(Same Time, at the Slumber Pit)
Ughh…
My head… it hurts so much. Unbearably.
I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. My lungs were burning—each breath was a struggle, like the air itself refused to enter.
Tip. Tip.
Suddenly, drops of some liquid hit my forehead. Cold. Sticky.
The droplets trickled down from my forehead to my eyelids. That sensation jolted something awake in me. Like breaking through a foggy dream, I slowly opened my eyes.
Everything was blurry bathed in a shade of red.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
A sudden scream pierced the air, dragging me further back into consciousness.
"Ahhh! AHHHH! Ughhh!"
Screams raw, agonizing and twisted echoed all around me.
My ears throbbed as the cries grew louder, more relentless.
Then, cutting through the chaos, came a old Raspy voice followed by an uncanny voice.
"Are the sacrifices ready?"
Another voice responded higher, slimy, unnerving.
"Yes, Priest. More than half are dead. The high-quality ones have been save for our Lord's grand feast."
"Good. When the Blood Moon rises tonight, all in this land shall receive… salvation."
"Hahaha!"
"Kekeke!"
"Ah! such joy, Such a sacred night."
Then came another voice desperate, pleading and broken.
"Please spare my family. I beg you, please…"
"Take my life instead. My child hasn't even seen the light of this world. Please"
Silence followed.
Only soft laughter broke it.
"Hehehe"
Then the uncanny voice returned.
"Do you know why we brought so many pregnant women with us?"
"This year, the new God of Ice shall ascend the Divine Throne,"
the voice echoed coldly,
"and with His ascension, many infants will be born blessed by His divine essence."
"Children," the priest continued, his voice taking on a sickening reverence, "are the purest of beings. That purity makes them the most precious sacrifices for demons."
"Yes demons feed on the negative emotions of living beings,"
another voice added with twisted delight.
"And among all creatures, humans are the most emotional of them all."
From the crowd, a voice cried out defiant, broken, but burning with hope.
"You filthy beasts! You'll die! Our god will kill you He will save us!"
"Ughhhh…"
the speaker groaned in pain.
The High Priest of the Demon God Sloth tilted his head, amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Ah, but do you know what we demons crave the most?"
he asked softly, as if speaking to a child. "It's the purest soul "
He stepped forward, his tone deepening with twisted joy.
"Our Lord desires the death of the Ice God. And so, we came here with the body of His reincarnation."
"Tonight, yes tonight"he whispered, licking the blood from his fingers,
"our Lord shall descend and feast on the flesh and blood of your sons and wives ."
"AHHHHHH!"
"But you…" he leaned close to the chained man, "you won't live to witness that generous offering."
"Kekeke"
Thud.
Something hit the ground. A body, perhaps.
"Take them to the altar."
Stomp. Stomp.
The heavy footsteps echoed, fading into the distance, leaving behind only silence and the cold scent of blood.
unfolded before me bodies strewn across every corner of the cave, lifeless and twisted in grotesque silence. The red liquid pooling beneath them was blood. Thick, dark blood. It dripped from a headless corpse suspended from the ceiling like a grotesque chandelier.
On the far side of the cave, women huddled together, their eyes wide with terror.
The man who had been speaking moments ago now lay motionless beside the iron bars. His body was caked in blood and dirt, barely recognizable.
"Ahhhh... Ahhhh..."
A woman reached through the bars, her trembling hand extended toward him, the other clutching her stomach in agony. But her fingers could never reach him. They never would.
He was already gone.
His heart had been ripped out torn from his chest by demons. His eyes stared blankly into the void, their light extinguished.
I stood frozen, stupefied by the carnage.
Then came the nausea.
I doubled over and vomited, unable to bear the grotesque reality before me.
I was reading a novel called 'Tales of the Seven Nations'. It was quite popular simple language, yet layered with profound themes. Mostly dark ones.
I sat in our yard, lost in its pages, when a drunken truck driver lost control of his vehicle. He rammed into me.
And just like that, I died.
I've read countless stories about reincarnation, rebirth, regression, possession, and transmigration. But never not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like that would happen to me. A 23-year-old, modern, unemployed woman.
My mind was chaos.
What a mess.
As a reader, I knew exactly what was about to happen.
I have to survive.
I would survive.
I repeated those words in my mind like a sacred chant. They were my only hope.
Then, in the blink of an eye, everything around me froze everything except the living.