Chapter 375: Demons are real
‘…’
[Milord…are you okay?]
‘I am fine, Lacerage, just…having a bit of a mental crisis…’
[Why’s that?]
[He just witnessed his “devil schtick” being performed by a Hurricroak-poessesed child in a manner nearly identical to our own lord’s performance, so he might be having a crisis of identity…I think?]
‘Kinda.’
‘CHOKE ON YOUR OUTDATED MEMES!’
‘AAAAAAAHHHHH!’
[Huh…everyday I become more and more thankful we were assigned to watch over the estate and the zakos.]
[Right?]
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“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!,” Simos panicked
“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?!,” Graff questioned.
“Oh fuck that preacher was right…OH FUCK THAT FORTUNETELLER WAS RIGHT!,” Victor cursed, finally succumbing to the dumbing influence of the duo of idiots that was Simos and Graff.
“ALL OF YOU, SHUT THE FUCK UP!,” Fia commanded the, rightfully freaking out, trio of Victor, Simos and Graff. This wasn’t the first time she had ended up in a dangerous, somewhat shitty situations, but this was the first time she ended up in such a situation where the normal rules of engagement didn’t apply.
It was one thing to stare down a giant murderous aether beast or an angry elite warrior that had a noticeably higher ranking than oneself, it was another thing entirely to be staring down literal monsters that defied reality and were apparently meant to punish people for their sins. Making matters worst, they were surrounded.
“But not for long…,” Fia muttered under her breath as she activated a small array embedded in her hand, releasing a very faint signal of aether that was nigh undetectable to most warriors. Well…most mortal ones.
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[Hey, I think Miss Bitch here just released a tracer signal.]
[Excellent, I was thinking it was going to get boring after bodying this “Shadow” guy.]
[Is he still alive? Our lord is still very much against us leaving a body trail.]
[Don’t worry, I held back…mostly.]
[Why…didn’t you…just…kill him…?]
[Simple, death may be permanent but it’s quick, trauma lasts much longer and causes way more suffering.]
[That is really dark.]
[To be fair, we’re dealing with child traffickers. I consider this to be more like…karma.]
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As Geo and his demons came closer and closer to the group, more and more details about them became more obviously visible.
Normally, knowing how the unknown looks would do wonders in alleviating one’s worries, but in this case it had the opposite effect. Being able to make out more and more details of their would-be tormentors/probable executioners, made the lot of them more jumpy.
“Bwehehehehehe!”
“Oh gods, what is that laugh?!”
The decidedly cruel, demented, somehow electrical sounding, laughter coming out of a child of all things, was not helping in the slightest.
“What’s wrong? Feeling scared? Good!,” Geo mocked with a cruel laugh, “Demons like us just love to hear the screams of the damned and soon-to-be! It’s the closest thing we got to music down there!”
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[Uh…Hurricroak? You don’t think you’re hamming this up a bit too much?,] Nepherage asked.
[Tsk, no way! We’re trying to instill pure existential terror into these people, if anything, I’m underperforming. Oh! Your body is made of lava, right?]
[Aged Crimson Jade, what about it?]
[Can you make it so…you look like you got veins of pure heat and energy breaking through your skin?]
[Really easily, why?]
[I need you to do it…now!]
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Fwoosh.
“OH GOD THAT ONE IS MADE OF FUCKING LAVA!,” Simos screamed as he was the one closest to this particular demon.
The monster in question had the general silhouette of a warrior woman, an attractive one at that, but he could make multiple details that made the woman look anything but.
Downward curving horns framed a featureless face, save for unnaturally jade green eyes that might as well have been made of jade.
Red and black mottled skin that pulsated with veins of pure power and rage, steam radiating off of it as if to signal that anyone who would even dare to touch her would end in burning agony.
Vicious looking clawed hands and feet, armored bits made of carved stone that seemed to merge with the rest of the flesh.
In essence, Simos thought he was looking at the walking embodiment of a volcanic eruption…and he was on the receiving end.
“I wonder how long it’ll take you to burn into ashes? Five minutes or five seconds.”
“YOU CAN TALK?!”
