Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 36: Hellhound on my Trail Part 4
Nean Cavern Depths, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom, Night
"Sniff avhem ouav!" The [Messiah]-Class Hellhound's booming voice like thunder echoed around the cavern walls, literally barking out orders to the lesser Hellhounds in pursuit of the escaped knights. "Theausan couldn'av have gone largat!"
In the pitch black depths, the four isolated Blue Rose Knights were hiding from the Hellhounds in pursuit of them, all of them covering their mouths to hide the sounds of their collective breaths, all the while, trying not to lose whatever's left of their scant composures from the Demons hunting them down like prey.
Noire was especially on the verge of breaking, with her now pale and haggard after she used her [Spatial Magic] to allow her and her fellow Magic Knights to evade Romulus's death sentence.
"... Are they gone?" Juniper whimpered out as she tried to peek out of her cover, but after witnessing the Hellhound's might and prowess firsthand, nearly lost all her nerve in the face of their precarious position.
She wanted to her [Leaf Recovery Magic: Aromatherapy-Bayleaf] to calm herself, but considering that the Hellhounds were literally sniffing them out, Juniper realizes that her chances of survival were better when she's panicked rather when she makes attempts to calm herself down.
The last she wants to do is to flavor her own corpse for the Hellhounds's supper.
"... So, wha-what happened?" Juniper asked in the most quietest voice she can muster, rivaling that of a mewling's first sqeak upon its birth. "How the hell did we end up here?"
"... My... [Cat Box]." Noire slurred out. "It allows me to teleport as many people as I want at a random location, but in exchange, I have to leave something that belongs to me behind in my place."
"... So that's you're so pale." Juniper realized why her squad leader was reduced to a sickly state.
"Yep... Left behind about a quarter of my own blood back there." Noire heaved out as she took out a blue patch and stuck it onto her bicep. "... Thank god for adrenaline patches helping my heart pump more blood for a brief moment. But even then, if I use the spell one more time at a short notice... I will die of excess blood loss."
Lyra nods in agreement as she puts down her lyre.
"... I have an idea." Lyra pointed out. "We use this to draw attention away from the Hellhounds after us, all the while hiding our footsteps with my [Sound Magic]."
"How?" Juniper asked.
"... [White Noise]." Lyra answered. "I can throw their ears off for about ten minutes, but in turn, I'm going to have to leave this behind. After that, I'll be left without an offensive use for my magic, since all of my spells require a stringed instrument to use as a conduit, and I can only carry one at a time."
"Okay, but what about our scents?" Juniper pointed out. "They still have their noses!"
"My [Ice Magic] can cover our scents, but it requires to put ice patches on our own bodies, particularly in areas that are... rather sensitive." Cygnus stated embarrassingly. "... Armpits, necks, the crotch, anywhere where the sweat glands are the most numerous... I hope you're comfortable wearing ice-cold underwear, June."
The auburn-haired girl gulps.
"... Anything to get the hell out of this place." She nervously answered.
"Okay, that leaves our method of escape..." Noire grumbled out. "... So who's carrying me?"
"..." All of the Blue Rose Knights with all of their blood still flowing in their bodies looked at each other in befuddlement.
"... What? One adrenaline patch ain't gonna give all my blood back."
Nean, Common Realm, Clover Kingdom, Approaching Midnight
"... Shouldn't you be asleep?" Yuno asked Rebecca, who was still sitting across him at the table.
She shook her head.
"Not until the kids come back." Rebecca stated. "At least that way, I can be sure that my siblings can sleep soundly tonight."
The two continued to sit across each other in awkward silence.
"... In hindsight, I really shouldn't shown you my scars." Yuno sheepishly pointed out. "I mean, my brother Asta would do that, but... ugh, I'm sorry. Just beating a dead horse at this rate..."
"No... it's all right..." Rebecca sighed out. "In fact, I ain't so bothered by the scars."
"Why so?" Yuno asked.
Rebecca sighs out as she stared into the candlelight.
"Before I heard your little... story, my opinion on the Magic Knights as a whole were rather... shall we say, dour." Rebecca sighed out. "Looking back, I always assumed that the only reason why people don't call out the Magic Knights for more of their... demanding behavior, is that not only they hold our lives in their hands, but also people seem to want to be on their good side because of their power."
"... Yeah, I can understand." Yuno grumbled out. "Asta was killed by an ex-Purple Orca-turned bandit to protect me."
"Did you know that a few days back, me and my friends were supposed to be at a mixer before it got abruptly cancelled last minute?" Rebecca pointed out. "We were supposed to meet up with Magic Knights to 'hook up with', and while my girls were disappointed, I for one, was relieved. The less I associate with myself with those assholes, the better it is for my soul."
