Chapter 42

  Well, job’s done. Quick and clean. The second demon didn’t even get a squeak out before his head left the chat. He decided to, let’s say, show off his deep inner world. Now all that’s left is what I came for. I cast a grim look at the wall where two boys, maybe thirteen or fourteen, hung—eerily similar. Probably brothers. They were out cold. Good… Last time was rough. Those kids’ faces still haunt me. That moment… I hated myself then. I’m losing my fucking mind. What’re you laughing at, asshole? Fuck off!!!

  Besides these two, there’s fifty more. My hands started shaking. Where’d this damn humanity come from? Take it away! I don’t want it. It just makes shit worse. Maybe I could pretend they’re baby demons? Dunno… What if I go full nuts and start seeing everyone as demons? Whatever, what’s the difference now? My way out’s sealed. Fine, it’s settled. Imagination, your turn. You love this inhumane bullshit. Time to end this. So, two demon brats hung on the wall. Then, out of nowhere, a badass motherf—

  - NOOO!!!

  Fuck… I stopped. Why’d I stop? My hand wouldn’t listen. My dagger hovered millimeters from the kid’s chest.

  - No! Please! Don’t do it! Don’t!

  Damn it… One woke up. Gotta kill him first. Can’t let him draw attention. Plus, I don’t want him seeing his brother die before he goes. Wait. What the hell am I thinking? They’re not human! They’re cursed demon spawn. They’ll grow up big and dumb, eating everything in sight. I shouldn’t give a fuck. I don’t give a fuck! Right, so… Two little demons hung on the wall…

  - You killed them? They’re dead? Is this real? You’ll save us? – One of the little demons started pissing me off. Fuck…

  - Yeah, so shut up. You’re messing me up. – I snapped.

  - Messing you up? What?

  - You’re screwing up my poem.

  Where was I? Right… Two little demons hung on the wall. Then Elon ran by, dropping a pile of shitheads. Wait. That’s not it. Why’d that pop into my head first? Actually, I don’t wanna know. Let’s try again. Two little demons hung on the wall, then Elon ran by, stabbing their hearts. There, decent enough. Needs work, though. I raised my hand and swung.

  - NOOO!!!

  What the fuck… I fucked up again. Does he have some invisible barrier? Why can’t I kill him?

  - Why…? Why…? I just…

  - Shut your trap.

  - Why’re you doing this?

  I stared silently ahead, where my dagger’s blade stopped a millimeter from his skin. The kid’s chest heaved, gulping tiny bits of sulfur-tainted air. Even I could hear his heartbeat. His pale skin glistened with sweat. Not a single scar from the horrific trials he’d already endured. The healers know their shit, but…

  - Where’s the brand?

  - What?

  - Where’s your fucking brand?!

  - What brand?

  - THE SPIRAL ONE!

  - I don’t understand…

  - I’m talking about the round piece of shit they give you when you check into this fucked-up resort! – I tore off my clothes, showing my scar-riddled torso, the bold welcome mark on display. The kid nearly shat himself seeing my battered body.

  - I-I don’t know…

  - What’s your specialty?

  - I don’t have one…

  Fuck! Those bastards forgot to tag him. Now what? They don’t have a specialty, so no penalty. In theory, they could escape this hell. But that’s in theory… In theory, penguins can fly. In reality, they can barely walk. Saving them would be the biggest pain in the ass in human history. Odds of success? Barely a percent. And since when do I care about baby demons?

  I swung again, but my hand wouldn’t budge.

  - Why’re you doing this? You said you’d save us.

  - You don’t get it… There’s only one kind of salvation here.

  - No… Please… I get it. You think I haven’t dreamed of death every second? – Tears flooded the kid’s face. – This is hell… I thought I’d go insane if I lived another moment. But I can’t leave my brother! I’m holding on for him. Please… Just free us. We’ll handle the rest…

  - Hahaha! Handle it yourselves… You wouldn’t last a second! Every rock here wants to chew your tender ass! And trust me, that rock’s at least a hundred times stronger than you. No water, no food. Even the air’s poison. Without healing, you’d die in days!

  - I can make water with magic. We can eat the monsters. My brother’s a healer.

  Thwack!

  - Oh, sorry, hand slipped. Reflex. What were you saying?

  - You’re nuts…

  - Nuts? Me? I fit right into this fucked-up normality. Look around… You’re in hell. The real fucking deal. You’re lucky if doggos just eat you. But if they catch you again… They’ll mutilate you, heal you, and do it ‘til you die. Decades. They tortured me for over three years before I escaped.

