Their faces paled in terror with the grotesque sight in front of them. They were so shaken their jaws fell slack, yet no words escaped their mouth– they were driven to complete speechlessness.
Nothing they had come across, including the female who was turned inside out could compare to the horror which played out before them.
Apart from the now visible guards who were covered completely with armor with no visible skin in sight, something else had appeared.
An altar that Emlyn never noticed despite his former observations had magically spurned in the hall and was surrounded by two platforms. On the altar lay a passed-out Harley while the two platforms had Uriel and Calistor laid on them respectively, and were currently being tortured.
They had their arms twisted into bizarre and unnatural angles, and as they watched wide-eyed, they could see their legs visibly being shifted from their original angle by the guards.
Not a single sound leaked even though the duo seemed to be screaming and crying hysterically in pain, they had instead figured this out with their blatant display of pain as they violently trashed about while screaming in agony.
The force twisted the feet and legs of the duo and even without any sound, they could somehow hear the crackle of the bones as they were slowly shifted to an unnatural state while their owners wriggled in torment.
After twisting their limbs and leaving them trembling, everyone felt their heartbeat crescent when the guards suddenly picked up the big hammer that lay beside the altar and, with a shrill scream from Danielle, slammed it down heavily… on the duo’s manhood.
“A-ah… ah…” Marvin tumbled down the stairs trembling in horror with wet pants as he watched on with tears in his eyes.
In a bid to move away from the horrific sight, Danielle nearly fell off the stairs but was caught by Emlyn, who felt a wave of vomit rush into his mouth. Swiftly placing Danielle by the side he retched heavily, vomiting nothing but bile which flowed out of his mouth and nose.
Crystal had long been vomiting and, on seeing the scene, felt her head spin in dizziness as blood trickled down her nose from excessive stimulation.
However, it wasn’t yet over, and while the tragic males had been crippled from pain, somehow, they were still alive and presumably were feeling every inch of agony being inflicted on them. Picking up the slumped bodies of the miserable boys who were in excruciation like toys, the guards began leisurely ripping out their limbs.
The lethargic duo became energetic again as they wriggled helplessly like decapitated worms; instead of swiftly tearing out their limbs, the guards sadistically stretched them to their limits before they slowly ripped off on their own.
After ripping out everything, leaving behind only the stump of the body and their heads, they reached out for the heads of the duo; slowly pulling them upwards as soundless screams escaped the boys’ mouths. Their heads were decapitated from their bodies, finally putting them out of their misery.
By now, everyone was in terrible condition; only Emlyn was still stable. Others were shivering in a daze while watching while Danielle had completely conked out. Perhaps the ones who had entered a trance or fainted were the luckiest as they completely avoided the next gruesome event.
After dealing with Uriel and Calistor, the guards tossed away the stump of their bodies along with other parts to the floor within the constraints of the altar and platforms. They approached the sleeping Harley and, taking a knife beside the altar, slit her neck, specifically her carotid artery causing blood to gurgle out of the injury, awakening Harley.
Although everything was still silenced with how wide Harley’s mouth and eyes widened, Emlyn could guess she had awakened with a shrill scream.
Just like the others, despite her trashing and cries, there seemed to be a force that glued her to the altar restricting most of her movements.
The next scenes were very bloody; her wrist (radial artery), ankles (tibial artery), armpit (axillary artery), inner thigh (femoral artery), and upper arm (brachial artery) were all slit. The guards made their actions slow and deliberate as if to deliver the maximum amount of excruciation, and when they were done, they left Harley sprawled out on the altar, bleeding from every part, including her mouth, nose, and eyes.
As expected ,she was still alive, quivering with tiny motions like a chicken left to bleed out.
Emlyn felt his head spin as he tried to hold onto his mentality to avoid falling into a trance from overstimulation. His group had been KOed; Marvin was still awake but had fallen into a trance, mumbling random words that Emlyn barely made out to be– ‘I don’t want to die.’
Crystal was bleeding from both nostrils while shaking and Danielle was still passed out.
Feeling overwhelmed and wondering how he would bring them back, his eyes caught onto something! The blood that flowed down from the altar worked like glue; with every body part it touched, it glued it to the next, and slowly but surely, it was about to assemble everything and Emlyn didn’t want to find out just what it was trying to form!
Determined to leave, he decided to give his group a harsh wake-up call.
Raising his hand, he gave Marvin two dirty slaps, snapping him out of his daze; cupping his cheeks, he spoke seriously, “Snap out of it! We have to leave, now!”
“What??” Marvin questioned in a daze.
“I don’t know what’s forming in there but we have to leave now! Hurry up! Pick up Danielle while I handle Crystal.”
Without waiting for a response, he immediately rushed to Crystal, “Crystal, hey! Hey! Crystal!”
Emlyn called out, lightly slapping the girl in a bid to snap her out of her daze. Seeing her still staring dazedly without any progress, he gritted his teeth and, picking her up, swung her over his shoulders before facing Marvin, who held Danielle in a princess carry.