"How so?" Yuno asked.
Rebecca's hand balls into a fist as she gritted her teeth.
"... During a bandit attack two years ago, my parents got caught in a crossfire from one of the Magic Knights." She stated somberly. "After that, I was forced to take of my younger siblings on my own, all because that no one would care if a few civilians got caught in the crossfire. The nobles don't care about our plight, so why should I even bother even speaking up to them?"
Yuno understood her plight, for he and the rest of the church at Hage were also in a similar circumstance.
The Magic Knights never came for Asta, nor they came for the rest of the orphans at their time of need. And everyone else, except for a select few, merely watched.
They were all burdened under the yolk called "power", in awe and fear, so that no one would question their place in life.
In a world where magic was everything, power was the only thing that held any meaning in people's hearts.
"... I'm sorry." Yuno lamely apologized. "But I'm not strong enough to even make any significant difference yet. I will, but I first need to get stronger."
"... I can do nothing hope that you'll be the next Wizard King." Rebecca stated with a slight smile. "At least that way, all the sacrifices you've made won't be in vain."
"I honestly hope so." Yuno stated right before he laid his head down on the table.
As the redhead looked into the dimly-lit restaurant in silence, she notices a sprite-like figure flying towards Yuno before lying down against his head.
"... Hello there." Rebecca spoke to the [Sylph]. "Are you well?"
The [Sylph] shakes her head in disagreement with a downcast expression.
"... You want some fruit to eat?" Rebecca asked the [Sylph]. "I got a plate of Moguro Fruit at the back."
Back at the Outskirts...
"WELL AT LEAST I KICKED HIS ARSE OUT TEN MONTHS BACK!"
"WELL CONTRARY TO THE EVIDENCE, IT WAS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"
"ARGH, PISS OFF, YOU EYE-PATCHED ARSEHOLE! SHE LEFT A HUGE TAB ON MY TAVERN AFTER WRECKING THE WHOLE BLOODY PLACE!"
As the other Magic Knights safety evacuated the kidnapped children, the four of the remaining Five Divas and an Inquisitor were awkwardly watching Dragunov and Dagda argue with each other over... actually, nobody knew, but Jericho did somewhat pick up at the spot where they began at the subject of who's going into the cave first.
"... So, for a famed Inquisitor, was he always this... passionate?" Masquerade asked Kalashnikov.
"Dagda himself was an anomaly, even for the rest of the Inquisition." Kalashnikov replied. "A legitimate half-blooded Demon, who somehow hasn't gone around and started wrecking havoc on a whim? It's suspicious, for sure, but it doesn't change the fact that he's helped us out on more than a few occasions where we had to hunt down Demons and their contract holders with his tip."
"Aren't you afraid that the two will end up killing each other mid-argument?" Bastet asked.
"If that were the case, then it would've happened long ago." Kalashnikov pointed out. "The Ulsterians are a hardy lot, but Dagda makes them look soft in comparison. That and well, the Patrem Inquisitor told the rest of the order to watch Dagda, not kill him unless the order is given."
"... Fair enough." Morrigan slurred out. "But...shouldn't they be... you know... be after... the Demon?"
"... I'll go tell them-"
"FINE! WE'LL RACE FOR THE CUNT!" Dagda hollered out. "IF I WIN, SHE PAYS OFF HER TAB BEFORE YOU OFF HER!"
"And if I win, you drop the tab, and let us do our work unimpeded." Dragunov replied.
"Is it really the time to engage in what is a dick-measuring contest?" Jericho pointed out at the two.
"SHUT IT, HALFLING!" Dagda and Dragunov yelled in unison before the two of them sprinted into the caves.
As Jericho stands completely speechless, the Coral Peacock approaches the befuddled Black Bull.
"You mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Jaqueline asked Jericho. "I need to file an update back at the headquarters."
"R-Right." Jericho stammered out. "... And you are?"
"Intermediate Magic Knight, Second Class. I am Jaqueline Harris of the Coral Peacocks." Jaqueline formally introduced as she saluted.
"Junior Magic Knight, First Class. Jericho Platnia of the Black Bulls." Jericho saluted back. "... And as for what I know... turns out the whole operation of kidnapping children might be nothing short of a cult gathering sacrifices for their alter."
"So a cult, then." Jaqueline stated as she jotted down notes on her notepad. "And just what was that thing you were fighting back there along with those two strangers?"
"Would believe that one of them is an actual Demon Hunter and the other happens to be a ridiculously-overpowered bartender?" Jericho pointed out. "Oh, and that thing we just fought? There's more of them in there, and they're using the children's blood to summon these hellspawns!"
The Coral Peacock swallows before she finishes writing down her report.
