together with the board.
Rumble, rumble... The castle shook intensely again. Elisabeth stood up elegantly. Ignoring the confused Kaito, she exited with a flutter of her skirt hem behind her. Kaito hastily followed.
Leaving the dining hall, Elisabeth walked along the corridor then placed her hand on the great entrance to the throne room and pushed hard, opening it.
At the same time, they were greeted by an intense stench of blood and flesh, as well as a bizarre noise like something was tearing and chewing raw meat.
Kaito timidly directed his gaze out of the hole in the wall. On top of the staked corpse of the beast was another animal. This beast was ravenously tearing away at the dead flesh with its gigantic jaws. Buried in the flank of the beast, a human face was crying tears while chewing on the flesh next to its mouth. Such a horrifying scene made Kaito gasp.
Elisabeth looked back and said openly with a faintly evil smile.
"This is the work of demons. I expected this and sure enough, a second one arrived."
"You knew it would come? You..."
"Since the beast did not decompose on its way here, the materials must originate from the village under the castle. When the demon attacked the village, the villagers were basically all slaughtered. However, even if 20% of the villagers managed to escape and the remaining 80% were used to create this sort of abomination, the first one was far too small. Hence, I reasoned there must be a second one."
(How can she nonchalantly go through this kind of reasoning as though nothing had happened?)
Kaito felt dizzy after listening to this answer that was the farthest thing from common sense.
At that moment, the beast roared.
Uruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Shaking the breasts hanging under its belly, the beast jumped and used its sharp claws to pierce the castle's exterior walls, causing the entire castle to shake violently. Stone dust was falling from overhead. The beast turned its eyes, wet with bloodthirst, towards Elisabeth.
Looking at the beast whose head had entered the hole in the wall, Elisabeth sighed lightly.
"My goodness... Although you were merely roped into this mess, you lot are surely pitiful."
Kuruuooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
"I shall be merciful and allow you to rest in peace sooner, at least."
Elisabeth snapped her fingers. Immediately, the ground exploded with countless iron stakes breaking out of the soil vertically, skewering the beast's abdomen in succession. In spite of that, the beast reached forward with its head, tearing its body in the process, trying to devour Elisabeth. However, a thousand iron stakes had mercilessly punctured the beast's belly.
There was a continuous series of thuds and a cloud of dust and smoke mixed with red petals rose like a storm. By the time it dissipated completely, only the collapsed corpses of two beasts remained with a pool of dark black blood slowly spreading on the ground.
"There may be lingering traces of The Knight's attack at the village. Off we go to have a look."
With a flutter of her hem, Elisabeth began to walk.
Chastising his trembling legs, Kaito chased after her.
* * *
Elisabeth descended the staircase that led underground. The underground passage, echoing with mysterious moans, seemed like a labyrinth where monsters were lurking. In fact, Kaito would not be surprised if there really was some kind of creature kept down here.
She advanced without hesitation and kicked open a door to a vast room. Kaito peered inside from next to her.
The room had neither furniture nor windows. There was a massive magic circle on the floor.
On closer examination, the complicated pattern was flowing. The air inside the room was a heavy smell of blood like inside a human womb. Suddenly, Kaito realized that the magic circle was actually drawn in blood.
"This is a teleportation magic circle drawn using my blood. It provides transportation to anywhere in the world, as long as it is within my memories."
"Putting aside what it's made of, that's really convenient. We don't have anything like that where I come from."
"You hail from a world of advanced machinery, but do not underestimate magic. As my servant, you are also capable of using your own blood to summon certain things to your side."
"Just how much do you want me to bleed?"
"Go ahead and try it out when you have time."
"Please allow me to refuse firmly."
Side by side with Elisabeth, Kaito stepped onto the magic circle with trepidation. With a stomp of Elisabeth's heel, bright red petals floated up along the edge of the magic circle. These petals kept swirling and started to surround the two of them. The petals gradually melted, soon turning into a thick cylindrical wall, bringing a heavy smell of blood again. By the time Kaito noticed, the red petals had all turned into blood.
Elisabeth stomped her foot again and the wall of blood fell heavily to the ground like the lowering of the curtain at the end of a performance. The scenery hidden behind it was exposed.
Presented before Kaito and Elisabeth was the remains of a battlefield.
This was the best description Kaito could use for the scene before their eyes.
There was a fiery blaze stretching as far as he could see. Between the burning buildings were countless dead bodies. This scene was quite similar to photographs of foreign war zones that Kaito had seen long ago. More than two hours must have elapsed between the first beast's creation and Kaito's arrival here with Elisabeth, but there were no signs of the blaze subsiding.
Kaito could feel greasy sweat breaking out on his forehead. Enduring the nasty stench of burning human remains and the heat radiation scorching his skin, he swept his gaze across the corpses in the fire.
A man whose upper body had turned to charcoal. An old woman whose head had been pulled off together with her spine. A woman with breasts torn off. A young man with only his face forcibly removed. A young child with both arms amputated, in a crawling position on the ground in either an attempt to escape or a final struggle.
They had all been murdered cruelly, leaving not the slightest shred of human dignity on their corpses. Unlike the grotesque beasts that had attacked the castle, these human corpses were still within the realm of comprehension. Precisely because of that, the cruelty and horror of the scene could seep directly into Kaito's brain. The contents of Kaito's gut had already surged up to his throat, but he forcibly suppressed the wave of nausea.
This was hell. It was hell no matter how you looked at it, filled with the nastiest scenes one could imagine. Confronted with these scenes, Kaito could not help but find himself at a loss for words. By his side, Elisabeth spoke softly:
"As I said just now, this is the work of demons."
She took a step forward then immediately turned around. With her back to the flames, her black hair fluttering in the wind, she said to Kaito:
"Through human pain and suffering, demons derive power from tormenting the soul. This is precisely the means by which they gain power. However, what you witness here is actually a relief. Instances of hell, more horrific than this, are currently appearing all over the world in succession."
Kaito was shocked by these revelations. Long accustomed to pain and injury, he was well aware that terror and unbelievable tragedy would suddenly descend upon humans. However, to think that such horrific scenes were being created in this world and people were slaughtered so pitifully... He was completely reluctant to accept such a reality.
"You're saying... this counts as a relief? Hey, don't joke around! This is hell no matter how you look at it!"
"Hell is divided into circles. This one here is not very deep, no different from a field of flowers in my eyes. Even more horrifying hells are created by demons... Hence, that is why the Church employs the sow that is I to take care of those pigs."
"Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
A roar of rage interrupted Elisabeth. Starting from there, a group of male villagers rushed out of chicken coops and pig sties that were about to collapse. Their clothing were smoked pitch black. Gripping their farm tools nervously, they surrounded Kaito and Elisabeth.
From among them, a knight on an armored horse stepped out.
Seeing the "knight" and the "horse," Kaito's expression tensed. However, there was a decorative feather on the knight's helmet. His bright armor was engraved with patterns of lilies while the horse was also decorated with the same emblem. It looked like he was a legitimate soldier from this world.
Seeing the knight had his sword drawn and held high, Elisabeth scoffed lightly.
"What is this, a knight of the kingdom I see. What business do you have with me, raising that clumsy and heavy piece of scrap metal of yours?"
"Don't play dumb! I was sent to this village from the royal capital and I have monitored your every move at the castle on the hill. Finally, you have revealed your true colors! I saw clearly from the start! This scene of tragedy and horror here are all done by your hand!"
"Are you retarded? Did you not see that The Knight was responsible for this? Whatever, the likes of you would never figure out what happened here exactly unless in a direct encounter. However, please do not blame me for your incompetence. Tasked by the Church, I am currently hunting demons and this position forbids me from killing humans."
"Vile nonsense! Do you think I'd believe such lies!?"
The knight's voice was unusually vicious, causing Kaito to narrow his eyes slightly. The knight pointed his sword at Elisabeth. His throat trembling with rage, he roared angrily at Elisabeth.
"Don't tell me you have forgotten all that you have done in the past!?"
Elisabeth neither confirmed nor denied, simply putting on an expression of bored indifference. Faced with her attitude, the knight apparently reached the end of his patience and began a raging tirade.
