"NO!"
The scream tore from Riko's throat, raw and filled with a pain so deep it was physical.
He saw his sister's body, the horrible, crushing bite mark on her skull, and something inside him snapped.
His eyes glared towards the suited demon.
He raised the pistol, his hands shaking with pure rage.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The bullets slammed into the demon's back.
This time, the creature shuddered with each impact.
Black, oily blood splattered from the wounds.
It let out a choked gurgle, its body twitching violently before it finally collapsed, motionless, on top of Sophia.
This time, it was truly dead.
But Riko wasn't satisfied.
The sudden rage and grief hadn't left him...
He fumbled with the gun, trying to reload with trembling fingers.
His eyes locked on the demon that had killed his sister...
He wanted to keep shooting its corpse until there was nothing left!
Arthur saw the suicidal grief in Riko's eyes.
He grabbed Riko's arm, his voice a harsh, urgent whisper.
"Riko, stop! It's over! She's gone! We have to go, now!"
"LET ME GO!"
Riko screamed, struggling against Arthur's iron grip, his eyes wild with tears and fury.
"I'LL KILL IT! I'LL KILL IT!"
Arthur didn't let go.
He pulled hard, physically dragging a screaming, thrashing Riko away from the gruesome scene and toward the tunnel that led to the ladder.
It was then that the ground began to tremble.
A high and low pitched mixed scream vibrated up through the stone beneath their feet, a sound of pure madness.
The fleshy demon, attracted by the gunfire and the death of its neighbor, was coming.
But this time, its voice seemed to trigger the green engravements on the wall...
The previously green light turned into a deep red!
Seth, with Matthew clinging to his back, was the first to reach the ladder.
"Climb! Climb!" he urged the boy, and Matthew scrambled up.
Seth followed right behind, his heart pounding with a final burst of hope.
But as Seth pushed upwards, expecting to feel the cool night air, his head slammed into something solid.
Something invisible seemed to be blocking the way...
He pushed again harder but to no avail, it was not working!
He could see the starry sky and the grassy field above him, clear as day, but an invisible barrier was pressing down, sealing them in!
"What's happening?!"
Seth yelled down, panic seeping into his voice.
Arthur, having finally dragged a sobbing Riko to the base of the ladder, shoved Riko toward the first rung.
"What's the hold up?!"
"There's a barrier! I can't get through!"
Arthur's face darkened.
He climbed up, squeezing past Seth and Matthew.
He reared back a massive, muscle-bound fist and threw a punch at the empty space above them.
A dull thud sounded out, and Arthur grunted in pain, shaking his hand.
The barrier didn't even crack or move!
His face turned to stone.
"It's sealed. The red engravings... that demon locked this place down. Back down! Now! We need to find another way, fast!"
A wave of despair washed over them.
They climbed back down into the hell they had just tried to escape.
As their feet hit the stone floor, the reality of their situation became terrifyingly clear.
The fleshy demon was now fully in the main passage, a wall of pulsating flesh and twitching limbs, its tiny head screaming silently as it began to crawl slowly toward them with its huge body
They were trapped between it and a dead end!
Riko, who had been slumped against the ladder, looked from the advancing mountain of flesh to the corner where his sister's body lay, still pinned under the dead suited demon.
He saw a flash of her short hair, the jacket she always wore.
He clenched his fists so tight his nails drew blood from his palms.
The grief and rage turned into a cold, dark resolution.
"Fuck this..." he muttered, his voice now eerily calm.
"Fuck all of this."
He whispered a single, strange word into the suffocating air.
"Liberdolor..."
As the world came out of his lips, something terrifying happened.
Black, inky veins erupted across Riko's skin, crawling up his neck and down his arms like fast-growing vines.
His eyes rolled back into his head, showing only the whites.
"What are you..."
Seth who was beside Riko originally wanted to question what Riko was doing, when a system notification suddenly appeared in front of Seth!
[Sin of Self Harm, First Circle Ability.]
[God's Mercy: Any being who calls upon the name of the Progenitor of Self-Harm, the Father of Mercy Liberdolor, shall be heard and granted release from the prisons of life. Once released, their body will embrace death, resulting in a harmful explosion.]
'This...!'
Seth was immediately surprised!
Riko was actually a witch too!?
"RIKO!"
Arthur roared, finally understanding what was happening.
Seeing this description, Seth immediately grabbed Matthew and shouted towards Arthur
"TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!"
Riko's body, now a vessel of pure, dark energy, ran forward.
The flesh demon, sensing the incoming threat, lazily extended one of its many limbs, a thick, fleshy tentacle, to swat this annoying pest aside.
Riko looked at the approaching limb, a twisted, peaceful smile on his face.
"Come, die with daddy..."
BOOM.
The explosion ripped outwards in a silent, expanding sphere of absolute blackness for a split second before a deep, thunderous sound that shook the entirety of the warehouse.
The stone walls trembled, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
The horrifying scream of the flesh demon was cut short, replaced by a sound of tearing, wet flesh.
...
Miles away, in a well-furnished apartment on the outskirts of the Linere District, Anthony Tangen poured a cup of steaming tea.
He handed it to his father, Fredero Tangen, a plump man with a stern face, thin eyebrows, and a noticeable beer belly.
His rough, pimpled skin contrasted sharply with the fine, expensive suit he wore.
"Have some tea, father," Anthony said respectfully.
Fredero took the cup with a nod, sipping quietly.
He knew his son well.
"You don't serve tea without purpose. Tell me, have you seen anything new lately?"
Anthony smiled a thin, humorless smile.
"Yes, father. It's in regards to you."
"What is it?" Fredero asked in a low yet serious voice.
Anthony did not respond immediately as he smiled towards his father.
"A terrible fate awaits you and our family, father."
He stated calmly as he delivered the grim news without emotion.
Fredero was silent for a moment, absorbing the words.
He did not reprimand his son.
He knew these visions were rarely wrong.
"Rest assured," Fredero finally said, his voice low and confident.
"Fate can be changed."
As he spoke these words, a distant, muffled BOOM reverberated through the night, coming from the direction of their old warehouse.
Fredero Tangen frowned, his cup pausing halfway to his lips.
The timing felt like a bad omen.