"Alright, I'll call for reinforcements." Jaqueline stated as she took out her comms device. "You try and regroup the remaining Magic Knights to venture into the cave to cover some ground."
"Got it." Jericho stated as he ran towards the other Blue Rose Knights as Jaqueline contacted HQ.
As he ran towards the group of Blue Rose Knights and one female stranger, a male Blue Rose Knight approached Jericho.
"So, what's going on?" Cole stated.
"While she's contacting HQ, we're told to go into the caves and scout out the caverns to cover ground." Jericho stated. "... And you, Miss-"
"It's Kalashnikov, you buffoon." The braided woman spat out as she adjusted her oral fixation. "And like it or not, I'm coming with you all."
"You do know that this is Magic Knight jurisdiction, right?" Sol pointed out. "Random strangers have no business with us-"
"Actually." Masquerade remarked. "... Turns out she's been through this crap before. Hell, she was the one who knows how to deal with the whole situation."
"What do you mean?" Cole asked.
"I'm an Inquisitor, you głupek." Kalashnikov bit out. "And what we're dealing with in there..."
She looked into the caves as she drew her flaming swords from her sheath.
"... We're dealing with Demons."
Back in the Depths...
Tiamat herself was no stranger to pain.
Before and after, all she knew was agony, delivered unto her mercilessly like snow and rain cascading from the skies.
For her, pain meant only two things:
The first is the reminder of her past weakness. Her existence in a world that condemned weaklings and nobodies.
The second is a reminder of burden. The price that she must pay for her ushered utopia and a home to call her own.
For her, that meant to feel what her children felt.
Their first gasps for air upon their birth, their stamping of their paws and feet as they roam the earth, and their last breaths as they met their inevitable end.
All of it, their sensations were her very own.
The shock that would throw a normal human's spine out of connection, the burning feeling in her chest, the pangs and jabs of negative sensory reactions that caressed throughout her body constantly, all of it, down to the last minuscule jolt in her pulsating brain, pooled and dripped down to her well of pure hatred against all the living.
Their sacrifices will not be in vain. Her children's deaths will be avenged. All of mankind will suffer for their transgressions soon enough.
"... Enjoy it while you can." Tiamat mumbled to herself as she summoned more Hellhounds to come the surrounding area. "The only way that they'll ever leave, are as shit."
She then sniffs the air, smelling something... fresh, like a spring dewdrop.
... And of course, footsteps, echoing from the distance, trying to cover their tracks with an ambient background noise.
"Oh how cute."
She then throws her knife into one of the cavern entrances, nailing against the wall.
"... Hm, slippery lot, aren't you?" Tiamat grinned. "You maggots can crawl, but you cannot hide forever."
She then telepathically links her mind to her children's.
"The human intruders are heading towards the rear exit. Prepare an ambush around the rear perimeter."
As Tiamat relayed the message to her children, Gauche was still on the floor, overcome with despair of failing to protect his sister.
"Marie..." Gauche whimpered. "Marie..."
The recently summoned Hellhounds all look at the defeated Black Bull in utter distain.
"Mother, the maggot's whimpers are starting to irritate me." A [Crusader]-class Hellhound spat out. "Can we just eat him and be done with it?"
"No." Tiamat firmly rejected. "Let him continue to suffer. The agony of him failing to protect his loved one... that shall be but the beginning of his penance as his internal screams of suffering will be the harbinger of his contrition."
Gauche wanted to keep going, but he saw no point of doing so.
The Demons...
... They were simply at another world in terms of pure power and comprehension.
"... I'm so sorry." Gauche whimpered. "Please forgive your worthless brother..."
"Mother..." A female [Crusader]-class Hellhound growled out. "... The human's voice is starting to irritate me even more."
"Hmm..." Tiamat caressed her chin. "... Perhaps we can make him suffer more. Pin him down."
Gauche was then beset by the whole horde of the canid Demons, head and neck forced to face Marie once again, arms and legs, once numb, now clamped down onto the stone earth once more.
"What are you doing?" Gauche stated. "WHAT MORE CAN YOU WANT FROM ME AND MARIE!?"
Tiamat ignores Gauche's barks of his questions and instead tries to slap the little girl awake, but to no avail.
"... Can one of you get a bucket of water?"
A [Martyr]-class delivers a swashing bucket of water in its maw.
"Thank you."
Tiamat then splashes the girl awake with the bucket of water.
Marie coughs herself awake, her gaze and breathing now more feverish than before.
"... Please." Marie heaved out. "... No more... please."
"Sadly pumpkin, I can't do that." Tiamat shook her head in disagreement. "I need to hurt your brother more."
She then takes out a three worn, wooden dice.
