14xx/05/21 Johannes Calendar

21th days since arrival…

I decided that I need to go in around midnight, so that's what I did yesterday. Waiting was painful when you know that someone needs you, and she's waiting for you. Time felt like a scythe pendulum from the short story the Pit and the Pendulum. Every second, a little scythe is going lower and lower, just getting ready to cut me slowly as possible. Every second, the little scythe swings lower toward Richo. Every second, the scythe keeps swinging lower, closing the gate of opportunity to rescue someone.

As my watch finally declares that it is midnight, I decided to move in. My heartbeat was as fast as a machinegun as I moved under the cover of the night, hoping that they are too busy indulging in their vices to notice one stalker. None of my guns are silenced, and I don't like throwing my knife to kill someone within short distance; its much safer and more reliable to shank the fucker with the cold steel in hand than risk hitting his shoulder instead of his Adam's Apple.

Thankfully, there's only one guard on the side entrance, and he's already nodding off to sleep. I helped him sleep permanently with a knife and tossed him behind a large rock.

Travelling through the maze of cave was a nerve-wracking experience for me. Every dead-end spell doom for me, and all distant sounds fuel my paranoia meter. The side tunnel is more like a ventilation system than a proper tunnel system, so it was hard to squeeze through the aperture.

After crawling for a while, I found myself at a simple hallway. It was strange seeing such a neatly carved passage after crawling through apertures marred by jagged rocks, but this only serves to strengthen my resolve. Whoever these fucks are, they were connected, and have history long enough for them to have a proper underground base that are surprisingly well-ventilated.

I moved as silently as I can. The thrill of killing scums while hiding in the shadows are intoxicating, and yet there's not even a single scum to be found here.

That is, until I stumbled upon the pleasure chamber.

The chamber is I dare say, is one of the most fucked up shit I ever saw ever since I stepped foot onto this maddening world. Imagine dozens of girls strapped to crude machineries created by several engineers from Unit 731 just because Josef Mengele wanted to know the relationship between body fluid, waste, and sexual pleasure.

I remembered what the blacksmith back in Pornof said to me, about them providing illicit pleasure service, and my blood boils even worse than before. Richo ain't part of the show, but my gut feeling is telling me that I don't want to waste any more seconds in this hell hole before somebody find me and alert the rest.

Too little, too late.

Out of the blue, a heavily armored man appeared behind me. He was covered from head to toe in heavy-looking black armor. Through the slit of his bucket helm, I can see a pair of cruel eyes narrowing onto me. In his hand he carries a kite shield and a halberd, which is a relief as the suffocating space of the cave would've completely hinder his movement. He knew the polearm is useless, hence why he threw it at me and drew his dagger from his waist.

His friend is wearing a simple blue robe and an oversized wizard hat. He carries a simple staff, which glows yellow as he and the warrior were enveloped in a hue of holy light. The metal glowed yellow as the warrior beckoned me to make my move.

I decided not to risk it and fire my weapon at the knight. No fucking idiot would even think about wearing armor inside a cave, unless he's preparing for a fight. The bullets struck him like a sledgehammer, staggering the knight long enough for me to adjust my aim and kill the wizard behind him. He's still glowing, but I'm shooting 7.92-millimeter rounds in a cave at close-quarter. Fucker died after the third shot went through his eye slot.

Those two were my first kill within this cave system.

After that, everything else was routine. Encounter room, hear nothing. Kicks door down. Saw a long corridor with a few doors at the side. Wait for a few second, then approach first door to the left. Heard some rustling, switch to pistol. Kicks door down, narrowly avoids a fireball. Breach and neutralize hostile with extreme prejudice. Move on to the next room.

Breach. Encountered an armored opponent with a war hammer. Headshot with rifle. Helmet holds, so pump some more rounds into his skull to expose his eye slot for the kill shot. Reload and then execute. Get ready for the next room.

