"Where is that brat…"
"Grr he couldn't have gotten very far!"
"Then where the fuck is he?!"
"If I knew I wouldn't be looking!"
Those thugs, without someone to unite them, began to quickly break down due to a significant building irritation at the lack of any progress. Unable to find the flashy edgy looking boy. At first they were scared about him due to his looks reminding them of some kind of powerful warlock.
Fortunately their worries were proven unfounded as he had abandoned his girlfriend in order to try and save his own skin. Not so fortunate was that his cowardice seemed to work. No matter where they looked they couldn't find any signs of him; whether he ran, hid or did a mixture of the two.
It was as if he just teleported away!
One of them decided to take this moment to take a break - seeing as they weren't making any progress any time soon - so sat on a nearby box. Only now did he manage to get away from the hustle & bustle of the gang did he notice something strange. There was no noise from the girls.
None of them were foolish enough not to realise what was going to happen when they left the brat with their comrade yet they also didn't care. As long as she wasn't too roughed up she'd sell well. Plus it only made sense to reward the one who had made it so easy to catch the slippery brat.
Deciding he may as well check up on her he walked back only to hear some whimpering; it was a sound that he was used to so a grin began to form on his lips.
At least until he realised that the whimper was a little too… Deep.
Unlike what you'd expect from a young girl and more akin to that of a grown woman. He did have some shock as his mind lingered on a possibility however he quickly threw that aside - at least until he heard something that sounded like a bell. At which point that whimper turned into an inhuman screech.
His slow paced walk soon became hurried as he was worried about what was happening to their payday to make a noise like that. Not that he had to worry about her very much. What he did need to worry about was the stench of decay & dried blood that began to drift out from the backstreet they fought in.
"K-Kill me…"
"Nn~? No." <"Elizabeth">
In front of the girl they had beaten was what could only be called a bleeding sack of muscle in the general shape of a human. General shape because of how bloated it was in some places and lithe in others. To call it grotesque was an understatement; that hoarse gargling voice being the cherry on top.
That girl didn't even seem to care as blood oozed from the skinless figure, pooling around the feet of the short brat, who just tilted their head cutely at the request.
He wasn't able to see the face of her girl due to coming out the alleys behind her - even still he could immediately realise something was different about her. Most obvious being her voice that somehow came out as being more bell-like. Beautiful but with a weight that could cause one to flinch.
Speaking of bells; there were also four bells with one being attached to each of her four limbs.
Other than that there was her demeanour that simply couldn't be compared to her other iteration. While she once gave the feeling of being a shy little girl, curious if unsure about a lot, now she gave an aura of unbridled arrogance. Not having any of the caution her previous self always possessed.
It left him unable to comprehend what was happening in front of him for a moment yet it didn't take him long to get some idea. Seemingly she must have somehow broken out of her sleep after they left. Then she used her strange gift to begin torturing the one who was having their way with her.
Deciding not to make the same mistakes as his comrade - slowly he moved behind the girl at which point he'd use his own gift while choking her out.
After that he'll put the woman out of her misery.
At least that's what he had planned.
Just as he was stretching out his arms in preparation to wrap around her neck… She turned around to look directly into his eyes; her lips peeled back to reveal her teeth in an eerie toothy smile. A faint glimmer of violet light glowed with such intensity that he felt his knees instantly failing him.
His body became coated in a thick film of cold sweat as he felt as if he was standing in the shadow of some unstable divine being. Despite his head being above hers even while on her knees. Most horrifying of all was the malicious energy that radiated from her.
Obviously he was no expert but even a thug like him could tell that was no regular mana and it certainly felt nothing like that energy from priests.
There was no doubt about it…
He felt scared.
"Weak." <"Elizabeth">
*dling*
That was all he heard as suddenly he felt an overwhelming level of pain, so much he wasn't even able to make a sound, as it felt like his blood became filled with needles. In truth it was his blood that became needles yet he wouldn't know such a difference. Plus that was essentially just semantics at that point.
What made it even worse was the giggling the girl unleashed as she watched his suffering. Eventually she seemed to have had enough fun as she grabbed his hair to force him to meet her eyes. That scary ass smile of hers not fading as she leaned in close with no fear of him retaliating.
Because they both knew he couldn't.
"Where boss?" <"Elizabeth">
Seemingly she couldn't even be bothered to string together a full sentence - settling with just enough words to get her meaning across. He could hardly complain about her indolence as she controlled the blood in his eyelids. Preventing him from even escaping from her gaze via blinking.
His eyes felt dry as most of his fluids had already vacated his body; whether due to his tears streaming down his cheeks or the sweat that caused his clothing to become completely soaked. Sadly the only liquid he was unable to remove was the one causing this torture. What fueled life now tortured mercilessly.
At this point it didn't matter how loyal he had previously believed himself to be.
Such feelings were meaningless in the face of so much unbridled pain - making him sing like a canary whenever he found the strength to mumble out his words.
"Nn~!" <"Elizabeth">
*dling*
At that point she released his head to let his body finally fall to the cold floor (it wasn't comforting but anything new felt like a blessed respite) with those bells ringing once more. It was then that he felt that malicious energy sink into his body once more. Then a horrifying sight occurred for those who watched.
His body "collapsed" in on itself as his body not only stopped resisting the pressure of the atmosphere but inverted in on itself. His squishy flesh sinking in and tearing as it seeped between his bones. Anything that happened to be squishy-er like his eyes just burst as in no time at all he became a fleshy bone filled orb.
"What the fuck…"
Those who returned from their search could only look on in horror at the sight of two of their members being tortured in such a cruel mind-breaking fashion. In fact cruelty did not even seem to be a fair descriptor for just how fucked up that was. Not that their opinions particularly mattered.
Soon that girl turned her gaze towards them without an expression on her face - taking in the sight of their fear with no sign of humanity in that cute face of hers.
For a moment she even turned away from them to look down at the skinless woman below.
Her flesh constantly bubbling up whole at the same time decaying away; two conflicting curses that prevented her from dying. Seeing that got a smile to slowly form on her face again. With a refreshed sigh she looked around at those thugs again.
"Useless." <"Elizabeth">
*dling*
Along with that ringing came a rush of demonic energy that seeped into all those humans as they came to crumble into dust without being able to even put up any resistance.
Despite that - the girl didn't seem particularly happy or proud - raising her hand which she would tense then relax as if testing her grip strength. Shaking her head at whatever she had happened to find out. Spitting on the ground as she began to walk away.
"Better than the body at birth but barely trained with pathetic energy reserves." <"Elizabeth">
Flicking her hand which caused those bells to ring once more; the blood from the floor flew up like a dancing water dragon. Being drawn into her open maw as she happily ingested the blood. Almost immediately her energy reserved not only refilled but began to grow.