"We're going to play a little game that we played back at the Spade Kingdom called 'Craps'." Tiamat declared cheerfully. "The rules of the game, to guess which way the dice lands via odds, or evens. Guess right, we leave you alone. Guess wrong, however..."
She then brandishes her knife and caresses the tip against the her cheek, forming a small incision on her immaculate skin, causing small droplets of blood to spill out of the cut.
"... Well, you know what's going to happen." Tiamat grinned manically at the girl.
"... I don't want to play." Marie whimpered out.
"Too bad. You're gonna." Tiamat cooed. "But since I'm a nice person, I'll let you choose who gets to go first."
Gauche wanted to vomit at this sight of utterly unhinged sadism. They're literally forcing her to decide who essentially lives and dies at this point.
"DON'T DO THIS TO HER!" Gauche plead desperately. "LET ME GO INSTEAD-"
"SHUDDAP, PEANUT GALLERY!"
A [Zealot]-class Hellhound delivers a swift kick across his cheek, knocking out several molars from his gums.
"Now now, Pazuzu." Tiamat chided. "Let them have their fun first before you lay your hands or feet on them, okay?"
"... Yes mother." The [Zealot]-class Hellhound sulked.
"Now then..." Tiamat turned her attention back to the trembling girl. "Who do you want to go first? You or your brother?"
Marie swallows a loud gulp of fear before giving her answer.
"... I'll go." Marie hoarsely answered.
"Good girl." Tiamat cooed. "Now, odds or evens?"
"... Evens."
Tiamat tosses the dice and they land at two 1s and one 2.
"How fortuitous." Tiamat commented at the dice rolled at 4. "I guess that's what you call beginner's luck."
She then picks the dice up and kneels down towards Gauche's face.
"Now then..." Tiamat spoke to the Black Bull. "... Odds or evens?"
"Go to hell-"
Tiamat jabs him in the nose, crunching it into his face like a bloody meatball.
"Or alternatively, I can take a bit more off of your little sister." Tiamat threatened Gauche. "I'm more than willing to respect that decision."
"... Fine." Guache grunted. "I'll take evens."
Tiamat drops the dice onto the floor.
The dice land at two 3s and one 5.
11. An odd number.
"Oh what a shame." Tiamat sighed out as she reached for her knife. "Now then, which should I take off first?"
She then brushes aside his bang and reveals his mirror eye.
"Ooh, this will fetch a pretty yul."
Tiamat jams her knife blade into his artificial eye, attempting to pry his [Reflector] out of his iris socket.
The crystal eyeball is then cut loose from its socket and rolls across the stone floor.
"Hmm..." Tiamat remarked as she inspected his [Reflector] as Gauche gasped out in pain. "... I guess I'll make this my keepsake."
Marie's eyes were forcibly pried open by one of the Hellhounds to see the horror down to the last moment.
"... Please... no more..." Marie begged. "... Stop it... please..."
"... Nope." Tiamat rejected the girl's pleas. "We're gonna keep playing until one of you has nothing left of you to cut off. Now, odds, or evens?"
"*Sniff*... help me big brother..."
Tiamat slaps Marie across her face.
"Odds, or evens?" Tiamat growled out.
"... Evens." Marie whimpered out as she begins to break down into tears as Tiamat rolls the dice, the three dice landing at the total value 13.
"Oof, tough luck, girly." Tiamat replied at the hysterical girl. "Say goodbye to your ear."
Guache then hears an ear-piercing shriek, followed up by a cut-off ear landing right in front of his face.
Gauche starts hyperventilating from the pain inflicted upon his angel.
His past hardships was now heaven in comparison to the madness unfolding before him.
The macabre scene unfolding before him was literally Hell on earth, and the only things he can hear were the shrieks and sobs of his sister and Tiamat's phrase:
"Odds or evens?"
He only hears the dice clack against the stone earth coupled with the chortles and cackling of the harlot's children.
Near the Cavern's Rear Exit...
"I smell fresh air up ahead..." Juniper panted as she ran while carrying Noire on her back.
"... Good." Noire moaned out, her skin now being less pale. "... The sooner we're out, the better chance to recover properly."
"Tell me about it..." Cygnus groaned out duller than usual. "... This is way over our heads."
Lyra wordlessly nods as she helps the others continue their escape.
The four then slowly sneak their way out of the exit, granted that if the Hellhounds weren't waiting for them-
"... Girls." Juniper pointed out. "... Call me paranoid, but is the whole cave... too quiet?"
"Too laave, moravaulk."
Behind them, Romulus appeared, now wielding a dual-pronged polearm and ready to thrust at them.
Juniper jumps out of the way, but the dual-pronged lance grazes across Noire's arm.
