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The old man trembled, his fingertips shaking as he muttered. "Ah... no...! N-not like this. We need to leave...!"
"Calm down a bit. Hey, excuse me?"
"W-we have to leave... No... this isn't a d-dream, is it? Hoo... Just dying would be..."
I tried to soothe him, but his mind began to waver again. His pale face trembled all over.
*Sizzle...!*
"Ghk...!"
An unidentified drop of liquid fell onto the old man's wrinkled shoulder. He wasn't even tied down, yet he couldn't get up from the chair. Even as he winced in pain each time the liquid touched him, he remained seated. He just babbled with an anxious face.
"L-like this, I'll become a m-monster woman...! J-just kill me... Ugh!"
I freed a few more people, but they were all the same. Either they screamed for death or couldn't speak properly, as if insane. I forcibly pulled them from their chairs and sat them on the floor.
"Ugh..."
"Nooo..."
Not a single one was in their right mind, so I couldn't get proper answers from them.
Frustrating.
I searched their pockets. A wallet came out of the old man's chest pocket. I examined the ID card and couldn't help but frown.
Twenty-two years old...?
It was the ID of the old man I had treated first. A photo of a youthful young man was attached, bearing a vague resemblance to the old man's face. They were the same person.
Hmm...
I couldn't imagine what horrors a man in his twenties would have to endure to become an old man like that.
*Creak...*
The door opened, and a woman's high-pitched voice rang out.
"Like it? That's your future."
Her voice was clear and beautiful, completely at odds with this hellish place. She was the maid who had vanished with the feather. She clapped her hands and spoke.
"If you don't want to be punished, get back to your seats right now. Unless you want to be disciplined again?"
"Ee-ek!!"
The people I had forcibly removed from their chairs flinched in terror. As soon as she finished speaking. They crawled back to their places with their broken bodies.
---
The maid smiled with satisfaction at her well-trained livestock, then narrowed her eyes. The man who had probably wandered in here, entranced by the magic circle, was still standing there.
"This livestock is a bit strange...? Why is it just standing there? There's an empty seat, you know?"
She tilted her head. She had been pouring out her charm power all this time, but there was no reaction. Normally, a person would be so obedient to her words that they would even offer up their heart. She consumed the blood stored inside her body to raise her charm power even further.
"Hmoo... Oppa... aren't you tired? Want to rest here for a bit..?"
She slightly lifted the cloth covering her chest. Her milk-white skin was subtly revealed. Her favorite thing about this body was its pure white skin. She smiled sweetly, subtly revealing her flesh, then frowned. The man just stood there, looking at her.
"Huh? What are you doing? Be good...?"
Just as she undid her top button, revealing her pretty upper chest...
"But she's flat..."
A mutter of disappointment reached her ears. At such an absurd remark, she failed to maintain her composure.
"What..?"
Just as she was trying to force her stiff lips upward, the man's voice continued.
"Forget that. You, try saying 'Sado, you bastard.'"
The maid's face twisted at the seemingly nonsensical words. A man involuntarily flashed through her mind — a being that sent chills down her spine whenever he looked at her with his indifferent gaze. Just thinking of that figure made her fingertips tremble slightly. The man, watching her, chuckled.
"You know him, don't you? Sado."
---
Si-woo stared at the pale-faced maid. From the moment the word "Sado" came out, she showed an abnormal reaction. Her pupils dilated, and her fingertips trembled finely. That was not a reaction someone could have if they didn't know.
"You know him, don't you? Sado."
The maid's doll-like, awkward smile vanished as if wiped away. Her face turned as cold as ice, and her voice dropped.
"Haa... I don't know what you're talking about... Who's that?"
From the beginning, this maid's expressions had been somehow awkward. It felt like she was clumsily imitating human behavior, which was strangely unpleasant.
"Who is he? Is Sado a person?"
The maid silently glared at me. That was answer enough. I looked at the people groaning in pain and spoke.
"What's the point of doing something like this?"
Drawing blood. That I could roughly guess. Human blood has many uses, after all. She could be a vampire-like species. But deliberately causing pain was something I didn't understand. Torture is a very tiring activity. I couldn't understand why she would use such automated devices. It's not something you do unless you have a considerable grudge. But that didn't seem to be the case here.
