Vicious Lust
One Hour since the Last Death (Ten Deaths)
Demure laughs from opulent young ladies of the nobility had adorned the atmosphere of Farsale Square, in the center of which a magnificent golden statue of more than two meters had been erected in honor of the thirty-fifth king of Lugunica, Farsale Lugunica. Young men of the highest class discussed politics and trade affairs, while the glow of the spectacular statue shone on their faces. That square had once been the perfect reflection of Lugunica's proud nobility, where youth gathered to admire the glorious future.
Dreams and hopes had been placed in the lifeless eyes of the gleaming statue, which reflected on its surface the affluent fates of those who reverently rested their longing gaze upon it. Farsale Square and the statue that lay at its core were the pride of the nobility, for they represented the Pact with the Divine Dragon; in commemoration of the pact between Forsale Lugunica and Volcanica, that place had been founded. Sacred land for the nobles and an unattainable dream for the commoners.
"As long as the statue shines, the future of Lugunica shall be bright," the more superstitious nobles used to say. An idea rooted in the deep-seated belief that as long as the Divine Dragon advocated for the peace of Lugunica, no force of any kind would suffice to subdue the kingdom. Not disease, not wars, not invasions, not terrorism. As long as the surface of the statue remained neat and shiny, nothing could tarnish the bright future of the Dragon Kingdom...
The revolting laughter of the perverse female echoed throughout the area of the Royal Capital where the wealthiest of the kingdom dwelled, overshadowing the screams of anguish that her expressions of lustful violence wrung out. Rivers of blood spurted from the sliced throat of the young man of exquisite robes, while silent howls of anguish continued to be uttered from his mute lips, which soon turned into a crimson rain.
"Gahahahahahaha! That's more like it! Squeal, you squealing beast of flesh, squeal! Squeal until your vitality is extinguished, squeal until my ears have been pleased! Express your love by the blood flowing down your throat in the form of squeals! Squeal, you pig unworthy of love! Extol my kind self through your suffering! I allow you, my heart allows you, squeal until you cross the threshold of death! Kahahahahaha!"
With their stomachs churning and their hair standing on end, the group of young people, whose destination was the castle towering high above the capital, witnessed the shrieks of agony and the euphoric screams of the disturbed female mocking the suffering of an equal. Humans, demi-humans, elves or half-elves, regardless of race, no life has more value than another and no one should rejoice in another's pain; so believed Subaru, who had immediately rejected on a subatomic level the despicable woman who displayed immeasurable cruelty.
None of the four young men had come to, explicitly, observe the acts of cruelty of the woman who laughed and glorified her own person. A shrub hedge served as a barrier to keep them away from the despicable actions of that creature removed from any kindly god. Lacking empathy or kindness, the female continued to sully with her words the dignity of those wretched victims who were under her cruel arrogant gaze.
Such was the act of extreme derision on the part of the mysterious and abominable woman, that the hearts of three of the young men, and this only because the fourth was in a profound state of mental derangement, resounded synchronously with the same sentiment: animosity toward the emitter of that despicable voice and sickening laughter. They did not know what she looked like, and yet, without needing to argue about it, all three unconsciously agreed that she must be a repulsive-looking witch.
All three yearned to silence her scathing laughter, all three aspired to put an end to her self-serving words; and yet they refrained from lifting a finger to fulfill those ardent desires. For hatred might be blossoming deep in their souls, but it would not cloud their judgments. They had absolutely nothing to do with that despicable woman and her unfortunate victims. The biggest mistake they could ever make would be to draw the attention of her and her possible subjects.
For the three of them had also arrived at the same interpretation almost at the same time; that woman who laughed sardonically, while ordering a wretch to shriek for her, could not be an ordinary person, free from a disturbed mind. And considering the concurrent context, there was no other conclusion than that they were dangerously close to a member of the Witch Cult; that even, given her particular way of speaking, she might be a Sin Archbishop.
