Translator: Ranzan Editor: JackOFallTrades
The noisy onlookers.
The looks of those annoying villagers that had gathered, and Lucia"s fearful stare.
「Nice to see you all again, everyone. How are you all? Hee hee hee, I"m feeling really, really, good. Hee hee hee, ah, on this morning…」
「Oh! What"s a slovenly beast doing in our village, Gyaaoooh!」
「Hey, did someone try to say something to me just now? Why are you cutting in? Wait until I"m through speaking first, or can"t you do something that simple? Hm? What"s wrong?」
I attacked him with a chant-less ice magic spell, and a ice spear went through the man"s foot, covering the ground red with his blood.
「Y, you, you"ve got some NERVE! GYAAAAHHH!」
「What are you dowaAAHHHHHG!」
「My, why don"t you take a little caution sometimes? Or do you think you can take me on after I did that to you? You"ve got some foolish heads on your shoulders, you know?」
There were also two dogs that were barking and looked like they were about to bite, but I struck those weak wild pups down with ice spears as well.
The village people tried to give aid to the men I had struck with looks of anger and fear.
「Yes, those eyes. Those were the eyes I was looking forward to.」
I snickered at them contemptuously, as I sunk into a deep pleasure from my red-black impulses that had sprung from so deep in my heart.
「First, I"m about to make a declaration. I don"t plan to hold back AT ALL. I won"t hesitate to do what I have to. Any reason that I have for hesitation is because my accomplices will be the one to destroy something. See, for example, this here.」
「Gah! Guffhh, Guwaaahah!」
There was a man creeping up to me with an axe in hand that I stabbed through the heart.
「Karif? N, nooooooo!」
I pulled the sword out of Karif and kicked him down, and out of everyone standing there staring at his fatal wound, Yuria came running towards him.
He had a wound that had brought him near death, yet Karif continued screaming.
「Gyaaaahhhh! Owww, owww, owwwwWWWW! I"m going to DIE DIE DIE DIIIEEEE!」
「K…Karif?」
The outpouring of blood and the deep wound would make anyone think that he would quickly die there , yet Karif stayed alive, forgetting himself, and shouting.
「Don"t worry, you"re not going to die. This is how this cage you"re in works. Your soul can"t be separated from your body here, and like the undead, it cannot transcend your body. So let the pain run through you? Okay, heh heh heh, hee hee hee hee!」
「Wha, ah…huh?」
Perhaps the reason why Yuria was so surprised was that Karif wasn"t dying. Or, she was trying to deny that Karif was there with such a fatal wound, in front of her.
That"s why, out of kindness, I now turned my gaze to Lucia.
「Well, Lucia, could you help with a little healing magic?」
「You…b.i.t.c.h…」
「My, how cruel. Hee hee hee, the b.i.t.c.h here is you, though.」
I had helped her know what to do next, and she still called me names.
「Even so, Lucia, I AM your childhood friend, so let me give you the reason for this. How"s this for an example, children disappearing from this village and made a hostage and no way to help them, not something you prefer as a heroine, eh, Lucia?」
「What? To children?!」
「Well, what do you think? Hee hee」
I laughed so she would think and try to imagine what I had done.
「Is that not enough of a reason for you? Well, then let me say this 『You can"t heal with too many injuries.』, how"s that?」
「S…stop!!」
I laughed at the upset Lucia and tossed throwing knives around at the others.
「Gyaaahhh!」「Ow, owwwww!」「Agaaaahhhh! My…my leeeggg!」
「What are you doing this for?! You know I don"t have the magic power to heal, have you no feelings?!」
「AHAH HAH HAH HAH HAH! Those were broken loooong ago. Taken, tormented, and crushed like powder by the likes of you, long ago.」
Yes, pleasure. Total pleasure.
The echoing screams, they jostled my heart.
Now the seed I planted would sprout.
「Enough of that, now, shall we begin?」
「Whaa?」
A change came over all the villagers in pain from their wounds.
「Loooook, a little more. The bud is blossoming.」
「Eeek, gggg, What is this?! DISGUSTING!!」「Stop it, What is THISS?」
「What"s happening.」
「My little bugs are blooming!」
My laugh deepened at the h.e.l.l that was about to start.
「Eeeegh! Gaaaahh!」
From their deep wounds, dozens of maggots started to emerge.
「K, Kalif?! W, what, what is that?!」
「Agh! It hurrrrrttss, Yuria…Gaaahhhh!!」
「Heh, hee hee hee, looks painful. Painful, harsh…but I"m very happy.」
The looks of anger and fear on everyone"s faces was so pleasant.