“Let’s go!”
***
There was no need for explanation; as soon as they saw the horrible look of the group, with two passed out and the others looking like they had seen the devil’s true form, they ran along with them to wherever Emlyn was taking them.
Just as they arrive at a large door at the very end of the passage Emlyn finally stopped. Honestly, he didn’t know what next to do, and along with the fact that their guide was completely conked out, he was more than lost.
“W-what do we do?!” Javis exclaimed in fear.
Gritting his teeth, Emlyn muttered wistfully, “I’m not sure…”
“What about Crystal?” Xeph asked.
“I tried waking her up but she’s blanked out…”
“So what do we do now…”
While they stood by the door pondering whether to enter the room or not, a sudden sound echoed through the castle!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Emlyn didn’t need a whistleblower to know that whatever it was wasn’t good! They could feel it was something huge chasing after them!
“Get in! Get in! Just find a place to hide and limit all sounds to the barest minimum!”
Entering the room, Xeph made sure to close the door, even bolted the locks, for good measure even though it’d probably be useless. And walking into the large library filled with books along with the others, they scattered everywhere, each finding a perfect spot to hide in.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! BAM!
Without hesitation, the large monster smashed the door open, walking inside. It ventured inside, spiking fear within the hidden occupants of the room. It shrieked loudly, screams of the dead participants mingled with its voice echoing along with its roar.
Everyone struggled to keep their fear at bay, being heavily influenced by the monster’s terrific aura, especially Javis, who was on the verge of crying. The monster roared once more, heightening the fear within everyone’s heart and causing all except Emlyn and the two girls who had passed out, to piss themself out of sheer terror.
After parading about for a while, it left the library, its growls appearing more and more distant until it finally left.
For good measure, everyone remained in their position for a couple more minutes moving only after Emlyn peeped out, confirming that the monster had left.
“Guys are you o–”
Just then, a bright white light erupted from Crystal, eclipsing the surroundings and causing everyone to take a step back except Emlyn who was thrown into a trance. His eyes glowed a vibrant burgundy red while a bright burgundy red dahlia flower bloomed on his forehead.
However because everyone had stepped back along with Crystal’s light completely enveloping him, no one found out.
Eventually, the light receded snapping Emlyn out of his daze, confused as he was his mind was brought back to the main issue at hand when Crystal woke up, her brown eyes now an unnatural yet distinct pale color along with her blonde hair which had faded to white.
She faced everyone and with a serious look, exclaimed, “We have to leave, now!”
***
Following Crystal’s lead they had escaped into the throne room and all lay down heaving in exhaustion.
Immediately after dashing out of the library, the monster suddenly came back, rampaging through it, and from the smashing sounds it made, they could make out it was smashing up everything to find them.
Luckily, they had managed to escape to the relatively hidden throne room, and even though the monster was still rampaging, searching for them, Crystal said they were safe here, for now. At least they had enough time for her to tell them what she had seen.
“Zero? What do you think happened to me?” Dina wondered.
“I think Emlyn’s witch ability was triggered just like Crystal’s seer’s ability probably because of being surrounded by magic. Can you feel it? What your power can do. ”
“Yeah… but how come Crystal's eyes changed along with her hair, and mine remained the same?” Dina wondered.
“One of the witch's gifts is the ability to mask their magical traits, which are mostly categorized by unique, possibly outwardly features; however, magicians cannot do this, thus are easily more recognizable than witches.”
“Oh, but…”
“You’ll have to find out about the rest by yourself,” Zero said with a sip from his tea.
Dina: ….In my own fucking mind?
Zero: So what? Would you prefer I never assist you again?
Dina: (︶︹︺)
Walking up to the king’s throne, Crystal sat down languidly with closed eyes while the others surrounded her. It made for quite a sight like a savior being surrounded by a bunch of poor, unfortunate souls. Even Danielle had woken up at some point.
She opened her eyes, her pale eyes glancing at the group who wholeheartedly relied on her before she sighed heavily.
Sweeping back her fair bangs she muttered softly, “This castle is cursed.”
“The plot is obscured; however, what I know can help us survive. Two magical creatures I could tell in my vision were magicians and witches. Eight children, magicians, were lured into the palace by their parents and royalty; they were fed and drugged, and with their bodies weakened to avoid any struggle, they were taken to be sacrificed for an evil ritual.”
“Four helpless witches were placed on the altar while the eight children surrounded them, and according to the requirements of the rituals, the witches were drained heavily of their blood and died in extreme pain. Pain and suffering, blood and torture were the requirements for the ritual; the kids were tortured in the worst ways possible to extract suffering and pain from them.”
“The rituals failed and they were turned into monsters…” Crystal paused, eyes glancing at the bloodless faces of her companions who quivered in pity for the victims, “Do not pity them, for we have become them.”