Subaru stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly, avoiding to produce any kind of sound that could attract the attention of the "witch" who was carrying out a terrible act of inhumanity only meters away from them. He exchanged looks with Utada, who returned a cold stare not at all unusual for him. He quickly dragged his eyes until he had Otto in the center of his field of vision. Another exchange of glances was all it took for his feelings to be conveyed.
Utada would abide by the orders of Subaru, who, by Anastasia's directions, was both his ward and his superior. If Subaru naively decided that the right decision would be to confront the Witch Cult that tormented the wealthy inhabitants of the nobility district, then Utada would silently comply, no matter how unwise he considered such a decision.
However, Subaru Natsuki was not considered the reincarnation of Hoshin of the Wilderness for no reason. Quick in thinking, Subaru had opted for the most optimal path to follow. Disregarding the lives that were being tortured by the Witch Cult, the three of them had to move forward until they reached the Royal Castle. That is what Subaru knew best, after all; no matter how many people reached out to him when he needed it, he would continue to turn his back on those who needed him most.
Noticing the acid gnawing at Subaru's heart from the inside out, Otto opted to accept Subaru's decision without uttering naïve complaints. It was obvious to Otto that Subaru enjoyed abandoning these people, among whom innocent people were undoubtedly abundant, as little as he did. So he would not increase his emotional burden by making it more difficult for him to make such a decision.
Slightly more relaxed, due to the positive response of his companions to his controversial decision to move forward, disregarding the cruel events occurring behind the dense shrubs of caustic green, Subaru looked ahead again and resumed his march. Stealthily, the young men advanced without looking back or to the side, with tunnel vision, the three continued their escape toward the castle.
"How dare you, you bloody witch!" Subaru, Utada, Otto and Leith, in that order, were about to leave the area, when unbridled screams of rage reached their ears. "Do you not realize that you have sullied the statue of his majesty Forsale Lugunica!" From the tone of voice of the one shouting, Subaru deduced that it was an old man, and from the content of his complaints, it was clear that he was a proud and selfish nobleman who only had room in his mind for stupid social positions and their symbols. "An undignified pariah like yourself should never have set foot in thi-!" Suddenly, the elderly nobleman was silenced, and his cries were replaced by the sound of gurgling and desperate gasps.
"Who the heck do you think you are, you filthy babbling creature of meat?!" The woman was heard howling, reacting incredibly violently to the old man's vainglorious statements. "No one tells my marvelous self where I may or may not set my magnanimous feet! You, on the other hand, are nothing but dung, whose presence ruins the landscape that stretches before my gaze and pollutes the air that enters my body! I'll make you squeal like the pig that-!" The woman was still in the midst of a powerful discharge of bile, when she suddenly stopped. For a moment, Subaru could not register any sound. It was then that... "Oy, you! You conceited, stinking pieces of meat who think you have the privilege of listen to my precious words without daring to show your vomitous faces! Show yourselves now, and extol my being with your suffering!"
A dreadful shiver ran down the backs of Otto and Subaru, who were paralyzed by the daunting words of the terrible female. Utada, however, did not take long to get into an offensive position, with her eyes fixed on the shrub that separated the street they were walking and the Forsale Square; although it was evident that his gaze was not really focused on the shrub itself, but on what was behind it.
So fast that a blink of an eye would have been enough to miss it, a group of hooded men appeared around the four of them, with cross-shaped daggers clutched in each hand. Subaru, realizing this, felt vomit crawling up his throat. What happened before his last death was happening all over again. For an instant, fear threatened to seize him entirely, but Subaru forced himself to remain as undaunted as possible.
These are not the same witch cultists, Subaru thought, seeking to partially appease his perturbed spirit. Subaru knew it was naive of him to believe that this unknown woman would be ranked lower than the previous two potential Sin Archbishops. Still, only by deluding himself would he be able to prevent his resolve from waning again out of sheer horror and hopelessness.