The reason why is that this was proof that these fools were pigs, far below me. Since I had fallen to a far lower h.e.l.l then the rest of them, I was wondering in throbbing expectation to see what faces the made at me.
「Lucia, please…if you don"t help Karif…Wha?」
Yuria called out helplessly.
Lucia looked upon all of this with wide eyes of surprise.
「Please, he"s my husband, you have to help him stay with me, right?」
I smiled as I watched Karif"s maggot infested mouth reach forward and bite Yuria at the base of her neck.
「Eeek! S, stop, Karif! Owwowwwowwwwowww!!」
He continued pushing his mouth towards her, eagerly trying to devour her, moving almost as if to spit the maggots inside her neck.
「Ahhh, ahh, no, no, butbubutbutbut, no, noooooo!」
「Giyaaaahhhh?!」
「Oh!」
It was the first note in an echoing melody of screams.
Then, from that one moment of melody, many other melodies sprung up.
「…agh?! What, what is this?! Geeehhghhhh!?」
The next sound I heard was from that evil and stingy old woman of the potion store.
Her wrinkled skin began to expand like a balloon into lumps as the maggots crawled from her organs outwards and began to devour her skin from the inside.
Chompchomp, chumchumchum, ripriprip, the sounds continued, as the maggot devoured the hosts and blood flew.
From eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, the maggots emerged, and the screams continued.
Next the wife of the hunter, next the son of the mayor, next the trapper.
Next, next, next.
As the infection spread, one fifth of the villagers were now sprouting maggots.
「E…eekkk! What, why! No, Stop! Stop! Stoooop! Aggh!」
One man tried to run after foaming at the mouth and running in fear at the scene, but one villager that was spewing maggots from the mouth grabbed him and bit him through the calf.
The villagers mouth kept moving as if to spit the maggots into the man"s new wound.
「Heh heh heh, look, you don"t have to run, okay? It"s like the whole village is playing tag. And if you get caught, you know what will happen, right?」
「Noooo!」「Run, runnnnnn!」「What the, no, nooooo!!」
Among all the screaming the villagers scattered like baby spiders to the wind, while those who couldn"t fell prey to the others.
The villagers screaming and being eaten alive by maggots began to chase after the other villagers running away.
「Hee hee, now, let"s go see Lucia.」
Now that I saw that my plot had taken root, I went over to Lucia who was staring in disbelief at the scene.
She had the shocked look at the disgraceful scene that I expected from her.
「d.a.m.n! What is this? This WALL?!」
All I could do was laugh at the villagers scratching away at the magical barrier that had been put around the town.
「It"s pointless to do that, you know? As my master says, even a dragon couldn"t escape this cage he"s made, so there"s no way someone like you could.」
「…Minnalis…」
She turned back to me, glaring at me angrily, as I simply smiled.
Then I saw a villager a little bit away from me beating the barrier with his fist.
He was trying to escape like Lucia, and happened to meet a group of infected by chance.
「Dammit! Dammit all, what is this?! No, no closer! No closer!!! Eeek, Agh, no, aggh!!?!」
「Eeek…」
The villager was surrounded by the infected villagers as they went to consume him with loud chomping and crunching.
After a bit, he would become a host to the maggots too.
Lucia pulled back from the scene and looked at me.
「Hee hee hee, ah, Lucia. You don"t have to worry, they won"t attack you. You"re my childhood friend, so you get special treatment. How about that? Are you happy?」
「…do you think you"re getting away after doing all this? This is a clear opposition to those at Carbonheim! Once the army catches wind of this, they"ll come! And then you"ll be killed by them.」
「Hmph…that"s going a bit too far, I think.」
「Hey, give this up. If you do I can speak on your behalf, and they may choose to punish you less.」
Lucia said as she looked at my reaction and seemed to be genuinely concerned.
Hee hee. Sure, let"s begin something else.
The reason we spent those days together, was because of that.
And without it, my world being broken on that day, I wouldn"t be able to end any of this.
「Hey, Lucia-chan, maybe you don"t see what"s going on. Do you see what"s happening around you? I told you 『You"re my childhood friend, so you get special treatment. 』Right?」
「What?」
She showed me her weak-looking side, much like the childlike Lucia that was frozen in my mind.
I used the 『Heavenly Rotating Sword』that my master received from l.u.s.t, and called him out as I had planned.
「Hee hee, hey, Lucia, I have to treat childhood friends kindly, right?」
「What…is that? What are you…」
A three foot magic ring appeared on the ground near me.
The deteriorating transport ability brought him here very slowly.
「I thought you two should be together, even though I couldn"t take care of you at once.」
「What…what do you mean by that?」
The magical power coalesced around my feet, and his figure appeared.
