"...it's been a week, hasn't it? Let's go see whether those youngsters changed their minds about joining."
Ivo, the Southern Crime Lord, put down the documents he was reviewing and spoke up.
"Understood. The guards will be ready in ten minutes."
The maid waiting for orders by the door curtsied and left the room to see everything prepared.
Just as was declared, ten minutes later, a carriage surrounded by guards left the manor grounds and rode through the city.
It took some time, but after passing by the lookouts, Ivo's carriage entered the area where not a single guard dared to take a step closer.
Some of the richer folks called it a lawless district, but they couldn't be more wrong.
He, Ivo, was the absolute ruler and the law there.
"...?"
When Ivo looked through the window as his destination was drawing close, his brow raised in suspicion.
The streets were eerily empty.
Although sure, that part of the district was purposefully kept as ruins above the ground, but that didn't mean there were no beggars and lowlives roaming around.
Even if he was coming, there was no reason for all of them to clear the way to that degree.
At least, that has never happened before.
Then things got even… more worrisome.
As they arrived at their destination, the guards who were set to secure the perimeter at all times were there… but even from afar, they seemed off.
It was only confirmed when the carriage finally stopped, and two of them approached Ivo's carriage while he got out.
"...S-s-s-sir… W-w-welcome…"
"..."
Both of them were pale as ghosts and trembling, scared shitless for no apparent reason.
One of them even had to support himself on his spear instead of holding it properly, just to prevent his knees from buckling down.
"What is this supposed to… HURGH…!?"
Ivo frowned, looking down on the two guards when a gust of wind coming from the ruined building he was supposed to enter carried a stench so putrid that the crime lord retched, barely holding down the vomit.
"...i-it's the… the screams… they stopped… that means… he… he will come out…!"
The slightly braver guard whimpered, turning himself to the side just so he didn't risk catching a glimpse of the ruined building in his peripheral vision.
"!!!"
His comrade, supporting himself on the spear, trampled so much that his teeth started to chatter so loudly that it would be odd if they shattered at any moment.
"What screams?! Who will come out?!"
Taken aback, Ivo asked, staring at the inconspicuous building that his men seemed to fear like the deepest pit of hell.
"He… th-the demon… the demon with black h-hair…!"
"What?! Medea?! What is he doing here? When did he show up?"
The guard muttered, horrified of revealing information, and even flinched as Ivo spoke up the name of the demon.
"He… he was here the whole… whole weekgh… Ggffhhh…! U-ughhh…!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
The guard, supporting himself on the spear, was answering, but then suddenly burst into tears, sobbing like a wronged child, causing Ivo to take a step back and gasp.
*WHAM*
"Huh!?"
Ivo's attention got momentarily pulled away from the guards when the door to the ruined building slammed open and someone burst out of it as if chased by all devils.
A thuggish-looking man, pale as a sheet, jumped outside, rolled on the ground a few times until he ended up on all fours and…
"HURGHRGRHRGHRGRHRG...! H-HURGHURGHRGHRGRHRG!"
Began vomiting so violently as if his stomach had flipped inside-out!
"Who the hell…?!"
"Th-that's K-Kevin… the… the demon asked him to… to bring him a small barrel of strong s-spirit…"
Ivo muttered in shock, receiving the fearful answer from the other guard.
"..."
The southern Crime Lord furrowed his brows and then looked back at his carriage. As he made eye contact with the commander of his guards, he motioned for him to follow and moved towards the building.
Originally, he wanted to call out Kevin, but upon seeing the thuggish man who soiled himself, crying and vomiting while crawling away from the building, he changed his mind and just passed by while gulping down his saliva.
As Ivo and his guards approached, the stench was becoming stronger.
Human excrements, rotting flesh, and blood, those were the prevailing odors, but upon entering the building and approaching the open hatch to the basement, a smell of strong alcohol joined in.
Without being commanded, two of the guards climbed down the ladder to assure their boss's safety…
"...boss, you might not want to see this…"
"What…?"
Upon hearing a shaken call of one of them, Ivo faltered and tensed up.
"It's…. It's… It's the black-haired one… He… tortured our captives…"
"...augh… h-help…!"
"OH, GOD! THEY ARE STILL ALIVE!?"
The other guard also called out, only to suddenly go silent, allowing the people outside the basement to hear an agonized whimper, which in turn caused his comrade to scream in pure horror and quite literally jump out of the basement, barely touching the ladder as fear seemed to grant him flight!