"At last we meet again, ya servants of the witch!" Roared the imposing demi-human, taking in his hands the huge axe resting on his back. With his gaze glowing with the rage that burned deep within him, the warrior quickly scanned his surroundings. It did not appear that more cultists were going to join the fight imminently, so he could focus entirely on those in front of him.
With a vicious grin creeping across his hard-featured face, Utada forcefully lifted his axe, which, due to the length of its haft, seemed to tear the orange skies that stretched high above. The blade of the axe held aloft for an eternal instant, and then Utada let it fall with great might. The hissing sounds of the air being cut alerted the cultists, who quickly set their sights on the iron that vehemently approached their bodies.
The group of zealots dispersed nimbly, narrowly avoiding the severing of their lives by mere inches. Or at least that was the case for the vast majority of them, since that cultist who was at a shorter distance from Utada did not have the time required to dodge the attack. Having gained overwhelming momentum, the heavy blade of the axe made contact with the cultist's hooded skull, and like a Katana slicing a thin sheet of paper, the murderous iron split the individual's body into two sections
Both parts of the hooded cultist fell in different directions, spraying all kinds of pestilent fluids in the vicinity of the area. Pieces of pink brain showered all present, drenching them with bloody encephalic jelly. Blood likewise rained down on their heads, mimicking the crimson rivers that could be seen in the commercial district. The intestines were the last to spill out, scattering the rocky roadway with terrible-smelling corporeal wastes.
Unable to contain his nausea, Otto bent over slightly with Leith still on his back and vomited a yellowish liquid consisting largely of gastric reflux. The teary-eyed merchant looked up slightly, coming face to face with the repulsive image of the cultist split in two; a sight that would have been educational for a student of forensic science, Subaru thought, as he struggled not to mimic his merchant friend.
Brain, eyes, tongue, pharynx, larynx, stomach, heart, liver, lungs, intestines, kidneys, bladder; the great majority of organs were in sight, and some of them were still functioning, in what was the last effort to keep his body alive. However, while the throbbing organs ceased their functions rapidly, like dominoes falling consecutively one after the other, the combat continued to develop.
Having completely ripped apart the body of one of the cultists in a manner similar to how he had earlier severed two cultists in the previous loop, Utada lifted his face in anger and glared at the indifferent cultists, who did not seem in the least moved by the tragic death of their companion. They nimbly rearranged themselves, encircling Utada completely.
Without uttering a sound, the extremist cultists pounced on Utada. However, unlike how they had done when they had attacked them in the commercial district, two cultists lagged behind. Subaru, despite never having seen the cultists use a similar attack formation, did immediately understand what was transpiring; Utada, who possessed abysmally superior combat experience to Subaru, realized the same thing with a greater span of anticipation.
His overwhelming steel axe had pierced perpendicularly through the body of his enemy; the blade had invaded the body through the skull and had exited through the crotch, barely losing momentum. The force that Utada had put into his weapon had been enough to drive its blade into the ground, leaving him in a considerably disadvantageous position.
While the dying body of the cultist, soon to become a corpse, continued to expel fluids constantly, the other cultists who had dodged the mercenary's attack had chosen to attack him in two ways. One group had rushed at him, their sharp daggers poised to slice through his skin, while the other had hung back, their joined hands raised parallel in front of their torsos.
Spheres of light began to form in front of their joined palms, which suddenly increased in size becoming masses of fire attribute mana; they were fire-magic users. Subaru, whose heart had greatly increased the rhythm of its beats per minute, watched in terror as Utada was attacked from all flanks.
Nevertheless, Utada once again proved why he was part of the elite of the prestigious mercenary group that boasted Kararagi's most powerful warrior. "Aaaarrggghhh!" Unleashing a shuddering roar, Utada wrenched the axe from the ground and, taking advantage of the momentum gained, struck the jaw of one of the cultists, completely destroying the entire lower section of his face with the poll of the axe. The cultist fell to the ground, vomiting liters of his own blood, along with pieces of bone, tongue and several teeth.