「Well, I had to deal with each of you separately, or it would be unfair, right?」
His festering, poison colored skin, the dark marks of blood, the unnaturally broken and crooked arms, the strangely swollen legs and the look of him standing and yet defeated.
「So look, at what happened to Keril, I"ll make sure to kill both of you equally.」
「K…KERILLLLLLL!」
Lucia"s most beloved among all loved, Keril"s body.
Maybe she"d like to see more of his horrific corpse?
「AHAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH! You thought Keril was coming for you? Don"t even THINK he was close! Keril ended up like this a few moments ago! AHAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!」
「What the…what have you DONE TO HIM?!」
「Hee hee, Keril…let"s just say he was beaten to death.」
Maybe I should show her some more?
「Ahhh! AHHHH! NOO! NO NO NO NOOOOO!」
「I broke each arm carefully, and then I reanimated him like that. I then burned his legs over and over with hot irons.」
I"ll show you even more.
「Then I bathed his whole body in boiling water mixed with slime powder. Then I put him on a salted bed.」
「S…stop…there"s…no way…」
Her hair was disheveled and her voice shook.
「I gave him a potion mixed with freezing magic as far out as his tongue it would reach. He reached far to lick it up and then stopped when he felt the pain, but the poison had already reached him. See, if it was a sharp pain he felt he would have given up. So the poison I gave him was one that rotted out his organs.」
「Ahh….ahh….Ah…」
Her face was contorted with pain, and she wept in disbelief.
「So then, just like everyone here in the village, I had the maggots eat out his insides, but if I let them eat everything, you wouldn"t know it"s Keril, right? That"s why I slathered on a poison that would keep his skin tight. The color changed a bit, but look, now that I brought him here you can totally recognize who it is, right?!」
「MINNALLISSSSAAAAAAAAAGH!!」
「HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH! Yes, yes, that"s the face I want LuciaAAAAAAGH!!」
Her face was covered in rage, and like an irritable child she threw a fireball at me.
Her aim and power was foolishly bad, so I blew it off with the smallest reaction possible.
「You ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS got between me and KERIL! I WAS GOING TO MARRY HIM! WHY DID YOU SHOW UP NOW?! I ONLY HAD TO WAIT A BIT MORE!!」
「Yes, I know, I know…that"s why I"m HERE. In order to destroy your dream, that"s why I came back, AHAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!」
What a beautiful face she has.
But, she can"t hold back much longer, her magic is almost gone.
「…agh…I…can"t…no more.」
Just like a marionette with its strings cut, Lucia collapsed to the ground.
She crawled across the cold ground, just like my mother and I were forced to do…
「No…more…Kill me…you want to, right? You monster…」
「Yes, that"s right. I"ve always, always wanted to kill you, Lucia…」
But, not yet. Not yet, right? You haven"t reached the bottom level of h.e.l.l yet.
You haven"t fallen as far as I did.
That"s why, now, I"ll do what you want.
In order to crush your dreams.
「Heh heh heh, so, are you waiting Lucia-chan? Go get her…」
「Gwaaghhh…guughhhwwahhh…」
A man with maggots dripping from his mouth sluggishly walked towards Lucia.
However, he fell down and soon was creeping slowly towards Lucia on his hands and knees.
「When those maggots awake, they consume all the meat in the body but the brain and used that to chase after other meat to become its host. Those hosts quickly adapt themselves to the maggots. It"s quite painful as the maggots chew inside of you. The reason is that they reproduce as they chew through your insides.」
「Pain…painffflllll…」
「Keril, I"m sorry…sorry that I couldn"t help you…so sorry…」
Lucia put out her arm to the infested man without any hesitation.
「Hee hee, today was your marriage ceremony, right? I guess you will get your kiss, in a way.」
「…G.o.d will punish you. You truly are a monster. A devil in human skin.」
「I see, well, too bad. Since you decided to go up against a monster, there"s no wonder why you are destined to have your plans destroyed by one, right?」
Resignation, but still with a look of hostility.
Ah, no, that won"t do.
That look would have fooled me before, but I won"t allow it now, Lucia.
「I love, love, love, love you Keril. I love you more than anyone else in this world.」
「h.e.l.llpppp meee… Oww…. Painn…. Ppaaainnnn…」
「Let"s be happy together. I mean, no matter what form, I"ll save us both…」
Almost like a dream, the plagued hero and his lover beside him.
「Owaahhhgg… Gaahhhh…」
「Minnalis, I don"t know if this is some perverse revenge, but I won"t let you come between us. Keril is still my hero…I won"t let you change that. Let the rain fall upon him. 『Living Rain Song』, Uhg…」
Then a kiss, and the story over.