"Without showing mercy to a single inhabitant of your territory, you tortured every last one of them. Ripping their bodies open, you tore out their innards while they were alive, sewing up every orifice on their body, making carvings on their bones, melting their flesh, gouging out eyeballs, ripping out tongues, slaughtering men, women, the elderly and the young in every manner possible! In the end, you did not even spare the nobles! Torturchen! Elisabeth Le Fanu! Who would ever believe your vile lies!"
This diatribe caused Kaito to confront the truth that he had been ignoring for the past few days.
He recalled the scene of which he had caught a faint glimpse just before his death. Corpses utterly deprived of human dignity were piled into a mountain. The crowd was shouting repeatedly to kill. The smile of the girl who was tied up.
Right now, Elisabeth was smiling while she listened to the knight as though she were enjoying a little bird's song.
"Especially given what I witnessed at the Field of Impalement, don't tell me you have forgotten what you have done to us, our knightly order!? Do you know how many nights I spent unable to sleep after I returned the kingdom as a survivor!?"
The knight's hand, gripping the sword, began to shake faintly. However, he stopped at this point and suddenly looked towards Kaito. The knight's armor rattled as he asked Kaito in weary and perplexed voice.
"Why are you together with that demon of a woman? Rumors say that Elisabeth is looking for a servant... If you were forced to serve her, then come to my side. I will protect you."
Kaito looked at Elisabeth. She simply had her arms crossed without saying anything.
Kaito was definitely reborn against his will and coerced into serving her. He had also witness Elisabeth's atrocities. It would be great if he could live peacefully in this parallel dimension. If he was going to escape, now would be the time. Kaito took a step forward but immediately halted.
"What's the matter? Hurry and come over."
"I would gladly accept what you offer, but may I ask a question?"
"What is it?"
"You... Why are you staring at me as though you're looking at tasty food?"
The instant Kaito spoke, an unnatural silence began to spread. Holding farm tools, the men looked at the knight uneasily, but the knight did not speak. Staring straight at him, Kaito continued:
"In my past life, I have met many bastards who enjoyed abusing children on a basis more regular than their meals. Your current gaze is identical to theirs."
The knight did not answer, but next to Kaito, Elisabeth's shoulder suddenly began to shake mildly. Finally, she started to roar with laughter. Holding her stomach as though she honestly found things hilarious, she squirmed seductively.
"I get it now, so that is what is happening. First of all, there is you, huh? Never did I expect from within the order itself, how truly ludicrous—Hey, proud knight there, listen carefully to me, will you?"
Elisabeth's smile was innocent and pure.
With her red eyes shining with delight, she spoke in a gentle voice that could coax a cat.
"On that Field of Impalement, I skewered five hundred knights from your order, armor and all, wiping them out completely. Massacred. Annihilated. However, I do not recall there being any survivors."
At that point, she withdrew her smile. Glaring coldly, she asked:
"Why are you still alive?"
At that moment, the men wielding farm tools all had their heads sent flying. Every head had their mouths gaped open, their expression locked in surprise, falling on the ground. Countless flies surged out from the wounds, using their tiny legs to move the men's bodies, then starting to attach them together. These flies were using their tiny jaws to chew up the dead bodies' flesh and sticking the skin together using their saliva, gradually assembling a mini version of the beasts Kaito had seen at the castle.
Presented with the bizarre scene before him, Kaito held his breath and backed away. Finally, the knight was enveloped entirely in blue flames. Burning in ice-cold flames, the horse's skin gradually lost all color of blood and the knight's body gradually expanded. The bulging muscles under the armor were exceptionally developed, causing the armor to swell up like a balloon. From the gaps in the set of armor that had turned round like a ridiculous doll, long white hair and a long beard fell out. Within a brief moment, the knight had turned into an elderly rider with a bizarre appearance.
Completely fearless, Elisabeth stared at the imposing demon knight and clicked her tongue.
"I know not whether you were trying to make me careless or attempting to eat my servant in front of me, but regardless, it is utterly ridiculous. Having changed your appearance, you should not have wasted your breath on words and blown your cover. After obtaining immortality from a demon contract, did you lean nothing at all from the Field of Impalement? Oh dear..."
Elisabeth sighed deeply but immediately nodded with comprehension.
"Sigh, precisely because of that, you were only able to merge with a lowly demon like The Knight."
The Knight roared in anger, spurring the bloodless horse to charge at Elisabeth. His speed was far beyond that displayed by the devotee last time. Releasing flames and thunder around him, The Knight caught a blue thunderbolt with his hand and transformed it into a massive lance, thrusting it straight at Elisabeth.
Elisabeth did not dodge and was easily pierced by the lance.
Almost screaming out, Kaito's voice was stuck in his throat. The ugly giant lance creaked inside Elisabeth's body, gradually embedding into her belly. From the gap in the hole, crimson blood was dripping out. Next, The Knight violently withdrew the lance from her body, tossing her delicate body hard on the ground.
In the next instant, a scene from Kaito's mind... was reenacted.
Beaten up, he was smashed into a wall before falling on the ground like a rag.
"Elisabeth."
Kaito was about to rush over but halted. Elisabeth was laughing. As though things could not be more funny, she was roaring with laughter, holding her stomach in a pool of blood.
"Kuku, heehee, hahahahahahaha, ha—Hahhahhahhahhahhah, ah..."
While panting painfully, she stood up. The hole in her belly offered a view of her interior. Dripping with blood all over, she coiled up the remaining half of her intestines in her hand then tossed it aside.
"I see now, this tickling feeling is quite nice, but it is a far cry from the pain of incinerating a soul. What I call pain is supposed to be something like this."
Elisabeth raised her hand up to the sky. A huge amount of red petals and darkness swirled around her, enveloping her body, turning into new black fabric to plug up the hole in her body. Then inside the giant vortex of red and black, she picked up something.
"Rejoice, fool. I am drawing my sword for you."
Elisabeth drew out a longsword. Red as though drenched with blood, the blade was shining ominously.
"Excecutioner's Sword of Frankenstahl!"
Elisabeth called out the sword's name, instantly causing words carved on the blade to glow. The meaning of those words instantly crashed into his mind as soon as Kaito saw the light.
You shall obtain freedom through action. Pray for God to become your savior. The beginning, the process and the end, all are within God's palm.
"Come, let us begin to play!"
Elisabeth sliced through the air, aiming at those armored arms. A silver-white chain was released from the trail of her slash, entangling The Knight's armored arms, dragging him off his horse to suspend him in midair through unbelievable brute force. However, The Knight snapped his fingers, causing the beast to pounce at Elisabeth from behind. Without turning her head, Elisabeth simply swung her sword.
The beast was entangled by a chain and restrained. The human flesh forming the beast's body made terrifying sounds while being sliced by the chain. Then the chain wrapped around the partially collapsed mass of meat, reshaping it to create new horses. Next, the chain entangled the bloodless horse and started controlling it like a set of reins.
Elisabeth raised her sword high towards the sky. Immediately, the ends of countless chains swirled in a vortex, flying at The Knight. After the storm passed, four chains were wrapped around The Knight's limbs, tying him to four horses, including one of which was his own steed. The Knight desperately yelled something to his mount, but the horse did not listen to him at all.
"I hereby present—Dismemberment."
As Elisabeth swung her sword down, the four horses galloped at the same time.
Under incredible tension, The Knight's four limbs creaked. Joints were dislocated, muscles were stretched taut, making noises just as they reached their limit, breaking under the strain. Blood gushed out from gaps in the armor, but the four horses did not stop. The Knight began to scream like mad.
"Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth! Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
His voice conveyed not only pain but pure rage as well.
Elisabeth approached The Knight. Kaito followed closely and was immediately shocked. Under the helmet, The Knight's eyes had returned to a human's gaze. Completely unlike the gaze directed at Kaito earlier, these blue eyes were frighteningly clear, glaring at Elisabeth with a deadly grudge against an unforgivable enemy.
The man who had contracted with The Knight was still quite young.
Gazing down at what were originally quite noble eyes, Elisabeth spoke softly with a gentle expression.
"Are you a survivor of the Field of Impalement? How much pain, how much hatred you must be bearing."
"Elisabeth... Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeth..."
"—Nevertheless, I must apologize. The demon's voice is as much an affront to one's hearing as the noise of swine."
Elisabeth smiled maliciously. Filled with regret and the desire to kill, The Knight roared loudly.
"Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
What followed was the sound of tearing flesh and The Knight was dismembered alive. Tied to the horses, his arms and legs were dragging on the uneven ground. From a rip reaching deep into the abdomen, out fell his innards all at once. The mouth under the helmet kept spewing blood before he finally breathed his last. Then blue flames began to quietly envelop The Knight's body.
"Let us return. That whatever purin was quite delicious, but I am hungry again no thanks to him."
Elisabeth turned her sword into red petals and walked away. Staring at her back, Kaito recalled the scene he had witnessed when she first summoned him as well as what The Knight had been shouting. He knew that reckless prying could lead to painful torment. After some thinking, in the end, Kaito still asked Elisabeth quietly:
"Say, was that guy speaking the truth just now? Did you torture all the people in your territory before slaughtering them, not even sparing the nobles?"
"Indeed, it is true, there was no a single lie mixed in the allegations. The unmistakable truth. Who do you take me for? I am 'Torturchen' Elisabeth Le Fanu. I am the woman who tormented people to death more brutally than anyone, then captured by the Church and tasked with the mission to slaughter thirteen individuals."
Elisabeth replied without hesitation. It was a harsh and shameful truth that could very well rival the demons. Recalling her cat-like smile when she was eating pudding, Kaito felt betrayed for some inexplicable reason. Faced with this girl, a plunderer who subjected people to all manner of torment, he expressed undisguised revulsion on his face. However, there was an unexpected continuation to Elisabeth's confession of sin.
"Furthermore, I am the woman who shall face death by fire once I have executed all my targets."
She asserted firmly and matter-of-factly. Kaito widened his eyes. Elisabeth was staring straight back at Kaito with her crimson eyes, as clear as rubies. On that calm face of hers was not the slightest shred of pretense.
Words from before flashed through Kaito's mind.
At least do a little good before you die.
Was that what it was supposed to mean? Still showing a face of indecision, Kaito did not know how to accept this truth. He fell silent. Elisabeth scoffed and stood at the center of her teleportation magic circle.
"Cook a new meal for me when we return. Since you are capable of controlling sweetness with such finesse, you could not possibly lack talent in cooking. Should you fail to serve up something decent, I shall treat you to the dunking stool next time."
Following her into the magic circle, Kaito paused for a moment and turned around.
Behind them was a scene that could only be described as hell. Screams could be heard from afar. Chicken coops and pig sties had already collapsed. The blaze was burning stronger and stronger. Remembering The Knight's bizarre appearance, he muttered:
"So there are twelve more like him, huh..."
Kaito walked over to Elisabeth's side and she stomped her heel.
After the two of them vanished, The Knight's lance burned up in blue flames, turning into ash that scattered in the wind.
Sitting on a desolate hill, a castle was encircled by a lush forest. Every corner of this castle had been built from irritatingly cold stone. Rather than a castle, it would be better to call it a fortress.
After spending three days in such an oppressive indoor environment, anyone would be plagued by nightmares of being crushed by stone. The complicated passages here meant that one could very well waste away and die in the labyrinth if one were to get lost. The castle's design evidently showed no consideration at all for the inhabitants, rather, there was a sense of rejection throughout.
The kitchen was not convenient to use at all, always shrouded in a claustrophobic feeling like a dungeon cell.
But even under the pressure of this sort of atmosphere, ingredients were still ingredients after all.
Wearing a butcher's apron, Sena Kaito rolled up the sleeves of his cotton shirt and crossed his arms with displeasure. In front of him was a despairing quantity of innards, piled up in a small mountain. These pieces of flesh, soft and glistening with complicated shapes, were releasing a distinctive odor.
Kaito sighed and decided to chop up the intestines first, so he used a sharp knife to cut open the intestines lengthwise. Next, he removed the white membrane around the heart. While he was taking care of this vast number of entrails silently like an ascetic monk, the kitchen shook violently. Even though stone fragments were falling from above, Kaito ignored the situation, still acting as though nothing had happened.
Even if this castle were to collapse soon, putting an end to his life, he did not want to care at all.
He opened a bottle of expensive-looking wine that he had taken from the wine cellar without permission then poured out of half of it into a silver platter originally dedicated to holding fruit. Then without any hesitation, he marinated several types of innards in the wine together with herbs whose names eluded him.
While he continued with his culinary work with a solemn expression, the entire castle shook again, but Kaito still did not let it bother him. Even if half the castle were to be blown away, all was fine so long as he survived unharmed. The world was peaceful, but an evil voice shattered this peace.
"Butler, butler!"
Adhering to the logic that his name was Kaito and not "butler," Kaito decided that he was not the one being called and resolutely ignored the voice. Finally, the manner of address changed.
"Kaito!"
"Too noisy! I hear you! Coming right away!"
Fearing for his life if he kept ignoring the voice, Kaito dropped the liver he had covered with flour onto the counter then rushed to the corridor. The corridor had several stained glass windows at least, which alleviated the claustrophobic feeling somewhat. But also because of the stained glass, disgusting patterns that creeped Kaito out from the bottom of his heart were also projected onto the floor. Dashing across the colorful corridor, Kaito climbed the spiral staircase and pushed open a massive set of double doors.
A strong gust of wind greeted him. Inside this throne room, on the pedestal was of course, literally a magnificent throne. There were even a few ancient tapestries hanging in the room, filling the space with solemnity. However, a quarter of all this stuff had now been blown away, opening a massive hole in the wall, exposing the sky's refreshing blueness.
It was totally no joke. What was happening right now could very well demolish half the castle.
In front of the remains of this wanton destruction, a girl was standing with her arms crossed, her perfectly shaped legs standing on the rubble, haughtily waiting for Kaito. With a click of her heel contacting the ground, she turned towards Kaito.
Her black and gorgeous hair fluttered in the air while her red eyes pierced Kaito.
Hanging on her peerlessly beautiful face was a smile that was in no way delightful at all. Kaito found her face repugnant. With nails painted black, she pointed outside and spoke in a bird-like voice, like a cat that had eaten her fill.
"Behold, Kaito."
Kaito complied obediently and looked out the hole. The clear blue sky and the refreshingly green forest were now shrouded by a sticky red color and a rust-like stench, it was nauseating.
In front of him was a nasty scene from hell.
Dozens of iron stakes had sprouted out of the ground, impaling a creepy creature.
With his face frowning to the limit, Kaito scrutinized the pitiful corpse that was a bloody mess.
"What are your thoughts, Kaito?"
"What else can I say...? It's not only creepy but also pitiful."
"Hmph, what an accurate description of your senses. Not only are your words inadequate in expressive ability, but you also lack the wit to please your master. You are such a boring guy."
The girl shrugged. In front of her, the terrifying beast, an amalgamation of human corpses, was already dead. On the surface of the grotesque beast were hundreds of faces, attached to one another by stretching their cheeks and scalps to the limit, giving off groans in abject agony. Instead of a mane, the beast's back featured a line of human arms with a huge number of breasts hanging from its bloated belly.
The girl scoffed at the sacrilegious and grotesque abomination and said:
"Follow me, Kaito. The Knight has declared war on me. Or rather, he has come to pick a fight."
The girl licked her red lips, overjoyed. Surpassing leopards and wolves, she was more like a giant ravenous lion. Suppressing the revulsion in his heart, Kaito turned away from the beast's corpse and sighed.
"I don't mind, but the food will be ready in one hour. Whether you want to fight or to torture, save it for after the meal."
The only reason why Sena Kaito was currently stuck in this absolute mess of a situation was because he had been murdered.
* * *
"Since you did not answer, I shall ask again. Pledge your allegiance to me."
"I refuse."
Confronted with the haughty demand from the girl calling herself Elisabeth, Kaito refused on the spot. The stranger had suddenly appeared before him, even though he was supposed to have died as a murdered victim just now, asking him to be her servant. Kaito was very confused, but he answered without hesitation. This was due to the mountain of bizarre corpses, the blood lust in the crowd, Elisabeth's sadistic smile... and most crucial of all, the title of "Torturchen."
With all these danger signals gathered in one place, the girl before his eyes was evidently the one responsible for creating that tragedy. Hence, Kaito had no response other than refusal.