"A shame, really." Romulus snidely commented. "You've chosen a slow and painful death."
"What do you mean?" Juniper asked before she noticed floating droplets of blood coming out of Noire's grazed arm.
The red droplets were floating towards the Hellhound's lance, the tip of the spear absorbing it drop by drop.
"Figured it out, didn't you?" Romulus smirked. "My [Bident] has properties of siphoning out a target's blood with every strike. So now here's the real concern..."
Around the Blue Rose Knights, several Hellhounds came out hiding, all of them baring their teeth and fangs, snarling and growling at the four.
"... Will there be enough blood left in all of your bodies to summon more Hellhounds? Let's find out."
The Hellhounds comes swarming forth at the four from all sides.
"Everyone! Hold the line!" Juniper stated as she bound Noire around her back with her [Wall Ivy].
Cygnus manifests [True Love's Kiss] in her hands and starts hacking away at the Hellhounds, Lyra uses Juniper's [Grass Blade] to fend off the Hellhounds, and Juniper conjures more [Wall Ivy] as impromptu whips.
"DAMMIT! WE'VE BEEN HAD!" Juniper cried out as she snared sever Hellhounds with her [Wall Ivy]. "WE NEED TO BREAK THROUGH THEIR LINES, NOW!"
"Break through? Escape?" Romulus chucked out. "Wishful thinking, mortals. We Hellhounds never let our prey get away. From the moment we drew first blood upon your kind, you've already lost. It's only a matter of time that then whole world gets overrun by our brood, and the rest of you filth become our cattle."
"Cattle!?" Cygnus cried out as she tore through more Hellhounds, her sides being set upon by even more Hellhounds.
"Yes. Cattle." Romulus clarified mockingly. "As in, food, substance, nourishment, enslavement."
"WE WILL NEVER BECOME YOUR SLAVES!" Lyra roared out as she fought on. "WE HUMANS WILL NOT SUBMIT TO YOU DEMONS!"
Romulus let out a wicked cackle upon hearing those words of unwitting blasphemy.
"What do you mean 'never submit'?" Romulus pointed out. "Ever since you humans realized your place in the fabric of creation, all you ever did was submit."
Romulus's words burned to the ears, just listening to his breath exhaled into unholy words clawed and mauled at their souls.
"You've curried for our favor in exchange for power, knowledge, desire, and countless other wishes that only you humans, the most basic of all of the lifeforms, just to get ahead." Romulus spoke out in an outright toxic tone. "As you humans continued to curry our favor, our powers began to grow from your collective sins, your ancestors more than willingly accepted our help, and in turn, all your kind ever did was sewn the seeds of your own self-destruction. Did you know that we were more than content to just watch and let you idiots destroy yourselves? Well, guess what, I'm not so content on just merely watching you all die like the rest of your race of maggots."
Romulus then begins slowly walking towards the Magic Knights.
"I simply thought that it'll be better to let you humans know that matter of fact to your faces." Romulus grinned. "And I was right. Watching you and the rest of your kind despair at your newly-realized insignificance is easily the most satisfying sensation that I've ever felt. You humans deserve everything what's coming to you, and our mistress, Tiamat, will bring upon judgement to this diseased world, and humble all creation back to their rightful place; under. Our. Heels."
"BULLSHIT!"
Juniper stamp-kicks a Hellhound out of the way.
"Sure, we're all pieces of shit." Juniper pointed out. "It doesn't matter if they're peasant or a noble. Everyone can be an utter asshole at times, but in the end, does that really matter in the grand scheme of things?"
Juniper stands her ground as she continues to fight off more Hellhounds.
"Everyone has the choice to be good or evil. And sometimes they don't, but that doesn't change the fact that people change as they continue to live on." Juniper retorted. "You're so quick to make the judgement call that all of us humans are better off being your cattle... SCREW THAT! NO ONE TELLS WHAT WE DO IN OUR LIVES! IN THE END, IT'S OUR CHOICE THAT WE CONTINUE LIVING IN THIS PIECE OF SHIT OF A WORLD, AND WHO CARES IF OUR ANCESTORS CAME TO YOU BASTARDS! IT WAS OUR CHOICE, AND RIGHT NOW, THE ONLY WAY IS FORWARD! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TELL US THAT OUR END IS COMING! ALL LIFE IS DESTINED TO COME TO AN END, BUT IT'LL BE ON OUR TERMS!"
Romulus simply begins to clap his hands sarcastically.
"How trite."
He then suddenly appears before Juniper, and harpoons his [Bident] through her foot, nailing her down as she shrieked in pain.
She tries to pull it out of her feet, but the polearm refused to even budge an inch.