Definitely the ending that Lucia wanted.
「GUWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!」
PAaaaaahhhhh, the shimmering light that was proof of vitality coming from her departing spirit.
The secret magic used only by those that are among the spirit magicians.
At the price of a short life, even those on the verge of death could be brought back both mentally and physically to their prime condition. Then, the statuses of that person would be raised temporarily.
「Hmph…so that"s the trump card of a spirit magician.」
Whoever accepts the light has all impurities cleansed from them.
The … which are the inconsistencies in the story, like rusted swords and canes, and the maggots that were used disappeared just like they were cleansed from the story.
「Woooohoo」
That"s right, Lucia. You said it would end this way, right?
I don"t know what it felt like to offer up your life, but it must have been unpleasant.
If you"re going to bring back those near death, it took half your life strength, it seems.
It seems you chose tenacity over all else.
But soon you"ll be the one to see how tenacious I am.
Lucia.
From that day, many days have pa.s.sed, and that time, I"ve been thinking of this day over and over.
「Huff…huff…now the tables are turned. You always acted like you"re way too strong for me, but now that Keril is alive…my divine protections…」
「Hey, Lucia.」
Your little fairy tail is totally off…
「Remember this? Did I ever say that THIS is Keril? I never said such a thing.」
「…what?」
She drank the tears of this broken world and pushed everything in her mind aside.
…I had been waiting for this.
「This…isn"t Keril?」
After it spat all the foreign bodies out, the poison covered covering of skin over the body was purged and disappeared.
Splitting and falling away, the arms, legs, stomach, and face all disintegrated and melted into the air.
「Hey, Lucia, there’s something I want you to tell me.」
I slowly and calmly whispered to the astounded Lucia.
「Keril died three days ago leaving only this covering behind. How are you going to revive him?」
「NOoooooOOOOOOOooooOOOOOO!!!」
「Hey Lucia, how do you feel now?」
「aahhh, ahhhhh, no, there"s no way…」
「Uh, hah hah hah hah, I"m back! Even though I thought I was dead!! Ahhh, aaaahhhhhh!!」
Under the cover of Keril"s skin wasn"t Keril, but some man, tipping back and forth from vertigo.
「How does it feel to resurrect an old man covered to look like Keril with the life you gave up?! Tell me. Heh heh hahah HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!」
「Minnalissss!!」
She bit her lip so hard I expected to see blood come from it, and gave me such a look with that face!
Yes, yes, yes, this feels perfect!
「Are you that stupid? There"s no way I"m going to give you the one wish that you might have. Did you think I would? Did you really think I would?
Did you think you"d breathe life into Keril, and then Keril would suddenly came back and hold you?! Tooooo bad, you have no future, I"ve already crushed it! Hee hee hee!」
「Ahhhhhghhhhhh! I"ll kill you kill you kill you kill you kill you kill you kill you kill you!!! Minnallllisssss!!!」
In the snow melting into mud from all the body heat there, she crawled towards me saying those naughty words.
She had rid her life force and lost her power, and she looked even worse with all of those tears dirtying her face.
「Die die die die die die die!! GO TO h.e.l.lLLL!!! UWAAAAAHHHAAAHHHAAAHGH! 」
The sharp feeling of pleasure rushed all through me.
Sweet, but sour, maybe a little bitterness and acid mixed spun around me in a whirlpool of ecstacy.
「Why did you come back!!? A little more and I would be happy!! Disappear! Die! Dieeeeeeeeee!!」
It was a nonsensical screech that split the throat, air, and her soul.
I wanted to see this. I had to see this. I had waited so long to see this.
「Keril, my happpinnnnnessssss!! You thief thief thief thief, gafuh」
「You, you did a real good job brinin" me back to life, d.a.m.n kid! I thought I was done fer, and that I could die! Why am I back to life again?! You brought me back to life! Aaahhh, Nononononononnon, No moreeee!」
「Agh, ugh…cough.」
「Hee hee, he"s the fellow you gave your life to, so sad, miserable, pitiful, ahhh, but serves you right!!」
Hey, Lucia. Did you look at me on that day like I"m looking at you now?
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey.
Please, more, show me more.
「Ahah hah hah hah hah hah! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! The h.e.l.l I created! Deeper than the h.e.l.l I had to crawl! Gasp, shreek, scream, shout, wail!!」
Then, die in the throes of complete despair.
☆
The sun falls and rises in a cycle.
And in a blink, it will be three days.
Between the covering sky just before evening and the quietly falling snow, all the sounds of the world had been sucked away.
The first day, with the pain of maggots, I cut and the poison entered, I was filled with hate.