Kaito expected Elisabeth's mood to be ruined as a result, but for some reason, she nodded, impressed.
"Oh? What decisiveness. Perhaps you viewed my memories while you were being summoned? Even so, such a decisive answer is still quite unexpected."
"Putting aside whether I'm working for you or not, did you just say 'summoned'? ...Hey, what is this place? Why am I here...? And most importantly, I should be dead."
"Yes, you are completely correct! You are already dead. Pitifully, tragically, brutally, killed like a worthless bug! In spite of that, summoned by me, you have obtained new life through a doll's body. This is a rare act of grace, so rejoice to your fill."
"......A doll?"
Hearing the word that Elisabeth had said out of the blue, Kaito could not help but touch his own body. Although she called him a doll, he found no difference between the texture of his skin and a human's. Although he did not have a mirror to check his appearance, there was nothing wrong with the height of his eye level, so he did not think his height had changed. He plucked out a hair from the back of his head and it was the brown color he had been born with.
Just as he was examining his body in doubt, Elisabeth spoke in exasperation.
"What are you doing? The vessel for your soul is a golem body created by none other than I. Unlike the ones that would collapse into a pile of dirt as soon as you alter the writing on their foreheads, this is a masterpiece created by yours truly, the great sorcerer and skilled artisan. This is also the reason why my words sound like your own country's language to your ears. Durability guaranteed, your body features all human organs with the same red blood coursing through your veins. However, you will not die even if more than half your body is destroyed. On the other hand, if you were to bleed dry of the blood imbued with my power, your soul would run the risk of disappearing."
"But my physique and hair color haven't changed."
"Your stupidity is truly incurable. As I have already explained, do not compare my masterpiece with those cheap varieties that are not worth mentioning. If a soul were to be placed into a body that differs excessively from the form of its previous life, the dissonance could very well cause a breakdown. This blank body was designed to conform to the soul in the first place. Although external injuries and internal maladies are automatically purged, appearance and physique... be it a face of poverty or a weak and skinny body, everything is consistent with your state when you were alive. Go ahead and express your rapture, grateful for my generosity."
At that moment, Kaito noticed an important difference in his body. He looked at his arm and found that the burns and lacerations covering it densely had disappeared. The constant pain that thoroughly gripped his body over the long years was gone.
(I see... What a shock. This body really isn't mine.)
Kaito understood completely. A body without pain could not possibly be his own body. This painless feeling, one that had been long-absent in his life, was quite comfortable, but at the same time, he could not help thinking he was like an inflated rubber doll.
While Kaito was feeling his arm in a daze, Elisabeth continued.
"To obtain a servant, I summoned an innocent soul. Although nothing prevents me from summoning an evil being to run errands for me, if the Church were to find out, punishment would be unavoidable. Furthermore, the brutality of your murder was beyond proportionate to your sin in life, hence you are perfect... Hmph, this rather strange feeling, could it be that you are from another world? To be drawn here from a parallel dimension, I really have no idea whether your unusual fortune is a blessing or a curse. Whatever, I care not about your original identity. From now on, you shall work for me with sincere loyalty."
"I refuse."
"Oh?"
Kaito's answer caused Elisabeth to blink her red eyes with delight. She placed her finger, as slender as a blade, on Kaito's forehead, then licking her gorgeous lips, she whispered sweetly.
"You have been killed. Killed pitifully, tragically and brutally like a worthless bug. That low-functioning brain of yours can understand that much at least, yes? Although you are qualified as an 'innocent soul' by the condition that 'your sins from your past life did not deserve a cruel death,' your physiognomy predicts a destination of hell for you. Now that I have said this much, are you still going to give up your second life and seek death like a trampled bug?"
"That's right. I've had enough of living as someone else's plaything. I grew tired of living a long time ago."
Kaito replied firmly. This was how unmentionable his life had been, a fate worse than hell.
He had only attended school for a couple years before moving from place to place, forced to take on illegal jobs to help his father, but it was never appreciated. Whenever his father did not need him for manpower, he would be abused as a tool for venting frustrations. There was no part of this life that Kaito did not find repulsive. He did not even know what his mother looked like, but presumably, subjected to dual suffering from malnutrition and pain, his mother had lost the ability to think normally. Deprived of the will to even run away, she ended up killed.
Kaito wanted a body without pain but he would rather die than cater to another person's whims again, because even if such a shitty life could continue, it would just be a longer and smellier piece of shit.
"I'm tired. I give up. If you want a servant, find someone else."
"Is that so? Then I shall make you my butler against your wishes."
Elisabeth did not heed Kaito's answer at all. Kaito frowned deeply, but she shrugged lightly.
"It would be a hassle if the Church's pointless nose were to get wind of the fact that I summoned a servant. Making a new doll would take substantial trouble, hence it would be utterly ludicrous of me to go through all that sundry work to find a substitute errand boy. I do not have that kind of time, after all, I..."
At that moment, the door behind Elisabeth was blown away with a loud noise.
Like a joke in poor taste, the heavy door simply flew in the air and crashed next to her. Bits of wood flew past her face, but she did not even bat an eye in that direction. Kaito's eyes widened in shock as he looked towards the doorway in trepidation.
Over there was a rider on a giant horse.
The rider was carrying a terrifying spiked chain while straddling a saddle made of bones, but the most bizarre thing about them were their bodies. Whether the horse or the rider, neither had any skin. Like anatomy models, their muscles were exposed, with blood vessels visible on the surface and glistening fat, presenting the pink color of their bloody flesh... Such ugly bodies caused Kaito to instinctively refuse to understand the entities before him. Only after a long while did Elisabeth turn to the entrance, speaking in a laid back manner.
"After all, there are fourteen ranked demons, namely, The Knight, The President, The Grand President, The Earl, The Grand Earl, The Duke, The Grand Duke, The Marquess, The Grand Marquess, The Monarch, The Grand Monarch, The Sovereign, The Grand Sovereign, and The Emperor. And with the exception of The Emperor, who has been captured, I must brutally execute these thirteen demons and their contractors."
The horse neighed and the rider howled. But what came out of those hollow mouths of bare flesh was ear-splitting noise as though a storm was blowing into broken musical instruments. Feeling the unpleasant vibrations on his eardrums, Kaito understood from the bottom of his heart.
Indeed, such a terrifying being could only be described as a demon.
"Hey, what's up with that guy? Is he 'The Knight' you mentioned?"
"You are quite calm for a squashed bug of an imbecile."
"This level of judgment is normal as long as the brain isn't atrophied."
"Unfortunately, this thing is merely The Knight's servant. Rather than the man himself who had entered a contract with a demon, he is someone who volunteered to become a subordinate. In other words, a small fry. But he was formerly human, indeed."
Listening to Elisabeth, Kaito involuntarily looked at the horse and rider again. That this thing was originally human, he could not believe it at all, neither did he want to believe it. If a man volunteered to turn into this as she said, all he could think was that guy must be insane. Presumably guessing Kaito's thoughts, Elisabeth grinned.
"I understand. I understand very well. Very ugly, isn't it? Selling one's soul to a demon merely for the sake of obtaining power beyond human, finally abandoning one's original appearance... There is no greater ugliness than this, is there? Laugh as much as you like, I permit you to laugh. This is more than likely his ultimate wish—A clown's ultimate wish is to make others laugh, wouldn't you agree?"
Even as a taunt, her words were far too tactless. Even sharper howls were emitted from the rider's mouth. The high-pitched sound waves resembled a roar of rage, almost tearing eardrums, making Kaito cover up his ears.
The rider tightened the reins and kicked the horse's belly. The horse proceeded to shatter the floor with its hooves, instantly reaching top speed to close in, trying to smash Elisabeth to death in a direct collision.
"Small potatoes are unworthy of my sword—Iron Maiden."
Elisabeth whispered quietly and raised her hand. Immediately, red petals and darkness were released into the air from her fingertips, swirling in a vortex. With a thunderous crash, as though the vortex had penetrated space itself, a human-sized doll emerged from the floor.
Iron Maiden—was the name Elisabeth had used to call this elegant doll, a name that did not match its appearance.
Long soft hair draped over the doll's back like golden silk. The two eyes glowed blue like gemstones. A smile of tender love on its lips. The doll's arms were outspread in welcome, whereas the rider charged mercilessly.