"You've chosen death either way." Romulus mocked. "How adorable, thinking that your death will spite us Demons, just because it was your choice. Fool, your collective deaths are our goal, regardless how it's done. It's just unlike the rest of my immature [Stygian] brethren, I'm more inclined to take a more direct participation. I need to watch you all die in my hands. I need to see you slowly edge to your inevitable despair. For I am the sin of [Grudge], I am Romulus, the faithful hand of our Prince."
Name: [Romulus Apsu Babylonia]
Rank: [Harab Serapel]
Magic: [Summon Magic] (borrowed)
Sin: [Grudge]
The [Bident] that nailed through her foot begins sucking out her blood from her body.
"I'll let you watch as your comrades die..." Romulus stated menacingly. "... While you slowly edge closer and closer to your inevitable demise."
"JUNE!" Cygnus cried out.
"Too laave."
Romulus already appeared before the [Ice Magic] user, his right fist wound back to his shoulder.
"[Demonic Art: Cerberus Fang]."
The fist makes physical contact with Cygnus's midsection right before he disconnects it at the last second.
"... Huh, I don't feel anything-"
Three, fist-shaped craters dug into her flesh and bone, right before her whole upper body exploded into a geyser of blood and shattered bone.
The rest of the Blue Rose Knights watching were horrified beyond words at what they just saw.
"One down." Romulus remarked as Cygnus's remaining lower half fell onto the stone-cold earth in an undignified heap. "And the rest to go."
"... So that's how he killed the fat bastard?" Juniper thought. "The attack came so fast and hard that it looks like the human body exploded instantaneously to a person's naked eye. No mana or anything. Just raw, physical prowess..."
"LYRA! RUN!" Juniper screeched out in desperation.
She tried to run, but before she can escape, her leg was snagged by a [Zealot]-class Hellhound, causing her to buckle, before being piled on by the Demons, devoured piecemeal in an outright demented feeding frenzy.
"... Well that didn't take long." Romulus snidely remarked. "Lucky for you, I can now kill you both swiftly. Consider it an honor."
"Oh God, we're fucked..." Juniper whimpered out. "Father, brother, Yuno, forgive me..."
Romulus yanks [Bident] out of Juniper's leg.
"Say goodbye, and tell Cain that Romulus sent you him."
The [Bident] stakes into the ground...
... Only to be met with a sizable puddle of blood once where the two Magic Knights were laid.
"... Once again, the humans evade me with their [Spatial Magic]." Romulus grumbled as he pulled his spear off the ground. "Oh well, plenty of other prey to go around."
As far as he and the other Hellhounds were concerned. they weren't going to miss out on the game of Craps.
Back at Nean...
"... It's getting late." Yuno remarked as his [Sylph] slept on top of his head. "I can keep watch for you, you know."
Rebecca shook her head in disagreement.
"... Can't blame ya for worrying." Yuno spoke out. "If anything, I wish I was the one out there, helping rescue those children, knowing that I can make someone sleep soundly tonight."
"I guess." Rebecca sighed out tiredly. "... You want some more tea-"
*CRASH*
The sound came from upstairs.
"OH MY GOD! THAT CAME FROM UPSTAIRS!" Rebecca cried out in panic as she rushed towards upstairs.
Yuno hastily followed her up, grabbing his crutch and hobbling upstairs towards where Rebecca's siblings were at.
He enters the room, and in the middle of the room below a breached roof, was Juniper and Noire, both looking sickly-pale and bleeding out all over.
"June?' Yuno weakly asked out. "What the hell happened?"
Juniper tries to speak, but unable to muster most of her words due to her severely weakened state.
Yuno gets closer to her as Rebecca tries to calm the crying younger siblings.
He only manages to make out a few of her hoarse words.
"... Demons... don't go..."
Yuno was now done waiting around.
The Demons now gravely injured his friend, and now, he can no longer just simply stand by and watch as all this travesty unfolds before him.
"... Rebecca." Yuno stated as he ditched his entire first-aid kit he had on his waist pouch. "Can you at least bandage the two?"
"Y-Yeah, why?" Rebecca asked in confusion.
Two pairs of thin wings made of verdant wind appeared on Yuno's back as he slowly lifted himself off of the floor.
"... I'm going to break my curfew."
Yuno then flies off into the night sky, with a renewed resolve to kill the Demons that dare hurt his loved ones again.
"Y-YUNO!" The [Sylph] squawked out in jittered surprise. "WHAT'S GOING ON!? WHY ARE YOU FLYING!?"
"HANG ON!" Yuno cried out as he flew faster with his wind-crafted wings. "THIS IS GONNA GET REALLY MESSY!"
Back at the game of Craps...
"Odds or evens?"
