A Horrible Revenge (2)
"Gyaaaaah!"
I did not let him collapse under the pain. I drove the blade hard into his knee and twisted—
"Ghk—aaaaagh!!"
That would keep him from walking. Even if the ones back at the cave heard the screaming, they would never manage to run.
"You—you bitch, what the hell do you think you're doing?! Do you know who I am? You think a short-lived mongrel like you can pull this and walk away?"
I didn't bother answering. Instead I pulled back my hood, unhooked the mask, and hung it at my waist. That alone would be enough to shake him.
"Y-you're...!"
"Wait here. I have quite a lot of work left for you. But first—"
I slashed once across the hand clutching his knee, then drove the blade straight into his shoulder.
"Kh—ghk...!"
He tried to resist, grabbing the staff with his free arm, but it made no difference. That arm was already rotting with the disease; it could never overpower me. Even a light tug sent him reeling and sprawling, and the shock of it seemed to hit him hard.
"Ugh—uuuugh... ghhhrrk!!"
Leaving him snarling with helpless rage, I turned and hurried toward the ones in worse shape.
If the elf whose eyes had been so hideously ruined could no longer even hold himself upright—
"Get away! Get away!!"
Just as I expected. One of them was limping desperately toward me from the mouth of the cave; the other, eyes ruined, was crawling blind, groping at the ground.
"Such a... delicious smell... just a little... give me a little... just one bite..."
He had already slipped into the terminal stage. He was hunting for the flesh of his own companion. Absurdly, he crawled far faster than the elf with the broken leg, and at last he managed to sink his teeth into that leg.
"Aaaaaagh!!"
The limping elf pitched forward and began to scream. I frowned at the ugly scene and approached slowly. The one being eaten stretched a hand toward me and wailed.
"Save me!"
That pitiful plea for help, and the wet tearing of flesh still going on right in front of me, made me shudder for a moment. Then I clenched my teeth and spoke.
"Why should I."
He flinched hard at my words, thrashing his legs, and twisted his head around with a scream, trying to see the face of the person standing over him.
"W-what? You're a priestess. You said you'd help us—"
Our eyes met. His gaze flicked, just for an instant, to my ear. The fury and indignation in those eyes drained away at once, collapsing into pure despair.
"Ah... aah..."
"That I would help... the likes of you."
I drew a long breath and let it out. Watching someone be eaten alive was never a pleasant sight.
"P-please. Save me. Save me..."
He had forgotten even the pain. He reached for me, desperate, and the sight of him was wretched beyond words. The one who had once ground me underfoot was already half out of his mind, happily chewing on his companion's flesh. And the one who had snickered while watching me was now being eaten by that same companion.
But the words coming out of his mouth were not what I wanted to hear.
"That fluid pouring down his whole face—it hurts quite a lot, doesn't it? Of course it does. Zombies are made to kill and create more of their own kind. Pouring that pus full of disease and curse straight into an open wound... I imagine it hurts rather badly."
Another scream tore free. Another bite had been taken out of his leg. Perhaps I wouldn't even need to torture him myself. Corpse poison and the sensation of flesh being ripped away were already a horror beyond measure.
"Please, make it stop! Please!!"
"I'm going to leave you exactly as you are. Why would I ever save the elves who insulted the man I love and tried to defile me?"
With every word I spoke, something in my chest seemed to open wide and clear. Why was that? The scene unfolding before my eyes was filthy beyond looking at—and yet the sight of him clawing at his own scalp, slamming his forehead into the dirt rather than accept his fate, drew a faint smile from me.
Another bite. More flesh torn free.
"You won't die that easily. An elf's body is tougher than you'd think. Even after both legs have been chewed down to nothing... even after he gnaws your back open until the bone shows... the exalted one in the heavens has blessed us. A superior body that can endure more pain and more disease. How does it feel, knowing that only makes you suffer longer? If you'd been one of those short-lived mongrels you looked down on, you'd already be at peace by now."
"Hyaaaaah! Aaaaagh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please, please just save me!"
Still begging to be saved. For a wise long-lived race, he still couldn't seem to grasp the situation. So different from me, who had already steeled myself. Watching him, I could hardly believe we were the same species. I began to speak, slowly, deliberately.
"I'll treat you. Morning and night... I can't promise I have any miracles left, but—"
I focused a little energy into my hand. Strangely, light began to rise there. Healing light. The very light that closed a person's wounds.
"H-huhhh?! Yes—that! Heal me, you can do it!!"
But I saw it almost at once. Beneath the white that seemed so pure, if I brought my eye close enough—a faint purple was mixed into the center of the light. Whose grace it was could not have been clearer.
"...Thank you."
Was it only to deceive them? Or could the Outer God truly grant the same power as the god I had once served—the god they still believed in? I tested the light against his leg.
Nothing. No effect at all. It looked like ordinary light.
And yet—
"Ah... hhh... hhhh..."