Correction, he was on the receiving end of a walking, talking volcanic eruption.
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[Nice…display…]
[Thanks.]
[Frosttusk, need some suggestions on how to intimidate?]
[My…size…not…enough?]
[Try absorbing heat from the area around your feet with every step.]
[O…Kay….]
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“Why is it getting so cold in-OH FUCK ME, WHY?!,” Graff cursed as he stared at the incoming giant of a monster walking towards him, whilst leaving a trail of ice that formed with every step.
‘Fucking shit, I don’t think even elephant bloodliners could get that big,’ Graff noted, recalling that the tallest elephant bloodliners ever gott were about six and a half feet…the one coming towards him was a solid eight feet tall.
Calling the monster standing before him “big” would be an understatement, it’d be more accurate to call them an encroaching mountain of meat and ice.
The monster before him was shaped like a warrior from the cold parts of Soaring Gryphon, complete with a spiked shoulder guards, a hornet helmet and a braided brard. However, as the giant slowly walked towards him, he soon realized his initial assessment was…off.
The braided beard turned into a long hairy trunk that looked to be more muscled than even your strongest strongman.
The horned helmet was in reality a part of the monster’s body, encasing a pair of yellow eyes that stared into his soul and seemed to inspire despair and regret.
And last but not least, the spikes he assumed to be jutting out of a shoulder guard, were actually tusks that accentuated the trunk in an intimidating manner.
In essence, Graff had the distinctive feeling he was going to be froze into a popsicle and then crushed to death by this giant before him, all while being reminded of every single regret he had in life, a feeling emphasized by the sound of the floor beneath them getting frozen over and then cracked into pieces.
‘I am so fucked.’
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[Ooooh, nice cracking stomp. How’d you get it to crack towards him?]
[Selective…freezing…]
[Interesting…]
[My turn then? Did I really have to be one of the ones to do this? I don’t even express elemental aether!]
[What’s that have to do with anything?]
[Elemental abilities add to the intimidation factor!]
[Oh, it’ll be fine just…laugh. Like a deranged hyena and click your teeth while you do it.]
[What?
[Just trust me on this. Oh! And make a threat about what you’re going to do him!]
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“Hehehehehe hehehehehe!”
Scrit-clatter, scrit-clatter.
“That…that is not a good sound,” Victor commented as he back stepped from the encroaching demon marionette.
As a veteran thief, Victor had seen all sorts of things including a wide variety of aether puppets that he either stole or had to escape from due to almost dying to them, so he recognized that one such puppet was coming towards him.
However, it was because of this intimacy that he realized whatever he was dealing with a decidedly…diabolic derivative of the norm.
Going from appearance alone, whomever decided to make a puppet out of various types of blades and stitch them together into the shape of a ballet dancer must’ve had a twisted sense of beauty. He could even smell the countless gallons of blood that must’ve been spilled by those wicked claws.
Aether puppets couldn’t move in completely natural ways even under the command of a master puppeteer, this one was moving with such natural fluidity that it was indistinguishable from a human, in fact, it might have been even more graceful than a human. A feat made horrifying given the literal swords for legs and the distinct lack of sound that is normally produced when metal hit stone.
This puppet could slice off his head in one fluid strike and he’d probably never even notice.
Aether puppets normally don’t talk, this one was laughing at him through serrated metal teeth that made a horrible scratching/clicking noise with every chuckle.
“I wonder,” the puppet said in a voice akin to scratching metal plates, “did you know that beaver pelt hats go for a very high price in the right markets? You think that logic applies to bloodliners? Especially ones belonging to the Spatial Tooth Beaver clan?!”
Victor paled once he heard the demon’s threat.
This was the second time someone had correctly identified what he was exactly, only this time, he couldn’t weasel and deal his way out of this one.
‘Is…is this seriously how it’s all going to end?,’ Victor thought to himself as his heart began to race.
He had maybe one trick up his sleeve, but…
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[Oooh, nice threat! I know making people into accessories is a common one, but I think you’re one of the few that can pull it off.]
[Thank you, thank you, I’m here all night.]
[Well then, guess it’s my turn~]