The maiden's warm embrace was about to be trampled by iron hooves... Just as Kaito made this prediction, he heard the sound of gears turning. The doll's eyes widened, rolling the blue eyes back to become burning red. Her offering of tender love rejected, the doll proceeded to show hatred on its face and opened up its belly suddenly.
Iron arms equipped with sharp claws rushed out from within, hurtling towards the horse and rider, mercilessly breaking their arms and legs with mechanical motions. Unconcerned with the enemy's pitiful screams, the iron arms compressed the horse and rider's body parts that were in the way, crushing them inwards until they were turned into a bloody pulp resembling pieces of caterpillars.
Without even time to resist, the horse and rider were turned into a meatball with heads, then dragged into the doll's belly. And the interior of the doll's belly featured a dense array of countless needles like symbols of maidenhood.
Gyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Accompanied by screams of pain, the doll's abdomen slammed shut.
Displaying a smile of tender affection again, the maiden hugged her lower abdomen tightly. One could hear sounds of mad struggling as well as screaming that could drive a listener insane.
"Those embraced by the Iron Maiden are not afforded an immediate death."
Amid the extremely terrifying screaming, Elisabeth commented nonchalantly. Turning her face towards Kaito, she grinned.
"If death is what you seek at all costs, then so be it. I shall generously grant you your wish. However, since I did bring you back from the abyss of death, if I had to kill you again, it must be done according to my methods. What are your thoughts? Make your choice, butler or meat?"
"Please let me be your butler."
"Now that is a rapid change of mind."
Thus, Kaito entered Torturchen's service.
This was how things came to be.
* * *
"DIS-GUS-TING!"
With a soul-wrenching yell, the dish, a fork, and the "roasted heart with aromatic vegetables, paired with fruit sauce" flew into the air. A fatal rain was showered upon the ancient tablecloth.
Next, Elisabeth angrily stomped her foot on the dining table.
"W-What the devil is this? I never thought food could taste bad to this extent. It looked decent in appearance, but the inside of the heart was not cooked thoroughly, whereas the surface was too tough to chew. Rich in the distinct odor of innards, the sauce was strangely sweet and sour, producing an absolutely terrible symphony on the tongue that was impossible to dispel... In a certain way, it was a miracle."
"I'm amazed by your critique."
(I can't believe she gave such a vigorous reaction.)
With dead-looking eyes, Kaito plucked out the fork that was embedded in the wall.
A couple of days had passed since he was coerced into being Elisabeth's butler. Although he started out scared to death of Elisabeth's every move, he had spent a lifetime lingering on the brink of death, after all, so he was pretty much used to this type of interaction.
Dressed in a butler uniform that could hardly be considered a good match for him, Kaito sighed deeply.
"Can you not throw utensils around every chance you get? It's not like you're an old man from the Shouwa period."
"Whether Shouwa or old men, I have no idea what you are talking about. However, how can I not flip the table when the food is this disgusting!? Good grief! Even swine feed would be much better than this! How can your cooking skills be so bad!?"
"You've said the same thing to me countless times already, which is why I used wine to remove the odor today."
"......Hey, don't tell me you used my wine to make this kind of garbage?"
Kaito chose strategic silence. Seeing Kaito's guilt, Elisabeth silently waved her hand.
With a rumble, a chair appeared from under Kaito. As though in a cartoon scene, the chair rammed into his bottom then strapped him to the seat with belts. From its design, one could tell that spikes, spikes, and even more spikes would clearly emerge from the entire surface of the back rest, the seat and the arm rests. Abandoning all measure of composure, Kaito struggled as hard as he could.
"Hold on, wait a sec! Let's talk first! Think about this, don't you think you're asking for the impossible, forcing a novice to start with cooking internal organs right off the bat!?"
"You need not seek excuses. Incidentally, what is with your lack of respect for me, the one known as Torturchen? How brazen of you? Would turning your back into a sieve improve your arrogant attitude?"
"My senses towards fear and danger have numbed after I was killed once! It's my fault, please don't torture me!"
"Hmph, then I shall be merciful... Oops, I almost approved of you. But judging from the tone of your voice, aren't you insinuating indirectly that you have no reason to respect me except out of fear?"
"No, that's not true at all, err... I think?"
"Kaito, you cannot even be bothered to find an excuse now?"
"No, let me rephrase myself!"
Despite crying out, Kaito already knew his fate... Namely, to be turned into a human pincushion. However, Elisabeth apparently changed her mind and dismissed the torture chair with a "hmph."
"Very well, so be it, I am generous and forgiving, so I shall offer you a chance to redeem yourself—Make pudding for me."
"Pudding?"
Hearing Elisabeth solemnly issue an inexplicable order, Kaito cocked his head in puzzlement.
"Pudding indeed," Elisabeth repeated herself and nodded seriously. Crossing her legs conceitedly, she leaned back against her chair.
"It would be too unrealistic to rely on someone like you who cannot even cook a meal properly, so I was about to give up. However, the possibilities inherent in sweetness are slightly greater, so I shall allow you to make an attempt. If you tell me even this is beyond you, then I shall consider scrapping you as a garbage creating machine."
"Don't say something as frightening as scrapping a human being. You're making the wounds on my soul bleed. By the way, what is pudding? It does sound familiar... Uh, is it something like purin?"
"Purin? I know not of this purin, but judging from the name, is it not the same thing?"
Confronted with this extremely sloppy response, Kaito nodded. In fact, the custard pudding known as purin in Japan was something quite memorable for him.
One day, a woman who was cohabiting with Kaito's father had made pudding for the young Kaito. The woman had smiled shyly in front of the happy Kaito before disappearing the next day. Now that he thought back to the time, Kaito realized she had made the treat to alleviate her guilty conscience in leaving the young Kaito behind to escape on her own. However, to Kaito, his joy from back then remained a vivid memory. He had also memorized the somewhat unusual method of making the dessert.
The ingredients in the kitchen were sufficient to recreate the dish, but he lacked the right cooking utensil, so he asked Elisabeth.
"Hey Elisabeth, since you can use earth to make golems, doesn't that mean you can also make a clay pot?"
"How dare you make demands from the master who is considering to have you scrapped, do you not know your place...? Fine. What is this clay pot?"
"The clay pot is like this, a pot made from heat-resistant clay, it's round."
With clumsy language ability, Kaito tried to describe a clay pot. Elisabeth looked intrigued but proceeded to snap her fingers. Soon enough, tiny footsteps could be heard from the corridor.
Creak—
The dining hall door opened and a mini golem composed of rectangular earthen blocks appeared. Then the tiny golem waved and suddenly collapsed, leaving a small pile of earth.
"Ehhhh, hey Elisabeth, look what you've done! Isn't that so sad?"
"Pay it no mind. Despite appearances, it was not actually conscious. You wanted a pot, yes?"
The earth squirmed and formed a pot's shape. Kaito explained further, making the pot more shallow and adding a hole in the lid for letting off steam. The automatically shapeshifting clay finally turned into his familiar pot after repeated tries.
"This earth is imbued with fire resistance. This eludes my understanding, but take it and use it however you like."
"Thanks, this really helps."
Kaito picked up the pot gingerly in his arms and walked to the kitchen. He first filled the clay pot with water then added flour to cook. Doing so sealed the small hole at the top of the pot. Then using a smaller pot to boil milk, he dissolved white sugar in it then carefully added a beaten egg after it had cooled, taking care to avoid bubbles and frothing in the process. Next, he washed the clay pot and coated it with butter. Using a clean cloth, he filtered the egg mixture. However, the crucial step had yet to come, namely to cook gently with the lid on for around ten to fifteen minutes. Putting a wire mesh over the stove, he placed the clay pot on top but he was not confident in fine-tuning the heat.
"Now then, how did it turn out... Hmm? It seems just right."
It looked like Elisabeth's application of fire resistance was superb. Even the thermal energy from the stove's fierce flames was transmitted as gentle heat. The rest of the process was now up to luck.
Soon after, a sweet fragrance began to fill the kitchen. After waiting for residual heat to dissipate, Kaito placed the clay pot in cold storage powered by an ice spirit spell. Once it had cooled down sufficiently, he took the clay pot out to the dining hall.
Elisabeth probably had nothing to do. Surprisingly, she was waiting patiently for Kaito.