Somehow the one still having his leg chewed open wore an expression of relief. Even the ruined-eyed creature stuffing torn flesh into his mouth paused and stared blankly at that leg. It made no sense.
Then—
"More food!!"
A sharp clack of teeth, and the screaming started again. I understood, more or less, what it was. An illusion. Something I could show them. Perfect for crushing the hope of someone who thought he had been healed—perfect for torture.
"Stop—stop iiiit!!"
He flailed his arms against the ground, wailing, his face like a man who had already walked through hell. Blood and snot and pus poured from him as he shook his head violently. I left him behind.
"...I'll give you time to think. Whether you truly want me to keep healing you. Whether you really want nothing more than for your pain to be prolonged."
"D-don't go, please! Save me, save—ghaaaaagh!"
I watched Albar bite hard into his back, then turned and walked slowly toward the one I had left on the forest path. He was in no condition to run far. Torturing him myself would only deepen his grudge; showing him this scene and breaking him with it would snap his will far more easily.
I didn't have to go far. I found him dragging his heavy body along with one arm. One more deep thrust into his shoulder finished both arms for good. After that I simply closed my eyes, opened them, and let my dazed mind settle for a moment. Filthy curses and every kind of lewd insult spilled from his dirty tongue, but I forced myself to ignore them, seized his legs, and dragged him all the way to the elf being eaten alive.
Of course, the face of the one who had been the most intact of them twisted into pure horror at the sight.
"...Albar?"
"So good!!"
Blood sprayed in every direction as his companion—now reduced to a one-eyed ruin of burst pus—chewed the flesh with relish. That was the only word that came out of him.
"..."
I grabbed the hair of the one who could no longer even scream, only twitch as he became a meal, and held him up for the other to see.
"And this one?"
"You're—you're insane... completely insane..."
"His name."
"What did you do to Edrick, you crazy bitch!!"
Ah. Albar and Edrick, then.
"I didn't do anything. Albar was eating Edrick, and Edrick begged me to save him, so I... healed his wounds a little. Even though there are other ways to end the pain."
I let the head drop with a soft thud, left Albar absorbed in his meal, and asked one more question.
"So, Edrick. Do you still want to live?"
I summoned the light in front of him and smiled. He nodded frantically; good—he still had some consciousness left.
"All right. Then I'll heal you again."
In my eyes, no flesh was regenerating. There was only a body chewed so deeply the bone showed. But to the three of them, it must have looked different.
"You... right now..."
"Food!!"
Another loud clack of teeth. Still none of them noticed anything wrong. The screaming began again.
"Hyaaaaagh! Aaaaaagh!"
"This crazy—crazy—crazy...!"
"No, no! Kill me! Stop, please! Kill me! Please! Please!!"
Ah. So Edrick couldn't hold on after all. He slammed his head into the ground over and over, begging to die.
Finally.
I raised my staff at once and drove it down into his skull. His body jerked once... then went completely still. I did all of it right in front of their companion.
"...E-Edrick. Oh god..."
"This doesn't seem like the time for you to be worrying about Edrick."
Albar was still diligently tearing at the flesh. I seized the remaining elf by the collar of his back and dragged him closer, setting him down so he could see every detail.
"I'm going to feed you to Albar now—you, with both arms and both legs already useless. Doesn't he look hungry? Hmm? Look at him. He's already eaten so much and he's still going after Edrick..."
If Evan saw me like this—heard me saying these things—he would surely be disgusted. But every one of these words was something I myself had once heard, when I was the one being crushed and mocked. I... I hope Evan would understand that this doesn't feel bad at all.
"So... I don't know your name, but—"
"Garret."
"Garret. Right. What do you want to do?"
If this finished quickly, it would be better for me too. He glared, grinding his teeth, and put on a show of defiance.
"...I swear on my name—I will kill you, Thea."
I smiled at the grand declaration. Then I shoved him toward Albar with the staff—
"Fresh meat!!"
It did not take long for that oath to shatter. On the first bite, Garret howled. He screamed so loud the whole forest rang with it, as if the world itself were tearing apart. On the second bite, he was begging me.
And then only one remained.
Albar, who had been swallowing his friends' flesh, suddenly regained focus in his eyes and stared down at his own hands. The final moment of a patient in the terminal stage of corpse poison, perhaps. The timing was so perfect I could only call it luck.
"Ugh... uh... uuuugh...!"
Hospitals lock terminal corpse-poison patients into isolation wards just to witness this moment—even knowing there is no hope left. When the end comes, they record last words and try to make the final moments painless. But not for this one. For Albar, it would be the most terrible moment of all.
"Edriiick? Garreeet...!"
He vomited bright red fluid and groped endlessly over the bodies of the two companions he had eaten, as if touching them might bring them back.
"Albar."
"Gyaaaaah...!"
The instant he heard my voice he clutched his head. As if he could no longer bear it, he finally smashed his forehead hard into the ground and left his last words.
"Just... end... it..."
And so I killed all three of them.
For Evan.
