This chapter is kind of based off a nightmare I had a while back. I had made the mistake of looking up what smallpox looks like, so that was one of the inspirations for this chapter. It is extremely ghastly and horrific, so be warned if you feel like looking it up.
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 10- Pure Terror
Furuichi looks at Quetzalcoatl in surprise. "So that means…" he trails off.
"Yes," Hilda confirms. "He violates your mind to make you hallucinate your worst fear. It is so severe, that you'll be reduced to no more than a shaking ball of nerves before he finishes you off."
I frown. "Wow," I scoff in disgust. "What a cowardly tactic. Bringing up a person's worst fears to weaken them…"
"There's a reason why he's one of the most hated demons in the Demon World," Hecadoth says, narrowing his eyes as he holds his spear out. "No one appreciates a person who uses cowardly tactics like that."
"Say all you want about me," Mantha suddenly speaks, his voice low and eerily calm. "But I'll have you know that by the time I'm done here, not a single person will be left standing. Everyone shall be dead."
"Shut up already," Oga growled, cracking his knuckles. "Just come and fight!"
Izuma frowns at him. "Can't you sense the amount of energy he has, Oga-kun?!" he demands. "This one's dangerous. We have to be careful, otherwise we may end up paying with our lives."
Hilda's visible eye narrows as she raises her sword. Right then, we see Mantha summon his sword and hold it at the ready, waiting for Hilda to come and attack him.
Upon seeing the weapon in his hands, Hecadoth frowns. "I knew it…" he mutters. "That's the exact weapon we were talking about."
He's right. It's a flammard sword, with a black blade and a wooden hilt. A reddish glow surrounds the blade, as if warning us not to mess with him. However, this doesn't faze Hilda, who simply surrounds herself with demonic energy and runs towards him, holding her sword up.
Their blades clash and an intense battle has begun. Hilda effectively blocks most of Mantha's attacks, but she only manages to get a few scratches onto him. He's strong… I think to myself. Way too strong. We need to help her out, otherwise…
Suddenly, to our surprise, we see Mantha's hand shoot out and touch her forehead. Hilda freezes in her tracks, her visible eye widening in horror as she starts trembling. "N-No…" she whimpers, her sword falling out of her hand.
Mantha smiles as Hilda falls to her knees. A tear falls down her face, her eyes showing nothing but pure, unadulterated terror. "M-Master… no… p-please! Don't kill the Young Master, please!" she shrieks, pleading desperately.
"What the-?! But Baby Beel's right here!" Oga says, confused.
"Dah! Dabu!" Baby Beel cries out, trying to get Hilda's attention.
"Don't tell me…" Furuichi's eyes widen in horror. "Is she hallucinating?!"
"Yes," Quetzalcoatl confirms. "It seems that her worst fear is losing Master Beel, so he's projecting it onto her."
Right now, Hilda is on the ground, sobbing and pleading with Mantha to stop. I can't help but be horrified as I watch this. This is nothing like the calm, cool, fierce wet nurse who wouldn't hesitate to die for Baby Beel. Seeing Hilda so vulnerable and in so much grief is quite heart wrenching, and even hearing her tearful pleading is just so… terrifying.
It looks like shit has really hit the fan. This guy's taken down the cool and fierce Hilda and reduced her to a terrified ball of nerves, so he most definitely is for real.
"You… You killed my Master…" Hilda sobs.
"Hilda!" Furuichi cries out to her. Running up to her, he shakes her shoulders. "It's not real, he's just fucking with your mind! Baby Beel's still alive, and he's over there! Hilda, don't let him take over you!"
"It's no use, boy," Mantha tells him. "Terror has already taken over her, so she won't listen to anyone who tries to bring her out of it."
Oga glares at him. "You bastard…" he growls. "Let's show him what we're made of, Beel!"
"Dah!" Baby Beel cheers.
They run towards him, Oga's right fist glowing. However, just before he can land an attack, Mantha strikes him in the gut, sending him flying back and crashing into an empty library bookshelf.