Spinning on his own axis, Utada struck the abdomen of another of the cultists with the butt of the steel axe, causing him to be violently thrown into the bush that separated them from the square where the repugnant woman was. The cultist went through the toxic green bush, disappearing behind it. Drawing an arc with the haft of his axe, Utada set out to attack another of the cultists, however, a sharp pain spreading across his shoulder prevented him from doing so.
The hooded man he had intended to strike easily dodged the axe and threw his dagger at Utada's face, immediately retreating. The mercenary, who had been stabbed in the shoulder, grunted in frustration and moved his face to his right, preventing the blade of the dagger from burying into his eye by less than an inch. The dagger grazed past his face, leaving behind the sound of air being sliced, which his acute left ear easily picked up; even so, the mercenary was not unscathed. Blood began to stain his face, crimson liquid flowing copiously from the deep gash in his cheek that the cross-shaped dagger had left.
Utada, nonetheless, had not yet managed to get completely out of harm's way. The two spheres of fire finally reached their optimal size, a sign that the magical attack was about to be launched. Reacting as fast as his huge muscles would allow him, Utada took the two resulting halves of the first cultist he had attacked and with savage bestial force hurled them at the cultist mages.
The organs, bones, veins and pools of blood that had not been sprinkled over the rock path, remaining within the two cadaveric halves, were ejected by the centrifugal force, giving way to a second crimson rain. The cultists launched the flaming spheres in silence, their hidden gazes fixed on the demi-human that posed the greatest threat. However, the demi-human's reflexes had proved extremely superior.
The condensed mana spheres had not covered more than a couple of inches when they were struck by the two halves. Both fiery spheres reacted violently upon contact with the corpse sliced in two, exploding on the spot. The resulting explosions did not have a wide range, but the two cultists were still caught by them. Two hellish corpses fell to the ground, completely charred. Of the eight cultists who had attacked the group of young men, only three remained.
"These pesky gnats have done nothing but waste my time. You, go and bring them before me!" Angrily exclaimed the disgusting woman of unknown figure.
Utada, without faltering, grabbed the handle of the dagger stuck in his shoulder and pulled it hard. The blade of the dagger was extracted from his body, causing a thick stream of blood to start gushing out. "Tch!" Clicking his tongue, the mercenary threw the bloodied dagger away from the combat area and turned towards the paling Otto and Subaru. Otto, who remained partially kneeling, watched him with reddened eyes, fearful of what the mercenary might say. Subaru, whose skin had better color than Otto's, similarly looked at Utada expectantly for what he would say.
"Continue headin' towards the castle by yourselves, I'll see to it that ya aren't pursued." Utada declared, resting his seething gaze on Subaru, who nodded without pausing to hesitate. Otto, on the other hand, was immediately unsure about abandoning the demi-human. "Don't worry 'bout me, I've got a score to settle with these motherfuckers, so I couldn't stay in a better place." Subaru could tell that Utada meant it; anger was overflowing from his gaze. The mercenary had finally been overwhelmed by his own emotions, and was beginning to be swayed by them.
Without giving Otto a chance to respond to Utada's last words, Subaru, exercising his more pragmatic side, took him by the right arm and forced him to stand upright. They had a destination to reach, and to do so they would do whatever it took. Subaru had nothing else on his mind but to meet with Anastasia Hoshin, abandoning companions really was not out of his range of options. It was necessary, after all...
However, before Subaru and Otto could begin to leave the place, the bushes that had served as a barrier between them and the despicable woman were uprooted and thrown away, revealing a hulking six-armed beast, whose overwhelmingly tall body was completely covered by the same type of clothing as the rest of the cult members. Even so, a single glance at its monstrous figure made it clear that it was not just another member of the group.
"Bring them to me at once, you stupid useless puppet!" As the massive figure looked down on them from above, its leader shouted at it in exasperation, thus hurrying it to take Subaru, Otto, Leith and Utada captive.