For the past half-hour that felt like an eternity, those were the only words that Marie heard amidst the laughter and jeers of the monster's peers, and the occasional grunt and shriek of pain after every wrong guess made on which way the three dices landed.
She could no longer recognize who's voice's were who's. She can no longer feel her arms and legs bound behind her and cut up like a crude piece of meat. She can barely see anything around her, all blurring and fading into incoherent shapes and blobs of mixed color and dynamics.
... Someone taught her that a single day in Hell was like a bird took a single grain of sand from another shore to another island, until that first shore was completely barren of its sand.
... Yes. She now knew the feeling firsthand. She was in Hell.
Alone. With no one to help her. But even then, she still wanted to cry out.
Cry out. Cry out towards the heavens that abandoned her and her brother. Cry out as loud as possible until her lungs caught on fire.
She wanted to cry for help, despite it might being it in vain.
"HELP ME!" Marie cried out. "SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP ME-"
Tiamat slaps Marie across her cheek, causing her to spit out more of her molars from her bloodied gums.
"Didn't you get the fucking memo?" Tiamat remarked maliciously. "No one's coming to help you. So let me make this evidently clear for your only choice..."
Tiamat shows her the dice in her hands.
"Odds... or evens?"
"... Odds."
Tiamat tosses the dice as they land on the floor.
1, 4, and 4, making the total sum 9.
Odds.
"Lucky you. You're spared of a mutilation."
Tiamat then picks up the dice and head towards Gauche.
"Now then..." Tiamat spoke to Gauche, his eyes now devoid of all light. "... Odds or evens?"
"... Go to hell." He defiantly gasped out.
Tiamat then balls her hand holding the dice into a fist before punching him in the throat.
Gauche then vomits out blood before Tiamat wrestles his head up facing her.
"... Odds, or evens?" Tiamat growled out. "Clack your teeth once if odds. Clack twice if evens."
Gauche clacks his teeth twice, indicating evens.
"Alright, let's see what lady luck says about you!" Tiamat stated as she threw the dice into the air right before they landed on the ground.
5, 3, and 6, a total sum of 14.
"And lady luck declares you a ladykiller!" Tiamat faux-cheered. "... Oh you tease, if you weren't the one who kicked my daughter aside like some cheap alley trash, I've might've laid with you before I ate you headfirst."
"Why..." Gauche coughed out, his voice barely audible to the human ear. "... What enjoyment do you get from this?"
"Hmm... I'd say nostalgia." Tiamat answered. "Back at the Spade Kingdom, I was one of the few people who weren't born with magic, and even though the king and queen did provide a roof over our heads for us unfortunate folk, we were still considered the trash of society. The ones who couldn't start a fire or work the fields as well as the others. The ones that couldn't hunt an animal or contribute to society, all because magic has poisoned their minds and souls. It got so bad that several of my kin sold their bodies just to get by, the denizens of Grinberryall's conclave calling us 'useless whores', myself included."
Tiamat then lets out a small chuckle that wounded beyond wrong and broken.
"Eventually, a man named Dante took me in as his personal plaything." Tiamat spoke out in an increasingly demented tone. "He and the rest of his Dark Triad force me and the others to play the game of Craps, where the only thing we were allowed to bet were our bodies. Our flesh. Our blood. First one who made the wrong guess? An asshole named Zeno beheaded her with his [Bone Magic]. Second one lost her arms and legs before being thrown out into the cold, left to freeze to death. Third? She died slowly and painfully when the Dark Disciples had their way with her. Eventually, I was the only one left."
Tiamat then began grinding her teeth against each other in stress.
"First, they took all of my toes. Then, they sliced off my ear. After that, they tattooed my entire back and flayed it off to let it hang in front of my face. I saw that they tattooed a picture of themselves on my flayed back. And after that..."
Tiamat's eyes began to tear out tar and blood.
"... They killed my baby, right in front of me." Tiamat's voice trembled out. "Forced me to watch. Every, last, moment, of my... child's life be carved off of his small, fragile form... all because we were born without magic... reduced to toys... not as human beings, but as simply... trash."
Her hysterics turned into a maniacal cackle.
"Now you magic users... hehehehe... can suffer the same agony... hehehehe... that I felt... hehehe... on that very day..." Tiamat heaved out in-between her fits of laughter. "... The whole world will know, the Hell I've been born and thrown into. The same Hell that I was saved and rescued from. Dante was right. Malice is part of true human nature. And as a Demon, I will make sure that they pay for every inch they just continue to take, take, TAAAAAAAKEEE!"
Tiamat slams her fist into the ground, creating a massive and jagged crater upon contact.
"But enough about me." Tiamat cooed out. "It's your sister's turn."
She then presents the dice before Marie.