"Fuck…" Oga cursed, coughing slightly.
Mantha makes his way towards Oga, holding his sword up. "Too bad it's already over," he said with mock pity. "Now die."
Oga smirked up at him. "Who said it was over?" he retorted, standing up. "We were just getting started."
He charges towards Mantha again, this time managing to strike him in the face. "Zebel Blast!" he shouts, punching him. He then delivers a kick, sending him flying back a few feet.
"Now's our chance!" Quetzalcoatl shouts at us.
Hecadoth goes first. He swings his spear towards Mantha, who manages to avoid it. Narrowing his eyes, Hecadoth then plants his spear head into the ground before aiming a kick towards Mantha. He successfully strikes him in the jaw, sending him flying a few feet into another bookshelf.
Unfortunately, Mantha is unfazed by this. I tense up as he strides towards Hecadoth, and before I realize, I charge towards him, surrounded by demonic energy. From behind, I deliver a roundhouse kick, striking him in the head.
Suddenly, he turns around on me and starts advancing towards me. Feeling my glare falter, I step back warily, still holding my knife up.
"Don't touch me, you son of a bitch!" I hiss, trying to sound threatening. But it's no use.
I suddenly feel his finger tap my forehead. My eyes widen in shock as I feel a sudden force in my mind, as if it were… touching it. But then, I feel my skin tingling strangely, and I try to touch my arms… only to feel several bumps.
I look down and to my complete and utter horror… my skin is covered with raised bumps. No, large pustules with small depressions in the center. No… it can't be!
"You may want to have a look at yourself," Mantha advises me.
I raise my knife up to try and get a look at my reflection in the blade… only for me to drop it out of revulsion and fright. I'm… I'm covered with these pustules!
"What the fuck is this?!" I shriek in terror, rubbing at my skin frantically. Trying to reassure myself that this isn't real… but it feels almost real!
"Yumi, snap out of it!" Hecadoth shouts at me. "Whatever's going on, it's not real! Don't let it get to you!"
His voice is distant in my ears. "Don't touch me! Get the fuck away from me!" I scream hysterically, clawing away at my skin as I collapse onto my knees. Fuck, I feel like I'm going crazy. And it feels too real that it honestly makes me want to throw up.
"Who would've thought that your biggest fear is a Human World disease that had been eradicated several years ago," Mantha taunts.
"Get it off! Get it off of me!" I plead frantically.
Eventually, I stop clawing and rubbing at myself, and instead close my eyes as I curl in on myself. I don't know how to get out of this illusion. Nearby, Hilda is nothing but a shaking ball of nerves, sobbing and trembling, since she can't get the image of Baby Beel dying out of her head.
I have to get rid of these bumps. It's ghastly, it's repulsive, it's nothing but pure body horror! I have to get rid of them! I'll be damned if I let them remain on my body like this!
I start scratching furiously at my arms, trying to ignore the disgusting feel of the pustules. I don't care if my skin breaks or if I start bleeding, I have to get rid of them!
Distantly, I can hear the sounds of the fight going on and from the corner of my eye, I see Furuichi running over to Hilda. Suddenly, I feel two hands take hold of my shoulders and when I look up, I see Hecadoth right in front of me, much to my shock.
"Yumi!" he shouts at me.
I squeal in fright and crawl away from him. "No! Don't touch me!" I cry. "It'll spread to you!"
"There's nothing on your skin, Yumi!" he shouts. "It's a hallucination, he's just fucking with you! Whatever it is that you're afraid of, it's already gone!"
"Go away! I don't want you to be infected!" I plead.
I feel his hand gently caress my face. "It's not real, Yumi," he tells me, his voice gentler now. "I don't feel anything."
Slowly, I feel the normalcy returning to my skin. The bumpy feeling slowly starts to fade away, going back to being smooth. "H-Hecadoth…?" I whisper, looking up at him.
"It's not real," he reassures me. "It's all gone, Yumi."