Subaru, shocked, watched in icy silence as the monstrous six-armed cultist grabbed Utada's face and arms tightly, completely immobilizing him from the waist up. No matter how much the Fang of Iron's elite warrior writhed, kicked and cursed, the malevolent being's grip did not waver. "Ya stinkin' sack of crap, let go of me right now! If ya don't, I'll be sure to rip off those nasty six arms of yours, one by one, and then shove 'em up yer ass!" Utada snarled, though his screams were muffled by the gigantic palm of the six-armed witch cultist.
Without uttering a word, the being, ignoring completely Utada's pathetic kicks, which made him look like a child trying to escape from his father's embrace, took the frozen Otto, along with the insane Leith, in one hand. After this, the monster stretched out another of his free hands towards Subaru. I can't perish here, I've no more time to waste... Subaru thought, dodging the giant hand with a maneuver learned during his training sessions with Julius.
"Get the hell away from me!" Subaru exclaimed, visualizing in his mind the small black sphere that always accompanied him. "Ku-" He was about to command his spirit to perform the only spell they were capable of using, when he abruptly found himself enveloped by darkness.
Without noticing at what moment it happened, his body was enveloped by the cultist's hand. A speed that the average human cannot perceive, Subaru concluded, finding himself unable to use his ace up his sleeve. Once again, his overwhelming weakness had been exposed... Defeated, Subaru let the six-armed cultist drag him to his leader.
The monster's heavy footsteps were almost inaudible as it returned to the center of the square; Subaru attributed this to two things: to the enormous density of the gigantic hand that held him and to an abysmal ability that allowed such a creature unparalleled control over its huge body. After several violent jerks, the cultist stopped and then the three weaker individuals were abruptly released. All three fell hard to the ground, receiving scratches and bruises on their faces, torsos and knees as a result.
Annoyed by the mistreatment, Subaru raised his gaze so he could insult the monstrous follower of the witch, but instead he found the face of a beautiful woman. No, to call her beautiful would not be the most appropriate thing to do, since an unpleasant smug smile was plastered on her fine-featured face.
"So you're the meatsacks who indiscriminately enjoyed of my show without having paid the price to do so? Well that's not right, not right at all! Kahahahaha!" She scoffed, while berating them for having, according to her, eavesdropped on her public torture session.
"…" The eyes of the woman and Subaru met, and then the latter found it necessary to look away. A powerful shiver ran down his spine, making him avert his gaze instinctively; after all, that look reminded him of the look of someone who had left a huge mark on his life; a deep, indelible scar. Her eyes, completely devoid of respect for the life of others, were similar to that of the Bowel Hunter.
"Who granted you permission to look away?" She asked him, causing Subaru's body to be overwhelmed by a deep fear. "It's true that no one is suitable to look at me face to face, no one deserves to view my beautiful face up close. However, if not by my command, no one must withhold their gaze from me. Do you understand what I'm saying, you little varmint?"
Subaru refused to answer. Silently, he kept his gaze fixed on the first place it had fallen after averting his eyes from the woman's terrifying face; Otto's pale face, whose cheeks had taken on a sickly greenish hue. The stares of both remained fixed on each other's, in that way, both strove to ignore the act of cruelty unfolding around them.
"Ya damn bitch! When I get free, I'll be sure to strangle ya with yer own fuckin' intestines!" Utada snarled, still trapped by the immovable grip of the six-armed cultist. The woman, who until then hadn't stopped staring at Subaru, crouched down, stood up with a smirk on her face. If Subaru had not averted his gaze from her face, he would have noticed how, partially, a glint of nostalgia lit up in her eternally depraved eyes, which was soon replaced by one of rage.
"I will make sure to give you the proper treatment for filthy, shameless creatures of meat such as yourselves, who silently, furtively enjoy the passionate charity work of others." She muttered, as she looked towards the crowd of nobles kneeling in the square. "I'd said this once before, to all the foul insects present before my lovely figure, still, being the kind goddess that I am, I'll repeat it so that the brainless creatures of meat newcomers may understand. We've orders to kill anyone on sight, however, that doesn't preclude me from experimenting on you a bit. So one by one, I will make sure to make you creatures more pleasing to the eye. That's my great charitable work, after all! That is why I alone am worthy of all the love in this putrid world, no one else but me!"