The second day, the fear and hate festered within me.
The third day, this village was covered in white.
The white from snow that began yesterday.
The white of maggots that crawled to devour their prey.
The villagers that had all their flesh eaten by maggots, the white of bone and their souls.
The only one remaining was Lucia, turning her hollow eyes skywards.
After being thoroughly tormented, her arms and legs cut off, she remained. Both eyes gouged out with sunken holes now in their place, her blood had been drained so the boundary of skin and snow was hard to determine from the whiteness. The pink flesh that had been eaten and broken by the maggots themselves made her hard to see because of the silent, covering snow.
No matter how she looked, there was no way she could be alive, but the reason why she was still able to move her mouth to speak was because of my master"s barrier.
Inside the barrier was the effect 『indolence』which kept any status from changing that he didn"t want changed.
In this workshop, even under the scythe of the grim reaper himself, no living creature could find peace in death.
「I"m…so….sooo……rrry…」
She whispered words of apology silently.
I was overcome by a wave of relief and tears, though a scream escaped me.
「…I think it"s over, it was long, and short…this is a strange feeling.」
In order for my mother to finally be able to rest, I had prayed that all of this would end this way.
The same words, but they felt completely different.
Those words of Lucia"s made my insides ignite with a fire that burned and grew in blackness, a silent burning fire of blue and translucent flame.
「S…ssssooo….ooorry….」
These three days, the villagers felt the bitterness and pain I wanted them to.
Just like the pain and bitterness those I knew had felt.
Screaming pain, shrieking bitter torment, crying from anguish, feeling despair.
I crushed them in rage, mangled them in their cries, and let the maggots devour them in their despair.
So much, so much, bathing me in pleasure.
「But still not enough…not enough.」
Not enough, not enough, not enough!! It"s still not enough!!
Aaaaahaaaaaaagh!! It was vexing to say it, but I wanted more pain pain pain pain pain!!!!!
「But…there was no time. I mean, I had completely forgotten that face. I"ll never forget that face. I"ll never forgive you, even after death. Even if you go where I can"t reach, I must continue the pain. Always, always, alllllways.」
Riiiip, riiiiip, I could hear a sound far away.
The barrier that my master prepared had begun to tear.
I had no time. Time to finish this big.
「Because you"re alive, this world is h.e.l.l. Even without you, that will not change. However, even during these three days, I can live on.」
「Forgive me…I only…wanted…to be happy…I was…wrong….」
「I know you did. Everyone wants to be happy. I do, my mother did. Hey, Lucia, I have someone I love too. More than all else, deeper than anyone else. That"s why, what you did back then. You can understand how I felt, right?」
「Owww…it hurts…I donnnoow…Why, whyyyy…」
「Because, you"re not saying it from the heart!! Too bad you and Keril couldn"t be happy!! Being the bride of this maggot field and white-covered village looks good on you! Ahah hah hah hah hah hah!!」
「「「Rrriiiiiipppp!!」」」
I told the maggots that were about to surge through Lucia to wait.
「Ow…ow…help…owwww….I don"t want to…die…unhappy…」
Her face was distorted in despair and would soon be all bone, it wouldn"t take too long.
Also, as if the barrier were waiting for that, it began to rip, and I could see the sun begin to peek from a hole in the clouds.
The snow danced, and the maggots that had been fed were now preparing to sprout wings and fly off.
「Ah, I see, true, just as master and Shuria said. There"s no way to stop this.」
The tears began to flow and fall.
The sun was about to strike the snow and it would all melt away.
「Well, let"s go.」
However, still there were those I had to strike down.
Time to go back to master and Shuria. That"s the end.
I wiped my tears a few times and began walking.
I turned my back to this maggot field and the white-covered village
☆
The next day, a group that was going to Kikitto village to see a friend"s marriage arrived too late for what they expected.
In the road, a group of magic beasts had attacked savagely and ran, and upon discovering this, they couldn"t confirm that this was the place the beasts had planned on attacking.
The reason why is that this place had no remains of the living left behind.
Like a silent reminder of a place abandoned for a hundred years, all that was left was snow and the white bones of those that could have been the villagers.
Also, the village was covered with b.u.t.terflies white as snow.
Because the illusory scene was so beautiful, there were those that felt they were being warned away.
Afterward, Kikitto was declared an abandoned village, though the reason and the contents of why is still unknown.
Those pa.s.sing now take the long road to avoid this ghastly scene, and it will soon become an unknown abandoned village.
Since there was no real name to call this new strange phenomena of a place, those first arriving upon it after the event called it the 『White-Covered Village』though only a few know of its existence.