I look down at my arms, and he's right. All of the pustules are gone. I touch my face and sure enough, those bumps are gone. But just to be sure, I take a glance at my reflection in my knife. "I-It's all… gone…" I sigh.
Looking back at Hecadoth, I throw my arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you…" I thank him sincerely. I feel tears in my eyes, but I manage to get rid of them. I then feel his arms wrap around me in a hug.
Meanwhile, we see Mantha slowly approaching Hilda, who's gone silent. "You're truly pathetic," he taunts her. "I expected so much more from the wet nurse of Prince Beelzebub. Yet the moment the thought of your precious Master dying crosses your mind, this is what you become. A weak, crying little bitch." He brandishes his flammard before her.
"But that doesn't matter," he continues. "Prepare to die, wet nurse."
Suddenly, as he brings his sword down onto her, her own sword comes up and clashes with his. Right then, Hilda raises her head, and we can see pure rage in her visible eye.
"The joke's on you, Mantha," she retorts. "It's thanks to our tactician that your hallucination was stopped." A wry smirk crosses her face. "Die, you son of a bitch."
She charges at him, her blade clashing with his. Nearby, we see Izuma, Shizuka, and Toujou lying on the ground, having been defeated by Mantha. Oga, Baby Beel, and Quetzalcoatl join Hilda in trying to defeat him, and Hecadoth and I also decide to try and fight him.
At this moment, I decide to try out a new move on him. Raising my sword and transforming into demonic energy, I make my way onto the wall of the library, landing on it. "Darkwave Purgatory!" I shout, launching myself off the wall and charging at Mantha, delivering a strike across his face.
This is successful, as it gives an opening for Hecadoth to strike him. However, much to my dismay, Mantha turns and stares at me.
"Bitch…" Suddenly, I feel his hand grasp my neck before he throws me into the wall.
I cry out in pain as I feel a faint ringing in my head. Within the blink of an eye, Mantha is in front of me, his flammard raised and ready to strike me. Instinctively, I close my eyes, but my hand that's holding my knife moves on its own.
Hearing a strangled gasp of shock, I open my eyes slightly. However, upon seeing what I've done, my eyes widen in astonishment. My knife is embedded in Mantha's chest, blood already starting to seep from the wound. I gasp as I pull the bloody knife out, looking at Mantha in horror as he falls over, blood pouring from his mouth.
I look around and everyone else is looking at me in shock. "Oh… Oh my gosh…" I whisper as the realization sinks in.
I killed someone. Sure, he wasn't an innocent person, but… I killed a person. Their blood is on my knife.
Glancing down at his dead body, several emotions wash over me. Guilt, horror, and nausea. My stomach turns and I force myself not to get sick.
"Yumi!" Hecadoth runs up to me. "Are you okay?"
I slowly shake my head. "N-No… I… I need to sit down…"
Hecadoth helps me sit on a chair and I feel his arm wrap around my shoulders.
"Oi, what's wrong with her?" Oga asks.
"She's in shock," Furuichi tells him. "I mean, you saw what happened. She just killed Mantha."
Hilda walks up to Mantha's dead body and picks up his flammard. "This is the weapon," Hilda says, showing it to Shizuka, Izuma, Toujou, Oga, Baby Beel, and Furuichi. "The one that we were telling you about."
Quetzalcoatl glances out at the door. "It seems like we're back," he says.
We look, and sure enough, the hallway is back.
After seeing this, Hilda makes her way to the door, with the flammard in hand. "Let's go, everyone," she tells us. "We'll discuss this somewhere else."
"But what about his body?" Shizuka asks. "We can't just leave him here."
"I'll take care of it," Quetzalcoatl reassures. "You can all go ahead."
As Quetzalcoatl takes care of Mantha's body, we all leave the library. However, the entire time, my hands are shaking and my chest is aching so damn much. It's quite clear that this is going to stay with me for a while, no matter how hard I try to move forward. How are Mom and Dad going to react? How is this going to reflect on me?