Near the site where Veilhem was currently in…
There were some supporting members of Jujutsu High waiting outside of the barrier. It had been 30 minutes since Veilhem got in there but there was no sight of him returning.
Albeit, they didn't think of calling for backup or at least reporting it to their superior. In fact, they were instructed to come here and confirmed that Veilhem, the black knight who appeared out of nowhere, had been terminated.
Every single one of them was the dogs of the Higher Ups sent to the site. What they did was strictly classified as top secret.
Suddenly, one of the support staff who was smoking with his comrade stood up, his gaze losing focus like that of a puppet. His comrade noticed this unusual behavior, and he shook the man's shoulders, but to no avail.
He appeared to be in a trance-like state. The man looked into the sky with his soulless eyes and a word escaped his mouth.
"Understood."
In the next second, his entire body revealed a zipper running from head to toe. This phenomenon alarmed the other person, who was attempting to shake him out of his bizarre state of mind.
He took a couple of steps back in surprise, and the zipper slowly unfolded, revealing a human hand extending from the inside. The man observed the whole process in horror, and his brain had stopped working.
(A/N: brain.exe has stopped working)
It pushed away the skin of the staff person, revealing a stunning red-haired lady. The black civil servant's clothes perfectly wrapped around her well-proportioned figure.
Her body was covered in the bloody mucus but she didn't seem to be bothered by it.
She merely went outside to get a feel for the location before turning to face the other staff member who was staring at her with a look of pure horror.
He was sweating profusely as he took several steps backward. All the while Makima just stared at him and seemed to be lost in thought.
Her amber eyes stared at the other staff with little to no emotion. However, in his eyes, she was a literal monster. She had unzipped the man from the inside out, leaving the bloody empty husk on the ground as she glanced at the terrified staff member.
The horror he felt when he saw his comrade being turned into a husk overwhelmed the man. His breath was ragged as he still couldn't believe what he just saw.
Even though he still possessed some capability with the Cursed Technique, the thought of attacking the devil in front of him never surfaced in his mind. In fact, Makima didn't even try to control the guy but the profound fear and terror were the ones 'controlling' him.
Makima slowly walked toward the man but as she approached him, he stumbled and shouted some unintelligent noises.
"Ueeewo, dwont come here!!" His fear was palpable but Makima couldn't care less about that as she continued to walk toward him with unhurried steps.
Finally, she was in front of him and crouched down to meet his eye level. As she propped up her chin with one hand while the other was neatly put under her breasts, she asked the terrified man.
"Have you seen the man dressed like a black knight that was supposed to take the job of exorcizing the level one Cursed Spirit?" As she spoke, she took out the photo from her pocket.
Not wanting to fuck around and find out, the man nodded repeatedly like a rooster pecking and pointed at the barrier.
It was pretty normal if one looked from the outside but of course, it was just an illusion set up by the 'curtain'.
No time to waste, Makima closed her eyes and began to calculate the collateral damage that could occur when dealing with the berserk state of Veilhem. The last time was lucky simply because there was Toji to hold him back but this time it was only herself.
His mental fortitude was a problem to deal with but given his chaotic mind, it would be hard to do so. Simply put, Veilhem was filled with nothing but misery and despair memories so it would be almost impossible to navigate through his mind without having some backlashes.
After a brief few seconds, she opened her eyes again, it gleamed with cold calculativeness.
"Hieee." The shrieking noise of the man brought her back from her train of thought.
"Oh right, you're still here." Makima muttered as she pointed her finger at him without turning her head to look.
"You have been a good boy but I can't let you go this time." She didn't want to reveal this to the Higher Ups so eliminating the variables was the best choice.
Just then…
"Bang."
The poor guy's body was forced to take on the pressure from an unseen force. He tried to use his meager ability to block it with his insignificant Cursed Energy to amplify his body in hope of somehow reducing or even completely negating it.
Simply put, he was But his body gave in first and as a result, he turned into a bloody paste with bits and pieces splashed everywhere.
It painted the surroundings in red like a masterpiece of some twisted serial killers. Some of his blood even got on her face and clothes but she didn't care that much. Back when she was still in her world, this was basically an everyday thing.