Third room has hostiles taking initiative. Answer bumrush with a buttstroke to the throat and a shot to the chest. Two more rush in with enchanted blade. Not enough time to reload. Switch to pistol and eliminate threat. Clear. Move on to the next.

A fool held a woman hostage. How nostalgic. Neutralize enemy threat and attend hostage. Black hair, cute face, brown eyes, a plain woman stuck in a horrible situation. How cruel, how familiar this feels like! Even in this new world, old evil flourish under the shadow. How delicious the irony was, that a man who has felled many evils such as this has come to wreak vengeance once more!

How horrible it is, that even with the boon of magic and watchful gods, that such atrocities are allowed to exist!

I kept clearing out the cave system until I reached the boss's room. It was a big room, containing several beds hewn from the outcropping stone of the cave system. It was lavishly decorated with carpets and furniture hewn from rocks and wood. The iconography of the flag that was above the large luxury bed shows that it was the room of the leader itself.

They were caught with their pants down, naked like a wee baby, screaming and demanding like a pack of spoiled, petulant children! I recognized one of them as the guy who tried to take Richo away from me. Richo was in the middle of the group, bound by chains and clad in ragged dress. A muscular man in his arrogance demanded respect with a punch. I replied by smashing his skull open with my bare hands.

Oh, how fragile life is, when even a fool like me can end it with a flurry of punches! How brittle a man's pride is once they truly face the bank of River Styx. They bleated like sheep, promising the Ferryman for another hour of life.

I made myself clear when I say no survivors.

One of the bandit leaders are still alive, but barely. I don't need to do much to convince him, so he readily pointed me toward the location of the majority of their products, i.e the rest of the girls. He died afterward, but it didn't stop me from looting his corpse for the keys.

Richo was shaken and unresponsive, but thankfully unharmed. I covered her up as best as I can and grabbed the rug off their sofa to make a rope litter for her. She stopped me and told me that she can walk, only asking for me to help her save some of her friends stuck inside the storage cell. Before I could do anything, she bolted like a bat out of hell.

With nothing else to do, I decided to free the others. The door to my right led to a storage area. They were lucky ones; their only suffering is being caged like a rabid dog. It was ironic and painfully sad seeing the myriad of Monster Girls stuck behind the metal bars, all eyes on me filled with hope and desperation as I quickly freed them from their bondage. Most of them were of local varieties; Dog Girls, Slugs, even have some exotics like Crab Girls and mermaids. The mermaids puzzled me to no end. How the fuck do they brought those fish-legged creature from the sea all the way up to this arid mountainside without her drying out like a kelp?

Lady Fortuna's favour the resilient, and the mermaids don't need a bucket of water to stay alive. To be safe, I grabbed a couple jar of water in advance and told the beast-type to carry them in case the mermaid started to dehydrate on the open mesa air.

Richo was howling when I re-entered the chasm. Her long, haunting moan echoed the mountain range as I performed what others would say that it's a fool's task. I went back to check the pleasuring machine chambers. Experience dictate that their demise is assured, but I have always been an optimistic fool.

Yup, I was right. Their heartbeat was silent, their pupils dilated. They are limp; no life was present in their malnourished frame. Rigor Mortis has set in, forcing me to abandon them where they lain. Their stiff limbs are no different than the chains that hold them. I was too late.

That bitch…I don't care who was reading this. If I saw her again, I'll fucking rape her with my rifle. I'll make sure she gets the full length; bayonet and all!

To be fair, I think she might enjoy it. Judging by the current trend of this world, my rifle might be way too small for her usual standard.

Fuck…That gives me the creeps. Why the fuck did I even think about that?

Moving on, Richo insisted that her calls will be answered by a rescue team. But I am hard-pressed to think that any rescue team would be awake at this time of hour, especially if it was a human team. Perhaps the Monster Girls have their own services catering their own species? The others I've rescued who were sane enough agreed with her sentiment, so I would assume that would be the case.

Oh well, night is almost over. I'll hold the fort until the sun comes up, and I see what I'll can do.