"Hmm? I thought you ran away but you ended up returning. How unexpected."
"Yeah, thanks to you, I guess it's done. Try it out."
Kaito placed the clay pot before her. Elisabeth craned her neck, looking like she was waiting for Kaito to open it for her. Gripping the handle, Kaito lifted the lid, instantly releasing a burst of sweet fragrance. Seeing the large lump of light yellow substance, Elisabeth tilted her head in puzzlement.
"What is this? It is not pudding, is it?"
"Oh, I guess it's not the same thing after all. This is purin. Purin."
"Purin? Oh?"
Elisabeth repeated like a parrot and scooped up a small spoonful. Faced with the wobbling yellow substance, she frowned suspiciously.
She delivered the spoon to her mouth. After a moment's silence, the spoon moved again.
"This, how odd...... No...... Hmm...... Quite...... delicate...... smooth."
The spoon kept entering her mouth. Elisabeth began to eat ravenously nonstop. Soon after, the pot was empty. She slammed the spoon hard on the table.
"You are off the hook!"
"Thanks."
See, you can do it if you try... Elisabeth smiled contentedly. Kaito could not help but imagine a pair of cat ears popping out of her gorgeous black hair, moving smugly with satisfaction.
(...She's unexpectedly simple, even though she threatens others with torture at every opportunity.)
Just as Kaito was thinking that, she snapped her fingers. Kaito jumped in surprise, thinking she had read his mind and the torture chair was about to attack, and braced himself in a defensive stance.
However, what appeared before him was a glowing chessboard formed from red light, apparently created by Elisabeth's magic. Kaito widened his eyes in amazement and she said to him:
"Seeing that you are slightly useful, I shall bestow a little knowledge upon you, to help you understand your current situation."
With a wave of Elisabeth's pale hand, the chessboard spun and approached Kaito. Kaito could not help but lean back when the chessboard stopped in front of him. As though singing, Elisabeth continued:
"Rejoice as much as you can. Knowledge is very important, because the ignorant are nothing more than ants toyed with by fate. Only by acquiring knowledge could humanity surpass insects to become beasts, finally becoming human, and sometimes surpassing God."
Two large chess pieces appeared on the board, one black and one white. Both pieces featured wings. Pointing at the two pieces from above, Elisabeth said:
"In this world, God and demons exist. They reside in a higher dimension imperceptible to the unaided eyes of humans, but corroborated by certain members of the clergy, occult scholars and sorcerers, their existence have been proven beyond a doubt. But ultimately, 'God' and 'demons' are merely names given by humans out of convenience. Humans named as God the supernatural being that created the world and named as demons the supernatural beings that would destroy the world. Hence, according to this logic, demons are only capable of intervening in the mortal realm when God wishes to abandon the world. But there are exceptions... It is a separate matter when contractors are involved."
"Contractors?"
"A name given to people who use themselves as the medium to summon demons that are not supposed to exist in this dimension and form contracts with them. When a demon merges with its contractor, the contractor's physical body is warped into a bizarre shape as the price for acquiring the ability to use the demon's powers freely. Due to the difficulty in summoning them as well as the lack of vessels strong enough to withstand them, demons powerful enough to destroy the world have yet to manifest. Nevertheless, a portion of demons, wielding fearsome powers, have already been summoned to the human world."
The black piece crumbled a bit and fell off the board, turning into fourteen new chess pieces in a row. At the center of these chess pieces, featuring forms resembling beasts or lumps of flesh, one piece with a crown on its head was bound by chains.
"Fourteen humans have contracted with fourteen demons. The fourteen ranks of The Knight, The President, The Grand President, The Earl, The Grand Earl, The Duke, The Grand Duke, The Marquess, The Grand Marquess, The Monarch, The Grand Monarch, The Sovereign, The Grand Sovereign, and The Emperor are the names given by mankind to these demons, generally used to refer to the fourteen and the contractors who have merged with them. Furthermore, there is a different type of being, devotees who have sworn allegiance to demons and their contractors, thereby obtaining part of their powers."
In front of the fourteen chess pieces with bizarre appearances was a row of pawns. The fourteen grotesque pieces each placed their hand on the forehead of the pawn in front of them, causing the pawns to turn into ugly monsters as well. Elisabeth picked up one of them and said:
"The skinless rider you saw last time was precisely The Knight's devotee. Devotees of demon contractors—This description is quite a mouthful, so it is simply shortened to 'devotee'."
Elisabeth returned the piece to the board, then the fourteen bizarre chess pieces and the deformed pawns began to march forward.
"Demons would derive power from the laments of God's creations, especially human suffering. Hence, in this world, atrocities committed by demons and their devotees have spread across the land."
The chess pieces opened their mouths in unison and using ugly and disorderly teeth, they cruelly chewed up new pawns that had appeared. With a snap of her fingers, Elisabeth summoned a female chess piece to the other side of the board.
"The Church—a religious organization that worships God, who had possessed a human temporarily at one point, to guide the masses along the right path under God's will, protecting the peace and stability of the human world—has tasked me with hunting down the remaining thirteen demons apart from the captured Emperor. And this time, my opponent is The Knight."
Before Kaito's eyes, a horse-mounted chess piece walked out from among the grotesque pieces. Riding a red steed, clad in creepy armor, the piece charged at Kaito. At that moment, the female chess piece swung a sword glowing with red light at it.
"The Knight is the most insignificant among the fourteen demons, but to ordinary people, he is a nightmare."
Suddenly, the floor began to shake violently. Just before the sword struck The Knight, all the chess pieces disappeared together with the board.
Rumble, rumble... The castle shook intensely again. Elisabeth stood up elegantly. Ignoring the confused Kaito, she exited with a flutter of her skirt hem behind her. Kaito hastily followed.
Leaving the dining hall, Elisabeth walked along the corridor then placed her hand on the great entrance to the throne room and pushed hard, opening it.
At the same time, they were greeted by an intense stench of blood and flesh, as well as a bizarre noise like something was tearing and chewing raw meat.
Kaito timidly directed his gaze out of the hole in the wall. On top of the staked corpse of the beast was another animal. This beast was ravenously tearing away at the dead flesh with its gigantic jaws. Buried in the flank of the beast, a human face was crying tears while chewing on the flesh next to its mouth. Such a horrifying scene made Kaito gasp.
Elisabeth looked back and said openly with a faintly evil smile.
"This is the work of demons. I expected this and sure enough, a second one arrived."
"You knew it would come? You..."
"Since the beast did not decompose on its way here, the materials must originate from the village under the castle. When the demon attacked the village, the villagers were basically all slaughtered. However, even if 20% of the villagers managed to escape and the remaining 80% were used to create this sort of abomination, the first one was far too small. Hence, I reasoned there must be a second one."
(How can she nonchalantly go through this kind of reasoning as though nothing had happened?)
Kaito felt dizzy after listening to this answer that was the farthest thing from common sense.
At that moment, the beast roared.
Uruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Shaking the breasts hanging under its belly, the beast jumped and used its sharp claws to pierce the castle's exterior walls, causing the entire castle to shake violently. Stone dust was falling from overhead. The beast turned its eyes, wet with bloodthirst, towards Elisabeth.
Looking at the beast whose head had entered the hole in the wall, Elisabeth sighed lightly.
"My goodness... Although you were merely roped into this mess, you lot are surely pitiful."
Kuruuooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
"I shall be merciful and allow you to rest in peace sooner, at least."
Elisabeth snapped her fingers. Immediately, the ground exploded with countless iron stakes breaking out of the soil vertically, skewering the beast's abdomen in succession. In spite of that, the beast reached forward with its head, tearing its body in the process, trying to devour Elisabeth. However, a thousand iron stakes had mercilessly punctured the beast's belly.
There was a continuous series of thuds and a cloud of dust and smoke mixed with red petals rose like a storm. By the time it dissipated completely, only the collapsed corpses of two beasts remained with a pool of dark black blood slowly spreading on the ground.
"There may be lingering traces of The Knight's attack at the village. Off we go to have a look."
With a flutter of her hem, Elisabeth began to walk.
Chastising his trembling legs, Kaito chased after her.
