A man was kneeling on a cold, stone floor. His hands were tied and chained to the ground. His bare back was disfigured from the numerous lashes he'd received and he'd been trapped in this dark, dank cell for over a week now. He was hungry and thirsty, but he knew he would not be shown any mercy.
He had failed.
This man was none other than Gustave; the spy who had been planted inside the Del Montague manor to keep an eye on Saintess Helena and report any major changes in the family. He had returned to his master after failing to kill Lord Alexander. There was no point running away because he knew his master would find him. His work had been much simpler before and this was the first time he was tasked to kill. He had been shocked when he received the letter instructing him on what he must do, but he knew he could not back down.
His life was not his own. Either he obeyed or he died. And he had failed. So now he was definitely going to die.
He waited with a heavy heart when his ears perked up at the sound of footsteps.
The door swung open with a creak and a cloaked man stepped inside. The knight accompanying him closed the door to give his master privacy with the prisoner. The cloaked figure was large and tall. He moved with the grace of a predator and pulled a chair in front of the bleeding Gustave. Once seated, he threw off his hood and revealed his bald head and handsome, youthful features.
Gustave hunched his shoulders and lowered his head. Pope Matthew was one of the most terrifying men he had ever met.
The Pope smiled, showing off all of his pearly white teeth.
"Why is your head lowered? You look so unhappy." The Pope's tone was both chilling and gentle. "I thought you would be pleased to see me. After all, I helped you get your life in order. And even though you failed in the single assignment I tasked you with to repay me for all my years of generosity, I still haven't killed you."
Gustave trembled in fear. He was tied up, injured, thirsty, and hungry. He was fully at the Pope's mercy.
"I would have come here sooner, but I received a most enchanting letter from our dear Saintess Helena. A distress letter, of sorts. It appears the holy child is really suffering from lack of attention. The Duke's first daughter has stolen Helena's brother Alexander, the Crown Prince and Marquis Liam away from her. Apparently, they're all spending so much time with the black sheep of the family that dear, sweet Helena has been feeling greatly hurt."
Gustave didn't know why he was being told all this. He chanced a look and immediately froze when he saw that the Pope's regular dull brown eyes were glowing red. He quickly looked away and was rewarded with a harsh kick to the face.
"I thought I told you to stop looking away. Don't you know it's courtesy to look at the person speaking to you?"
Gustave fell back with a yelp, the chains rattled loudly and the Pope laughed.
"On your knees, fool! And look at me unless you want more lashes."
Gustave struggled to his knees and coughed up blood. Was it just his imagination or was the air getting hotter? It was difficult to breathe.
The Pope continued speaking in his sickly, sweet tone.
"Now, if you had succeeded in killing off at least one of them, then the other would have lost their fighting spirit. Imagine Lady felicia returning home without her brother? Or Lord Alexander losing his sister? That would have made Helena so happy! It's important for our Saintess to be happy, Gustave! You failed to deliver and now the dear one is so upset."
"I wish I had brought her letter with me so I could read it to you. It's most amusing! Similar to the letters I used to exchange with her mother about how jealous she was that Lady Moniqua was married to the Grand Duke."
The Pope chuckled.
"Helena is as greedy and deceptive as her mother. Except in her case, she's significantly more stupid because she was spoiled rotten. She feels she deserves everything and anything she sets her fancy to, even when it doesn't make any sense."
The Pope laughed very hard and wiped his tears.
"It never ceases to amaze me how deluded some people can be. One should never underestimate the capacity of the human mind to distort reality. People can convince themselves of just about anything and if you say the right things to them, they feel validated. That was the case with you, Gustave. It's why you decided to work for me, remember? You believed me when I told you you were a worthy asset, even though you must have known deep down that I was always planning on using you until you became useless. And that's where we are right now."
"You see, we have another problem. The shameful attack on the Del Montague children has not yielded any results. An entire week has passed and still nothing! Not even a single lead, oh gosh, whoever did this really covered his tracks well! Must have been a smart man."
The Pope laughed again.
Gustave was struggling even more to draw breath.
What is happening to me?
"But we cannot allow the culprit to go unpunished as people need to resume their normal lives. Right now all the people of Delgard city are so scared because the monsters are still on the loose. Three of them got away, well four including you. Those other three incompetent swine have already been dealt with. In a few hours, just in time in breakfast, the bodies of those shameful creatures will turn up inside the city hall and you...."
The Pope voice trailed off as he stood up and approached Gustave. The man was choking, but not a sound escaped him as his face turned blue. The Pope knelt down and grabbed him by the throat. Gustave's eyes widened in shock when he saw that the irises of the Pope had thinned and looked more reptilian than human. It was also emitting a thick red smoke which paralyzed him.
He felt like a rat caught in the coils of a snake.
"Well, you're going to submit a letter of resignation to the Grand Duke. You're too traumatized to keep working for the family. I'm sure he'll understand."
The sound of wild drums beating filled Gustave's ears as the Pope brought his face closer to him and opened his mouth. His jaw dropped, his chin tapping against his chest and from his mouth, red vines, which looked like centipedes shot out and gripped Gustave's head, yanking him closer until half of his face was swallowed by the Pope's mouth.
Gustave's eyes rolled back into his head as every bit of his life force was sucked out of him. His aura dimmed and his entire soul was devoured by a hungry Demon Lord.
The Pope flung the dry carcass away from him and stood up. He stretched out his arms and took several sharp breaths to further savor the intoxicating power which surged through him now that he'd given his master another soul.
His blood felt hot and his entire body was excited. Knowing he was close to climax, he lifted his robe, lowered his breeches and rubbed his stiff hard member just twice before he ejaculated all over Gustave's corpse. His own eyes rolled back in pleasure and he released a lot of semen before the intoxicating sensation subsided.
He did not need sex. Sacrificing souls was far more pleasurable!
Pulling out a water flask he quickly washed himself off before putting his clothes back in order.
Opening his palm, he produced a small ball of fire. Demonic fire was very different from regular fire and it ate up the corpse in a matter of minutes. Gustave was reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash.
"Thank you, Gustave. I did appreciate your years of service, but I think I paid you more than your worth. No matter, the debt has been fully repaid! Your soul was more than enough to cover the cost of failure. The Dark Lord will savor your taste and I'll have more power for weeks to come!"
Turning around, he headed back to the door and stepped outside. His most loyal knight bowed his head.
"Send a letter to the Duke of Del Montague. Inform him that Gustave has found employment else where."
The knight bowed and walked off.
Matthew stood there smiling to himself. He glanced up at the crescent moon.
"Look at me, Moniqua. I just punished the criminal who put an arrow through your son. You should thank me. And don't fret, in time I will kill Tyren as well. Then I will have also avenged your death. Aren't I such a good friend? Even though you betrayed me and died, I still care for you."
He cackled and headed back to his carriage.