"Odds or evens?"
"... Evens."
She drops the dice onto the fractured ground.
The dice tumbled towards the lowest part of the crater, with the numbers being literally for fate and gravity to decide.
5.
5.
3.
13.
Odds.
"... Looks like 13 is your unlucky number." Tiamat jested maliciously at the trembling girl. "If there's any consolation, you'll look absolutely daring in an eyepatch."
Tiamat then stabs Marie in her left eye, gouging out the fleshy sphere with the tip of her shiv.
Gauche wanted to scream, he wanted to take retribution towards the Demon that was inflicting the hellish torture upon his angel.
... But he couldn't. He was also subject to the same torture. He was forced to watch as these mongrels continue to defile Marie.
"Well, I had fun." Tiamat stated as she waved around her dagger with Marie's eyeball at the tip. "Now, it's your turn."
He wanted to beg, but his throat was caved into the back his neck, preventing him from speaking.
"Come on now..." Tiamat cooed. "Odds or evens-"
*BOOM*
A loud sound was heard behind Gauche, and above him, several Hellhounds were sent flying into air.
"OUT OF MY BLOOMIN' WAY, YA MONGRELS!"
*BOOM*
Another sound of an explosion, and more Hellhounds sent flying like confetti in the wind.
"DIE DEMONS! YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!"
A hail of arrows tipped with ice rain down upon them, nailing the Hellhounds down flawlessly.
"... Who... are you?" Gauche gagged out through his ruptured throat at the short blond man and the tall raven-haired man.
"Just a traveling bartender." The blond man stated.
"The one who'll slay the Demon." The raven-haired man remarked.
Before Gauche can speak any more, he passes out.
"OLD MAN!"
Behind the two, Kalashnikov and the remaining Blue Rose Knights ran towards them.
"NIKO! WE NEED AN EXTRACTION!" Dragunov ordered as he drew back an arrow. "GET THE TWO OUT OF HERE!"
"Peh, I had my fun with them."
Tiamat then tosses the broken and butchered body of the little girl right into Kalashnikov's arms.
"... You suka." Kalashnikov growled out. "Old man, let me have at her."
"No, get them out of here." Dragunov vetoed. "We're facing Tiamat and her central brood."
"... Don't die on me, old man." Kalashnikov stated as she carried the black-robed young man over her right shoulder. "Hey third wheel! Carry the girl out!"
"R-Right!" Cole stuttered out as he gently picked up the little girl. "Oh god, she's so fragile..."
The group then run out the way they came from.
"Oi..." Dagda leered at the Hellhound. "... Remember me?"
"... Hm, no."
With the snap of her fingers, she signals the Hellhounds to attack the two.
"I got the front." Dagda stated as he drew his [Fragarach] from his back.
"... And I'll take the rest." Dragunov stated.
Dagda then charges towards the pack.
"[Counter Magic: Reject Impact]!"
With the swing of his blade, the Hellhounds were all sent flying into the air.
"My turn." Dragunov stated as he took aim. "[Spatial & Ice Rune Magic: Sagitta Pluviam-Grando]!"
He fires his arrow into a portal, and out the other end came out several shots of ice-tipped arrows, each landing their mark on each Hellhound, not one missing their shot, nailing all of them into the stone walls of the cavern.
"Well, I'll be damned..." Tiamat chuckled out. "... Small world, eh you midget?"
"OI, YOU CHEEKY TART!" Dagda hollered out as he pointed his [Fragararch] towards Tiamat. "YOU OWE ME YUL FOR DESTROYIN' ME TAVERN! ALSO, FUCK YE FOR CALLIN' ME A 'MIDGET'!"
"As per order bequeathed from the Patrem Inquisitor and the King of Avalon, Arthur Britannia Pendragon upon thy, Tiamat, the Prince of Conquest, I hereby come for your head!" Dragunov declared as he pulled back his arrow towards the Hellhound. "Resistance is futile! Surrender, and we'll bestow ye a quick death!"
Tiamat's eyelid simply twitch in irritation while retaining her faux smile.
"... Over my dead body, you schmucks."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Well, here's more bodies added to the pile.
Had to look up the game of Craps just to make things a bit more interesting, and my idea just came from Dante's little gimmick of the whole "satiating his own malice", so making that a little transplant just to make Tiamat more fucked up than she already is.
With that said, Yuno is about to do something stupid, and people IRL are about to do something stupid en masse during a friggin' PANDEMIC.
Finals are coming up next week, and as soon as I'm done...
... I might ponder downloading Arknights over summer.
So what do you guys think of Saga?
Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what you guys are thinking!
Also no, the summer heat will not cure COVID-19, so please, stay home and contribute to flattening the curve.