Everyone’s face turned grim; even without being told, they could tell from the onset that they were made to represent the victims, with how much the details matched.
“However,” Crystal continued, igniting hope within them, “the wicked royalties had made reservations in case the ritual failed, barriers which could protect them. This throne room is one of them, the royal laundry and kitchen are the rest.”
“So as long as we–“
“Don’t be hasty and listen. The main reason for these barriers was for the royals to stay hidden within, waiting for the message from the guards if the ritual had failed or not before escaping. It’s not a safe proof, just a simple measure to temporarily protect them before they escape. The monsters can penetrate this barrier, so we have to escape!”
After that, they hastily rushed to the laundry room, which was where Crystal had said their escape route was. They didn’t know the path to the rooms; however, with Crystal, it became easier to navigate the castle.
“If we don’t hurry, when night reaches we’ll be doomed! The demons will completely awake and rip us to shreds!”
“How do we know when night arrives?”
“The whole castle will slowly awaken its true form as night approaches! Like now!”
Since they were in a hurry, they had barely noticed it until Crystal pointed it out; the formerly bright castle was getting dimmer and dimmer. The false cheerfulness was slowly fading away to reveal a more ominous feeling as the feeling of being surrounded intensified.
Entering the laundry room, they hurtled down the secret passage which led to the escape route.
At the end of the secret passage, they came across a room filled with paintings. The room was dark, with only a few dim lights illuminating it; its bare reddish brown walls were covered with mold, dirt, and grime enunciating its ancient origin.
Everyone instantly began to search for the door with great vigor using Crystal’s description except Emlyn who was sneakily looking through paintings. With each passing moment, the castle became more alive, and they could feel the faint presence of the demons and their quiet whispers.
They panicked, but even after turning over the whole place, no door was found.
“Crystal?!” Javis shrieked panicky.
“I-I can’t tell, it should be here! It should be here!” she exclaimed in shock while pulling at her hair in a panic.
Everyone slowly lost their minds, after all, hope betrayed was worse than despair. They all cried pitifully while trembling in fear of what painful death could besiege them, but then Danielle noticed Emlyn, who was still searching diligently, only she noticed he was searching for something else.
How could it be? It couldn’t be… there was no way Emlyn would betray them by hiding important information!
“Emlyn!” she called out while walking up to the surprised male who flinched as if he had something to hide, “A-are you hiding something from us?”
Instantly, all eyes turned to him, including Crystal. Her white eyes stared deeply into him and he felt like all his secrets had been laid bare
When Crystal stood up, her eyes turned fierce, “He’s hiding something.”
“You! How could you?!”
“E-Emlyn just speak… What is it? What is it?! Why are you trying to escape alone?!”
Being bombarded by questions while surrounded by the resentful glares from his companions, Emlyn was dazed for a while but was snapped out of his daze when Crystal grabbed him by the neckline, her piercing pale eyes glaring right at him.
“WHAT. ARE. YOU. HIDING?”
Emlyn said no words causing everyone to become increasingly agitated and just as they were about to take drastic measures he chuckled leaving them trembling.
“W-what are you..?!”
Instantly, his eyes changed from a brilliant golden brown to an alluring burgundy red causing Crystal to fall back in shock along with the others.
Emlyn smiled sweetly, a lovely red burgundy dahlia blooming, on his forehead, its deep petals unfurling graciously. Slowly, a sweet floral scent permeated the room, bewitching the group.
The more they stared into Emlyn’s eyes the more they felt a deep passion grasp their soul and an overwhelming desire to profess their love to the ethereal being before them.
Emlyn chuckled softly, his eyes wandering to the rattling painting which was on the verge of bursting out. It seemed the sorcerers were more eager to capture a witch than a magician, huh?
Looking towards his now hypnotized companions with red eyes and a swooned look, he thought, why not teach the sorcerers they weren’t the only ones capable of using magic?
Glancing towards them seductively, Emlyn muttered, his soft voice seemingly coated with a layer of sweetness, leaving them even more addicted, “From now on, you will feel no pain.”
Their vacant eyes surged lightly, and bowing down before him, they kissed his feet in adoration and, all at the same time, spoke, “Yes… my love.”
Dina, who was weirded out by a bunch of people kissing her feet and calling her ‘their love’: ( ╹▽╹ ) doesn’t feel that bad, honestly….
Zero: (¬_¬)
Almost immediately, various demonic arms burst out reaching towards him, without wasting time he placed his hands on the blank painting and with a loud voice screamed–
“Guys, I'm also a witch!”
An uncanny suction threw back the demonic hands, sucking Emlyn into the painting in one go leaving it tumbling to the floor.
The group’s enchantment wore off to find themselves surrounded by demons who viciously ripped them into pieces, but oddly enough, they felt no pain.
As Crystal’s consciousness faded into the dark, a faint thought lingered, “I feel like… I forgot something very important… well… what does it matter…”
Their death was…. Blissful.