"Of course, it's for Father."
"Father?"
The maid's pupils gradually turned red. After watching me for a while, she tilted her head.
"How are you still sane...?"
The maid turned her red eyes to the side. They landed on a man trembling and sitting in a torture chair.
"Heh? Hehehe!!"
The man, receiving her gaze, let out a strange laugh and clawed at the flesh of his own thighs with his fingernails.
Seems to be working fine...?
It was a sight that instinctively made me frown. Now, the woman in front of me seemed like an inhuman existence in the form of a maid. Even though she was, strictly speaking, not human, watching humans being treated like toys was not pleasant. I clicked my tongue softly and asked.
"Who's your father? Is he Sado?"
The maid's face twisted, as if she had heard something offensive. It was the first genuine expression I had seen from her.
"How dare a mere human..."
The maid walked over, step by step. To the naked eye, she looked like an ordinary person without a shred of inner energy, but I heightened my concentration. I relaxed my body. Excessive tension only slows reaction time, after all.
Three paces. At my level, it was a distance where I could take her head in the blink of an eye.
"Just die."
The moment the maid's mouth opened.
A tingling sensation at the back of my head made me immediately turn my head to the side.
*Shwaaak!*
In the literal blink of an eye, her hand grazed past my cheek. Her legs had swelled up like logs at some point. As her thin legs thickened, her skin couldn't remain intact. Bright red tendons writhed between the torn skin. Her thickened legs looked like ogre legs, not human ones. Her upper and lower body seemed to belong to different creatures.
"You dodged this?"
Her voice carried a hint of admiration. The speed was so fast it was almost imperceptible. Especially since I couldn't feel any mana, it was even harder to dodge. I felt drops of blood trickling down my cheek.
"Haha."
Despite that, for some reason, laughter escaped me. From the moment I followed my instincts and came here, I had been feeling strangely liberated. A feeling like the shackles I had placed on myself, always worrying about what was behind me, were coming off. I realized why I had trusted my instincts for no apparent reason.
Faith in myself.
It felt like I had finally reached the true peak realm. My entire body felt light.
Without answering, I immediately threw a punch. From the first moment I saw this woman, she had somehow rubbed me the wrong way. It was unpleasant just to look at her, as if she were a natural enemy of humanity.
I followed her as she retreated with a surprised expression. I tapped her face as if throwing a jab.
*Crack.*
Even though I barely touched her, a bone-breaking sound rang out. The infused Mixed Energy shattered the maid's nasal bone.
I kicked the ankle of the maid, whose face was contorting from the pain. As she lost her balance and staggered, I struck her head with the edge of my hand and knocked her down.
*Crash!*
The wooden floor shattered, and the entire building shook violently.
"Kugh!! How dare a mere prey!"
*Thump.*
I stomped on the face of the maid, who was trying to get up defenselessly. After the initial tension from her speed, she turned out to be pathetically clumsy. It was similar to how newly awakened individuals couldn't control their strengthened bodies.
"Grrrr..."
The pretty maid turned into a beggar in an instant. Blood flowed from her crushed nose, and her wide-open eyes were bloodshot. Sharp fangs were visible between her snarling lips. Her appearance was gradually changing. Now she looked more like a beast than a human.
"This vermin...!"
Even her voice had deepened. It sounded closer to a man's than a woman's.
"Haha. That suits you better than acting all cheap."
I beckoned with my finger, as if provoking her.
*Boom!*
Murderous intent filled the maid's eyes, and the ground she was stomping on exploded. Once again, as if the intermediate steps had been skipped, her sharp claws came right before my eyes. But my body was already reacting. I slightly bent my knees and leaned back as if falling. The maid's hand grazed past my head. I grabbed her wrist and pulled.
"Hup...!?"
I stomped on her foot as she clumsily tried to maintain her balance. As she leaned back to avoid falling, I pushed her with my palm.
*Thud!*
With a resounding crash, the maid tumbled across the floor. The moment my palm touched her, I infused Penetrating Force. The Mixed Energy seeped in and sliced through her internal organs.
"Kyaaahk!"
Now a beast of unknown gender, she let out a painful scream.