  - If you did it, we can too! We’re pretty good with magic. We’ll make it.

  - Got a teleportation skill?

  - What?

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  - A nuke strike summoner? Customer support hotline? A fifty-meter battering ram? The fourth season of Attack on Titan? No? They told me to read manga, read manga… You might die tomorrow… Jinxed me, fuckers…

  - What’re you talking about?

  - Life. How it’s a fucking pain in the ass. Trust me, it’s better to be rid of it.

  - You can’t decide for us!

  - Oh, I can. You’re chained to a wall, and I’ve got a dagger.

  - But why?

  Huh… Fair question. How about so I don’t have to play babysitter and wipe anyone’s ass? He’s brave now, but once I free them, they’ll cling to me, begging for protection. On the other hand, no penalty. Maybe I could turn them into a badass guerrilla squad. I’ve got experience training healers, so why not? He could be useful if I catch syphilis again or something worse. Breathing this air too long, I’ll probably get lung cancer. Why am I stressing? Why’d I take this on? I wouldn’t mind some water either. Hope it’s cold.

  - AAAH, fuck… Fine. I won’t kill you, but on one condition: you do everything I say, when I say it, how I say it. If I say jump, you ask how… No, scratch that, you don’t ask. You read my mind and do it how I pictured it. If I didn’t picture it, do it so I’ll like it. Clear?

  - Not really…

  - God knows I tried…

  - No, no, no, wait! I get it, I’m in! We’re in!

  - Great…

  I wanted to show off for my new minions and free them from their shackles with my matter-disintegration trick, but then I figured the two dead demons probably had a key. They’ll shit themselves over my skills later. Besides, one’s still out. I got them off the wall and started thinking about next steps. Brother one started waking brother two. When he came to, he couldn’t process what happened. His psyche was a bit fucked by a red-hot poker. He kept screaming in terror. Brother one tried calming him. Grim sight.

  - What’re your names?

  - I’m Erik. He’s Din.

  - Got it. Alright, boys… I need to hit the city to handle some things. You hide in those cliffs. Here, take this knife, – I handed him a weapon from the torture stash, – If demons show up, you know what to do.

  I didn’t mean fight demons with it. Erik swallowed hard, glanced nervously at his brother, then nodded slowly. He took the knife with shaking hands and gripped it tight.

  - You’re going to the city?

  - Got short-term memory issues?

  - But there’s probably tons of monsters there.

  - Don’t worry, I’m sneaky. Full stealth mode. I didn’t watch all those ninja movies for nothing. Maybe I’ll level up some kind of invisibility skill.

  - Our sister was with us… With other kids.

  How many of you are there? Guess I was the only kid in my family. For others, having a bunch is normal. Here in the Middle Ages, they say: one son’s no son. Two’s half a son. Three, you’ve got a shot at an heir. ‘Cause no one’s invented antibiotics yet. Going to a healer’s either far or pricey. So this kid with healing magic had a bright future ‘til a giant shitstorm fell from a clear sky. But what bugs me is: not five minutes in, and they’re already piling tasks on me.

  - I can’t be sure those kids are still alive. (I’m sure they’re alive.) But I’ll find out. I’ll try to get them out. You wait here.

  We agreed. I left my squad and headed to the city. It was maybe half the size of the one where I faced total shitageddon. Sure, I was nervous, but after recent events, my legs wouldn’t stop, even though my brain screamed to run. One of me… Another was sharpening knives and yelling something incoherent about asses and dominating them.

  Alright, main mission—kids. For their rescue, we launch Operation: Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh… NinjAAAA!

  I tried sneaking up to the small stone buildings. A few demons were milling about outside. I waited ‘til they looked away. Quick dash, and one was dead in an alley with a dagger in its neck. NinjAAAA! Did it again. Another success. Three left. They finally noticed their buddies were gone and started looking around, confused. Gotta time this right and hit them so they don’t know what’s up. The first demon caught a shadow flash by. By the time he processed it, too late. The second saw the first’s corpse hit the ground. Then he only saw black, and not for long. Two knives, nabbed from the wall, stuck out of his eyes. The third didn’t turn in time for the lightning sound. I drove a dagger into his temple, cracking his skull. NinjAAAA…

  I dragged the bodies off the street and started checking houses. No kids in the first. Just two demons sipping tea. Fucking junkies… Reminded me of an old buddy, so those two died extra brutally. Killing them solo’s easy, especially from ambush. In their little world, they’re used to safety.