"If you want to come see this, you better hurry. I'm almost done."
"!!!"
Suddenly, another voice resounded from the depths of the basement, and although distorted, Ivo recognized it as the voice of none other than Medea.
"...i-it's too dangerous, Sir…! He… he might be an ally but… But he can't be human…!"
"..."
The other guard climbed back up and pleaded to the Southern Crime Lord, but the silent Ivo spared him only a single glance before climbing down there himself.
Oh, how he regretted that decision…!
Immediately after turning around, his senses were assaulted.
The stench of gore mixed with excrements and alcohol.
The flickering light of an oil lamp illuminating a crimson, pink, and grayish-brown, round room where captives were chained to the walls…
"...!"
It took Ivo's brain a second or two to realize what he was seeing.
The captives chained to the walls had their upper bodies skinned and scraped off fat and flesh, their eyes were gouged out, their tongues pulled out through their throats, their internal organs hanging out by only devil-know-what trick, and their intestines sprawled all across the slippery floor like a steaming pinkish-grayish-brown fleshy carpet.
"...h-helpfh…! I.. I'm shforrhy…! Flufghlgh…!"
"!!!"
The last captive who had his tongue still in his mouth cried out, but the black-haired demon drenched in blood simply reached into the massacred man's throat and pulled out his tongue before cutting it in two with a knife.
"...flahph…!"
"!!!"
Ivo's brain shut down, his body unable to comprehend how hell could simply materialize in that basement, he took a step but ended up stomping on the intestines of another captive, causing the bloodied skeleton with exposed blood and nervous systems to writh in pain…!
It couldn't be the land of the living…!
Those people…! They couldn't be alive…! No being would be able to withstand that level of torture…!
…unless…
"That's the last one."
*crack*
Medea spoke up, crushing a green marble against the gorefest that was once human and unleashing a spell that ended up healing the victim just enough to keep it alive without restoring its shape.
"A shame, really. I wanted to continue, but their nervous systems started failing, and they can barely feel anything now."
"...ghfgfghl…!"
The black-haired demon shrugged his shoulders and, to prove his words, he picked up a small barrel and poured whatever was left in it on his last victim and its intestines, making it tremble and release a weak gurgling sound.
"!!!"
Ivo rarely felt fear anymore.
After what he lived through, there were very little things that could bring that feeling out of him.
But that sight.
The black-haired demon's friendly smile as he stood amongst the gore was something that left a permanent mark on Ivo's soul.
"Shall we go, Sir? All that's left is to light a fire and let them slow cook in this brilliant oven~"
Medea asked lightheartedly, nodding the oil lamp at the Southern Crime Lord.
"..."
Ivo didn't respond.
He simply turned around and climbed the ladder.
Left alone with the captives, Medea followed after him.
As he was by the ladder, the smile disappeared from his face, and he turned around.
"...little Tee won't be as lucky as you…"
Medea promised in a hushed voice and climbed out.
…where he found himself alone…
He even noticed the movement outside as some carriage left the area in a hurry, but that didn't particularly bother the black-haired man.
He simply sat down and tossed the oil lamp into the hatch.
*crack* *WHOOOO*
As the glass broke, the flame ignited the spirit generously poured on the captives, using their flesh as a fuel.
The way the basement was constructed was really similar to a furnace, with how the air circulated…
…so Medea could enjoy the sound of the powerlessly groaning roasts slowly turning into charcoal and then ash…
…and he remained by the hatch through the whole process…
"..."
After going back down and crushing every single charred skull, Medea walked out of the building, looking around the abandoned neighborhood.
He didn't have to call out or do anything, actually, because only a few moments later, a large horse with a rather ugly hide that made it look more like a cow than a horse approached him.
The animal stopped right in front of the stone-faced black-haired man and lowered its large head, lightly bumping it against him.
"..."
In silence, Medea leaned against it and ended up hugging the horse's head, pressing his forehead against it.
"Thank you, Cow. Take me back to my Zorivia. She's the only one who can comfort me right now."
"Pshh!"
After a few minutes, the black-haired man pulled back and then climbed on the horse's back, patting its neck gratefully and asking, which made the animal let out an encouraging snort.
"Sorry, but I don't want to talk about it."
"Pshhh!"
The black-haired man shook his head and sighed, to which the horse let out an urging snort.
"Huh? Oh, right. I can't show myself to her like that. You're right. Good job pointing that out."
The black-haired man raised his brow and asked before letting a small gasp of realization, and patting the horse's side.