Stifled wails reached Subaru's ears, but from the low intensity of them, it was clear that the subdued nobles had already lost all hope of rescue. They were near the entrance to the noble district, and were still several dozen minutes away from the castle; with the current state of affairs, it would not be surprising to think that the guards and knights would have their hands full due to the overwhelming work of dealing with the Witch Cult.
"I'll be sure ta make ya suffer, ya filthy bitch!" Utada's desperate, muffled screams were still audible, albeit barely. Apparently, he had already completely lost his characteristic composure. "Damned Sin Archbishop, I'll take revenge for what ya lot did to my people, I'm going to make sure I wipe ya all out, I'm gonna slaughter y'all with only my bare hands." Such a statement got Subaru to finally look towards the woman.
With an unpleasant grin on her face, the woman with red eyes and short golden hair calmly approached Utada, who was still restrained by the giant cultist. Her body was slender, and she wore clothes that could only be described as revealing. Black leggings covered her slender legs, and only a bikini served as a concealment for her breasts and pelvis. Subaru did not take long to understand who he was in front of...
The Archbishop of Gluttony had died at the hands of Wilhelm Van Astrea, while the Archbishop of Greed had been identified by him as a white-haired, plain-featured, but terrifyingly powerful man. If Subaru considered the two outstanding witch cultists, who attacked him in the business district, to be Archbishops, then he could reduce the woman present, pointed out as Sin Archbishop by Utada, who was able to sense the scent the group gave off, to two choices.
"Pride or... Lust" He whispered. From the conceited way she spoke of herself, had he not dared to look at her, he would have undoubtedly considered her to be the Archbishop of Pride. However, one glance was enough to decide in favor of the latter option. After all, it had been easy for someone like him to realize that the Sin Archbishops took their name from the famous Seven Deadly Sins.
"Gahahahahaha! You're correct, you rotten little piece of meat." She laughed, glaring at him. A widened smug grin crept across her face, which she quickly turned to where the nobles were congregating. Subaru followed the woman's gaze and was met with a lurid scene.
Several bodies piled one on top of the other in the middle of the square, all with black marks on their bodies, similar to corrupted tattoos. However, what shocked Subaru the most was not this, but the humanoid beings, reminiscent of giant flies, arranged in a row on one side of the square. With faces of pain, fear and defeat, the remaining nobles looked aghast at the female figure that insulted them every time she opened her small mouth.
The gaze of the unpleasant femme had not been cast upon the living nobles, but upon an old man, whose throat had been slit, lying at the feet of a completely distraught girl, from whose thick silent tears kept flowing. "Kahahahaha!" the woman mocked loudly, to then move her gaze to the statue that stood at the core of the square, a few meters away from the pile of corpses. Subaru did the same, and could see that what appeared to have been a golden statue in the past was now a crimson statue, stained by the blood of nobles.
Subaru had never entered the square, but he had heard stories about it from Leith. It was a symbol for the nobility of Lugunica, so while he did not agree with the noble elder's reaction, he also could not deny that he sympathized with him partially. The nasty woman had sullied a symbol of hope for the nobles, mocking them as she did so.
"Hnk!" More than one of the nobles exclaimed painfully, watching as the woman slowly approached the statue with a wicked smile plastered on her bloody-eyed face.
"You stupid, aged piece of rotting flesh, your death was well deserved. After all, no one has a greater right than myself to do as I please with this stupid statue." She declared, smiling ever more sinisterly. "As those disgusting insects who furtively broke into my charitable work said, I'm a Sin Archbishop... So I think it's the right time to introduce my lovely self. Gahahaha! Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica!" Did that demon with the skin of a woman imply that she possessed royal blood running through her veins? At such a statement, all trace of hope was finally aborted by the black-souled woman.