  Next house. “Yo,” I said, and took out two more. No kids there either. Went through houses like a Jehovah’s Witness, but no luck. Dozens of demons dead, no alarm raised. NinjAAAA… I’m badass. Checked my status quick. No stealth skill yet. What do I gotta do to unlock it? With my hostility penalty, it’d be a game-changer. A few more houses, same result. Maybe I’m doing it wrong? In one house, I found a small cauldron with some nasty brew. Nearby, swords, axes, and warhammers. Wonder what I could do with those to finally grind that stealth skill?

  Meanwhile, about two hundred meters from the city, two kids huddled in a ditch, trembling with fear, heads peeking out.

  - Maybe they got him already? – Din asked.

  - Don’t know… He said he’d sneak in. It’s quiet so far… Hope he pulls it off… – Erik replied.

  - You trust him?

  - He’s unhinged, but he saved us. We’ve got no one else. He’s been here a while, he says. No wonder he’s a bit off…

  - What if they catch him? What if they kill him? What’ll we do?

  Erik gripped the knife tighter. He didn’t know what to say. Somewhere in that city was their little sister. The thought of her enduring what he did made him want to puke. She’s so delicate, but her pure kindness outshone the world. He loved her so much. He and his brother always protected her. They were orphans, so it came up a lot. Erik often took beatings from angry drunks who worked them endlessly. After one bad beating, Din’s healing magic awakened. Lisa was different, like she was blessed by heaven. Sometimes, just her glance could turn the volcano in his soul into a calm summer evening. Her eyes gave hope; at night, her face glowed like the moon. Erik believed this nightmare would end someday. That their strength, guided by God, would prevail. That his sister was meant to be a beacon for the suffering. To show people the way. To inspire faith. His job was to protect her, even at the cost of his life.

  - We’ll save Lisa… If he can’t, we will. We have to. No matter what…

  - Okay… – Din agreed quietly.

  - Don’t be scared. It’ll be fine. Just stick with me.

  They sat in that tense atmosphere for a few minutes when loud noises erupted from the city.

  - BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

  - GOOOOOOOD MORNING, FUCKTOWN!!! IT’S A BALMY PLUS THIRTY OUTSIDE, AND WE’RE BLASTING HEAVY METAL! TO ALL ADVENTURE-SEEKERS: STEP OUT, TURN AROUND, AND BEND OVER! YOUR INSPECTOR’S HERE!!!

  - What the hell was that? – Din panicked.

  - That’s our psycho sneaking into the city…

  Chaos erupted after that intro. Screams, groans, heavy impacts, and explosions echoed from all over. Minutes later, tornadoes, fireballs, storm clouds, rock showers, giant metal spikes, weird black blobs, acid clumps, ghostly birds, and even a twenty-meter earth golem appeared, smashing everything for a few seconds before crumbling to dust mysteriously. It lasted about ten minutes, then silence.

  Din collapsed, clutching his head.

  - What’s happening?

  - No clue… But… Lisa could’ve been hurt in that chaos. We gotta get to her!

  - What about that guy?

  - Probably dead. It’s up to us now.

  - I’m scared…

  - Me too, but this is our chance. Might not get another. While that guy’s distracting the demons, we can save her. You don’t want her going through what we did, right?

  - No…

  - Then get up. You gotta be strong.

  - Okay… Okay… I can do this!

  The kids, crouching low, ran toward the city. Erik held Din’s hand like he feared he’d be snatched away. Reaching the city, they saw an unreal sight. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of monstrous bodies littered the ground. Many missing their horned heads. A faint pink mist hung in the air. Blood pooled everywhere. Many buildings were wrecked. The boys, summoning courage, entered the city. It was eerily quiet. No living demons. They checked surviving houses, each brimming with danger, hoping to find other kids. Nothing. They forced their shaky legs to keep going. Then a familiar voice rang out.

  - Hear that?

  - Yeah…

  - Demon?

  - Don’t think so… Let’s get closer.

  They crept toward the sound until they reached the open door of a house. Ahead was a dark, empty hallway, with an opening at the end where the strange words came from:

  - Seven little demons chopped wood with glee;

  - Chopped one down, and then there were six.

  - Six little demons played by the hive;

  - A bee stung one, and then there were five…