She stepped into the barrier smoothly as it showed no resistance. In an instant, she knew that the barrier was put in a way that was easy to break in but hard to break out.
The intention was obvious because they wanted to eliminate Veilhem from the picture. If he died, that was good. If he doesn't, then make sure to imprison him inside that infinite space.
The infinite corridor appeared in front of Makima but she just gave it a glance before she saw Veilhem kneeling on one of his knees, his hands tightly grabbed at the broken hilt. The broken sword and Veilhem were glistening in the amber of the second flame. It didn't burn brightly as a flame should be but like a dying cinder on its last breath.
Everything around him was engulfed in the flame as if it were spreading. The dancing flame incinerated everything it touched, leaving only the pile of ashes behind.
His back was facing her but as she approached the knight with slow and steady steps, she could clearly hear the gibberish noises escaping from his mouth. It felt like he was… begging.
He is begging? What is he begging for? The world had wronged him multiple if not thousands of times but he still didn't hate it but instead pleaded for its forgiveness.
Doesn't he have her now? As a spark of light in his depressing life?
As soon as she realized that, a surge of anger rushed through her cold and calculative head. Unbeknownst to Makima, her pace quickened toward him.
But then, she abruptly stopped and stood behind him in silence. She didn't know what to do next. Leaving him on his own was not an option and tampering with his state of mind could lead to unwanted consequences.
Being stuck between a rock and a hard place, never in her life had she felt this frustrated.
"What else do I need to do…"
"Why can't I rest, even if just for a moment…?"
"Spare me from this unending despair…"
"For I have sinned…"
The more she listened to his nonsense pleading, the more anger she felt. Unbeknownst to Makima, her fists clenched tightly and her body trembling in irritation.
She grabbed his shoulder and forcefully pulled him back and held his face close to hers.
"Look at me, Veilhem." She spoke but her usual cold tone was nowhere to be found. Instead, a wave of emotion lay beneath that slightly wavering tone.
For the first time, Makima lost her aloof and indifferent aura.
"I said, "Look at me, Veilhem.""
However, his response to her was still that gibberish pleadings as he appeared to be absent-minded. Frustration piled up in her mind and she couldn't take it anymore.
Bang!
A metallic sound of flesh and metal echoed in this desolate space.
Yes, she punched him.
But even after that punch, he didn't wake up from his trance state. Lying on the floor as if he had resigned to everything in this shitty world.
He had given up and now, his soul had forfeited.
Even after all those painful memories, he had never once given up but now, he got knocked down by this so-called fate? Where is that tenacity he had shown in his memories? Don't make her laugh!!
Bang!
She climbed on top of him and delivered yet another powerful punch. His helmet was knocked out and revealed the face beneath.
Veilhem was not handsome, just a mediocre standard for humans but even so, his face was covered in scars and the Hollowing Curse made his body decay. His eyes once shone brightly now were only an ember burning in them, as if he had no more will to live. The root that stemmed from his heart had reached his neck, perhaps that was why he never took off his armor even while they were alone with each other.
Seeing him in this pathetic state infuriated Makima to no other extent.
She kept punching him as time passed but that only served as her venting her anger. The sounds of flesh colliding against flesh echoed in this empty corridor. With each punch, the dark blood spurted out and stained the floor and her clothes but when had she cared for that?
"Hah… hah… hah…" Makima's breathing became haggard after venting her emotions on him.
She laid down on his chest as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her facial expression turned into pain. It felt like someone had driven a knife into her heart and slowly twisted it with a sinister intention.
She was not used to this kind of emotion…
Why? For the first time, she had a relationship that was comfortable with her desire and this is how it turned out in the end? What a cruel fate she found herself in, a morbid joke as if fate itself had arranged for her.
Fuck it all.
She got up and there was no longer hesitation in her glowing eyes, only resolution and determination to get him back. Who cares about the backlashes?
With that, a chain appeared from her lower belly and connected itself to his head. Grabbing his head firmly in her hands, she peered into the landscape of his mind.
_______
(A/N: Suprise? Bet you didn't expect me to upload another chapter in 1 week. Tsk tsk, bloody hell the deadlines man.)