* * *
Elisabeth descended the staircase that led underground. The underground passage, echoing with mysterious moans, seemed like a labyrinth where monsters were lurking. In fact, Kaito would not be surprised if there really was some kind of creature kept down here.
She advanced without hesitation and kicked open a door to a vast room. Kaito peered inside from next to her.
The room had neither furniture nor windows. There was a massive magic circle on the floor.
On closer examination, the complicated pattern was flowing. The air inside the room was a heavy smell of blood like inside a human womb. Suddenly, Kaito realized that the magic circle was actually drawn in blood.
"This is a teleportation magic circle drawn using my blood. It provides transportation to anywhere in the world, as long as it is within my memories."
"Putting aside what it's made of, that's really convenient. We don't have anything like that where I come from."
"You hail from a world of advanced machinery, but do not underestimate magic. As my servant, you are also capable of using your own blood to summon certain things to your side."
"Just how much do you want me to bleed?"
"Go ahead and try it out when you have time."
"Please allow me to refuse firmly."
Side by side with Elisabeth, Kaito stepped onto the magic circle with trepidation. With a stomp of Elisabeth's heel, bright red petals floated up along the edge of the magic circle. These petals kept swirling and started to surround the two of them. The petals gradually melted, soon turning into a thick cylindrical wall, bringing a heavy smell of blood again. By the time Kaito noticed, the red petals had all turned into blood.
Elisabeth stomped her foot again and the wall of blood fell heavily to the ground like the lowering of the curtain at the end of a performance. The scenery hidden behind it was exposed.
Presented before Kaito and Elisabeth was the remains of a battlefield.
This was the best description Kaito could use for the scene before their eyes.
There was a fiery blaze stretching as far as he could see. Between the burning buildings were countless dead bodies. This scene was quite similar to photographs of foreign war zones that Kaito had seen long ago. More than two hours must have elapsed between the first beast's creation and Kaito's arrival here with Elisabeth, but there were no signs of the blaze subsiding.
Kaito could feel greasy sweat breaking out on his forehead. Enduring the nasty stench of burning human remains and the heat radiation scorching his skin, he swept his gaze across the corpses in the fire.
A man whose upper body had turned to charcoal. An old woman whose head had been pulled off together with her spine. A woman with breasts torn off. A young man with only his face forcibly removed. A young child with both arms amputated, in a crawling position on the ground in either an attempt to escape or a final struggle.
They had all been murdered cruelly, leaving not the slightest shred of human dignity on their corpses. Unlike the grotesque beasts that had attacked the castle, these human corpses were still within the realm of comprehension. Precisely because of that, the cruelty and horror of the scene could seep directly into Kaito's brain. The contents of Kaito's gut had already surged up to his throat, but he forcibly suppressed the wave of nausea.
This was hell. It was hell no matter how you looked at it, filled with the nastiest scenes one could imagine. Confronted with these scenes, Kaito could not help but find himself at a loss for words. By his side, Elisabeth spoke softly:
"As I said just now, this is the work of demons."
She took a step forward then immediately turned around. With her back to the flames, her black hair fluttering in the wind, she said to Kaito:
"Through human pain and suffering, demons derive power from tormenting the soul. This is precisely the means by which they gain power. However, what you witness here is actually a relief. Instances of hell, more horrific than this, are currently appearing all over the world in succession."
Kaito was shocked by these revelations. Long accustomed to pain and injury, he was well aware that terror and unbelievable tragedy would suddenly descend upon humans. However, to think that such horrific scenes were being created in this world and people were slaughtered so pitifully... He was completely reluctant to accept such a reality.
"You're saying... this counts as a relief? Hey, don't joke around! This is hell no matter how you look at it!"
"Hell is divided into circles. This one here is not very deep, no different from a field of flowers in my eyes. Even more horrifying hells are created by demons... Hence, that is why the Church employs the sow that is I to take care of those pigs."
"Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
A roar of rage interrupted Elisabeth. Starting from there, a group of male villagers rushed out of chicken coops and pig sties that were about to collapse. Their clothing were smoked pitch black. Gripping their farm tools nervously, they surrounded Kaito and Elisabeth.
From among them, a knight on an armored horse stepped out.
Seeing the "knight" and the "horse," Kaito's expression tensed. However, there was a decorative feather on the knight's helmet. His bright armor was engraved with patterns of lilies while the horse was also decorated with the same emblem. It looked like he was a legitimate soldier from this world.
Seeing the knight had his sword drawn and held high, Elisabeth scoffed lightly.
"What is this, a knight of the kingdom I see. What business do you have with me, raising that clumsy and heavy piece of scrap metal of yours?"
"Don't play dumb! I was sent to this village from the royal capital and I have monitored your every move at the castle on the hill. Finally, you have revealed your true colors! I saw clearly from the start! This scene of tragedy and horror here are all done by your hand!"
"Are you retarded? Did you not see that The Knight was responsible for this? Whatever, the likes of you would never figure out what happened here exactly unless in a direct encounter. However, please do not blame me for your incompetence. Tasked by the Church, I am currently hunting demons and this position forbids me from killing humans."
"Vile nonsense! Do you think I'd believe such lies!?"
The knight's voice was unusually vicious, causing Kaito to narrow his eyes slightly. The knight pointed his sword at Elisabeth. His throat trembling with rage, he roared angrily at Elisabeth.
"Don't tell me you have forgotten all that you have done in the past!?"
Elisabeth neither confirmed nor denied, simply putting on an expression of bored indifference. Faced with her attitude, the knight apparently reached the end of his patience and began a raging tirade.
"Without showing mercy to a single inhabitant of your territory, you tortured every last one of them. Ripping their bodies open, you tore out their innards while they were alive, sewing up every orifice on their body, making carvings on their bones, melting their flesh, gouging out eyeballs, ripping out tongues, slaughtering men, women, the elderly and the young in every manner possible! In the end, you did not even spare the nobles! Torturchen! Elisabeth Le Fanu! Who would ever believe your vile lies!"
This diatribe caused Kaito to confront the truth that he had been ignoring for the past few days.
He recalled the scene of which he had caught a faint glimpse just before his death. Corpses utterly deprived of human dignity were piled into a mountain. The crowd was shouting repeatedly to kill. The smile of the girl who was tied up.
Right now, Elisabeth was smiling while she listened to the knight as though she were enjoying a little bird's song.
"Especially given what I witnessed at the Field of Impalement, don't tell me you have forgotten what you have done to us, our knightly order!? Do you know how many nights I spent unable to sleep after I returned the kingdom as a survivor!?"
The knight's hand, gripping the sword, began to shake faintly. However, he stopped at this point and suddenly looked towards Kaito. The knight's armor rattled as he asked Kaito in weary and perplexed voice.
"Why are you together with that demon of a woman? Rumors say that Elisabeth is looking for a servant... If you were forced to serve her, then come to my side. I will protect you."
Kaito looked at Elisabeth. She simply had her arms crossed without saying anything.
Kaito was definitely reborn against his will and coerced into serving her. He had also witness Elisabeth's atrocities. It would be great if he could live peacefully in this parallel dimension. If he was going to escape, now would be the time. Kaito took a step forward but immediately halted.
"What's the matter? Hurry and come over."
"I would gladly accept what you offer, but may I ask a question?"
"What is it?"
"You... Why are you staring at me as though you're looking at tasty food?"
The instant Kaito spoke, an unnatural silence began to spread. Holding farm tools, the men looked at the knight uneasily, but the knight did not speak. Staring straight at him, Kaito continued:
"In my past life, I have met many bastards who enjoyed abusing children on a basis more regular than their meals. Your current gaze is identical to theirs."
The knight did not answer, but next to Kaito, Elisabeth's shoulder suddenly began to shake mildly. Finally, she started to roar with laughter. Holding her stomach as though she honestly found things hilarious, she squirmed seductively.
"I get it now, so that is what is happening. First of all, there is you, huh? Never did I expect from within the order itself, how truly ludicrous—Hey, proud knight there, listen carefully to me, will you?"
Elisabeth's smile was innocent and pure.
With her red eyes shining with delight, she spoke in a gentle voice that could coax a cat.
"On that Field of Impalement, I skewered five hundred knights from your order, armor and all, wiping them out completely. Massacred. Annihilated. However, I do not recall there being any survivors."
At that point, she withdrew her smile. Glaring coldly, she asked:
"Why are you still alive?"
At that moment, the men wielding farm tools all had their heads sent flying. Every head had their mouths gaped open, their expression locked in surprise, falling on the ground. Countless flies surged out from the wounds, using their tiny legs to move the men's bodies, then starting to attach them together. These flies were using their tiny jaws to chew up the dead bodies' flesh and sticking the skin together using their saliva, gradually assembling a mini version of the beasts Kaito had seen at the castle.
Presented with the bizarre scene before him, Kaito held his breath and backed away. Finally, the knight was enveloped entirely in blue flames. Burning in ice-cold flames, the horse's skin gradually lost all color of blood and the knight's body gradually expanded. The bulging muscles under the armor were exceptionally developed, causing the armor to swell up like a balloon. From the gaps in the set of armor that had turned round like a ridiculous doll, long white hair and a long beard fell out. Within a brief moment, the knight had turned into an elderly rider with a bizarre appearance.
Completely fearless, Elisabeth stared at the imposing demon knight and clicked her tongue.
"I know not whether you were trying to make me careless or attempting to eat my servant in front of me, but regardless, it is utterly ridiculous. Having changed your appearance, you should not have wasted your breath on words and blown your cover. After obtaining immortality from a demon contract, did you lean nothing at all from the Field of Impalement? Oh dear..."
Elisabeth sighed deeply but immediately nodded with comprehension.
"Sigh, precisely because of that, you were only able to merge with a lowly demon like The Knight."
The Knight roared in anger, spurring the bloodless horse to charge at Elisabeth. His speed was far beyond that displayed by the devotee last time. Releasing flames and thunder around him, The Knight caught a blue thunderbolt with his hand and transformed it into a massive lance, thrusting it straight at Elisabeth.
Elisabeth did not dodge and was easily pierced by the lance.
Almost screaming out, Kaito's voice was stuck in his throat. The ugly giant lance creaked inside Elisabeth's body, gradually embedding into her belly. From the gap in the hole, crimson blood was dripping out. Next, The Knight violently withdrew the lance from her body, tossing her delicate body hard on the ground.
In the next instant, a scene from Kaito's mind... was reenacted.
Beaten up, he was smashed into a wall before falling on the ground like a rag.
"Elisabeth."
Kaito was about to rush over but halted. Elisabeth was laughing. As though things could not be more funny, she was roaring with laughter, holding her stomach in a pool of blood.
"Kuku, heehee, hahahahahahaha, ha—Hahhahhahhahhahhah, ah..."
While panting painfully, she stood up. The hole in her belly offered a view of her interior. Dripping with blood all over, she coiled up the remaining half of her intestines in her hand then tossed it aside.
"I see now, this tickling feeling is quite nice, but it is a far cry from the pain of incinerating a soul. What I call pain is supposed to be something like this."
Elisabeth raised her hand up to the sky. A huge amount of red petals and darkness swirled around her, enveloping her body, turning into new black fabric to plug up the hole in her body. Then inside the giant vortex of red and black, she picked up something.
"Rejoice, fool. I am drawing my sword for you."
Elisabeth drew out a longsword. Red as though drenched with blood, the blade was shining ominously.
"Excecutioner's Sword of Frankenstahl!"
Elisabeth called out the sword's name, instantly causing words carved on the blade to glow. The meaning of those words instantly crashed into his mind as soon as Kaito saw the light.
You shall obtain freedom through action. Pray for God to become your savior. The beginning, the process and the end, all are within God's palm.
"Come, let us begin to play!"
Elisabeth sliced through the air, aiming at those armored arms. A silver-white chain was released from the trail of her slash, entangling The Knight's armored arms, dragging him off his horse to suspend him in midair through unbelievable brute force. However, The Knight snapped his fingers, causing the beast to pounce at Elisabeth from behind. Without turning her head, Elisabeth simply swung her sword.
The beast was entangled by a chain and restrained. The human flesh forming the beast's body made terrifying sounds while being sliced by the chain. Then the chain wrapped around the partially collapsed mass of meat, reshaping it to create new horses. Next, the chain entangled the bloodless horse and started controlling it like a set of reins.
Elisabeth raised her sword high towards the sky. Immediately, the ends of countless chains swirled in a vortex, flying at The Knight. After the storm passed, four chains were wrapped around The Knight's limbs, tying him to four horses, including one of which was his own steed. The Knight desperately yelled something to his mount, but the horse did not listen to him at all.
"I hereby present—Dismemberment."
As Elisabeth swung her sword down, the four horses galloped at the same time.
Under incredible tension, The Knight's four limbs creaked. Joints were dislocated, muscles were stretched taut, making noises just as they reached their limit, breaking under the strain. Blood gushed out from gaps in the armor, but the four horses did not stop. The Knight began to scream like mad.
"Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth! Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
His voice conveyed not only pain but pure rage as well.
Elisabeth approached The Knight. Kaito followed closely and was immediately shocked. Under the helmet, The Knight's eyes had returned to a human's gaze. Completely unlike the gaze directed at Kaito earlier, these blue eyes were frighteningly clear, glaring at Elisabeth with a deadly grudge against an unforgivable enemy.
The man who had contracted with The Knight was still quite young.
Gazing down at what were originally quite noble eyes, Elisabeth spoke softly with a gentle expression.
"Are you a survivor of the Field of Impalement? How much pain, how much hatred you must be bearing."
"Elisabeth... Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeth..."
"—Nevertheless, I must apologize. The demon's voice is as much an affront to one's hearing as the noise of swine."
Elisabeth smiled maliciously. Filled with regret and the desire to kill, The Knight roared loudly.
"Elisabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth!"
What followed was the sound of tearing flesh and The Knight was dismembered alive. Tied to the horses, his arms and legs were dragging on the uneven ground. From a rip reaching deep into the abdomen, out fell his innards all at once. The mouth under the helmet kept spewing blood before he finally breathed his last. Then blue flames began to quietly envelop The Knight's body.
"Let us return. That whatever purin was quite delicious, but I am hungry again no thanks to him."
Elisabeth turned her sword into red petals and walked away. Staring at her back, Kaito recalled the scene he had witnessed when she first summoned him as well as what The Knight had been shouting. He knew that reckless prying could lead to painful torment. After some thinking, in the end, Kaito still asked Elisabeth quietly:
"Say, was that guy speaking the truth just now? Did you torture all the people in your territory before slaughtering them, not even sparing the nobles?"
"Indeed, it is true, there was no a single lie mixed in the allegations. The unmistakable truth. Who do you take me for? I am 'Torturchen' Elisabeth Le Fanu. I am the woman who tormented people to death more brutally than anyone, then captured by the Church and tasked with the mission to slaughter thirteen individuals."
Elisabeth replied without hesitation. It was a harsh and shameful truth that could very well rival the demons. Recalling her cat-like smile when she was eating pudding, Kaito felt betrayed for some inexplicable reason. Faced with this girl, a plunderer who subjected people to all manner of torment, he expressed undisguised revulsion on his face. However, there was an unexpected continuation to Elisabeth's confession of sin.
"Furthermore, I am the woman who shall face death by fire once I have executed all my targets."
She asserted firmly and matter-of-factly. Kaito widened his eyes. Elisabeth was staring straight back at Kaito with her crimson eyes, as clear as rubies. On that calm face of hers was not the slightest shred of pretense.
Words from before flashed through Kaito's mind.
At least do a little good before you die.
Was that what it was supposed to mean? Still showing a face of indecision, Kaito did not know how to accept this truth. He fell silent. Elisabeth scoffed and stood at the center of her teleportation magic circle.
"Cook a new meal for me when we return. Since you are capable of controlling sweetness with such finesse, you could not possibly lack talent in cooking. Should you fail to serve up something decent, I shall treat you to the dunking stool next time."
Following her into the magic circle, Kaito paused for a moment and turned around.
Behind them was a scene that could only be described as hell. Screams could be heard from afar. Chicken coops and pig sties had already collapsed. The blaze was burning stronger and stronger. Remembering The Knight's bizarre appearance, he muttered:
"So there are twelve more like him, huh..."
Kaito walked over to Elisabeth's side and she stomped her heel.
After the two of them vanished, The Knight's lance burned up in blue flames, turning into ash that scattered in the wind.
