Chapter 614: What Is Happening?
Chapter 614: What Is Happening?
"HAHAHAHA!"
The demons who were strapping the groaning people rolled the wooden boards on the axles, making the tied people complete a full vertical 360-degree turn.
"W-what is happening?!" a man screamed, his eyes filled with horror.
Slowly, everybody came back to their senses and realised what was going on.
The room echoed with panicked gasps and the creaking of wooden boards; confusion quickly turned into terror.
"W-Where am I?!"
"My body... I can’t move my body!"
"What did you do to us?!"
Dozens of frightened voices overlapped into deafening chaos. Men and women struggled with all their strength, only for their bodies to remain completely unresponsive.
"No... no... NO!"
One adventurer muttered, his terror-stricken eyes widening as he came to the horrifying realisation of what was happening before him.
"Help me! Somebody help me!"
"My mana... why can’t I use my mana?!"
Shreya desperately tried circulating her mana, only to find it sluggish, as though something was suppressing it from within. Her face instantly turned pale.
Patric’s pupils trembled as he finally noticed the blood-soaked floor beneath him.
"W-What the..."
His words caught in his throat the moment his gaze landed on the scattered limbs surrounding the massive runic formation.
Liam wasn’t any better.
"...Those... are human..."
His breathing became ragged as his eyes locked onto the upside-down corpses hanging above the formation, fresh blood steadily dripping from their necks.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The blood had been almost completely drained from the bodies, and the remaining drops echoed through the chamber like hammers striking their hearts.
"N-No... This can’t be real..."
A young hunter immediately began vomiting, which simply slipped sideways through his reclined face on the wooden board, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.
"Please... please let me go..."
One woman had already broken into hysterical sobs, her entire body trembling despite being unable to move.
The demons merely laughed.
Some watched with folded arms, while others continued tightening straps as though it were a daily routine, completely indifferent to the desperate cries filling the chamber.
Leo silently observed everything without saying a word.
The reason Leo and Lily still hadn’t acted was that they both needed to know the demons’ motive. That was one of the conditions required to successfully fulfil their mission.
But they had to admit they were having an extremely hard time suppressing the urge to break free from the wooden boards and smash the demons’ heads into pulp.
Suddenly, the demons who had brought the captives here stepped out of the shadows.
"I-it’s you!" one of the hunters exclaimed, recognising the man.
"Didn’t you come to help me?! Why am I here?!!" he shouted.
Similar reactions erupted from the others as those demons slowly presented themselves to their respective captives.
Patric was left speechless.
"I... So it was because of you people that we suddenly started feeling dizzy."
He immediately understood.
"D-d-demons! They are demons! They are going to sacrifice us!" one adventurer finally shouted.
Meanwhile, Kima also revealed himself before Leo. Like everyone else, Leo also needed to react.
"Fucking bastard!! I knew it! I knew you were up to no good!" Leo snarled—a completely different reaction than expected. He made it sound as though, if not for the drug, he would pounce on Kima right now and tear him apart.
Leo gritted his teeth.
"How does it feel having your people killed, huh? How does it feel? Fucking trash! Fucking coward! Only knowing to use underhanded means!" Leo cursed repeatedly, which seemed to ruin Kima’s mood, as though he was failing to accomplish some sort of goal.
Leo noticed that as well.
He immediately scanned the area and realised the panic the people had been feeling was now tainted with another emotion: betrayal.
They are making our vessels more compatible!
While reading about demons on the fifth floor, he had come across a Chapter explaining how demons feed on negative emotions and that, if a being became consumed by such feelings, it became easier for demons to influence and eventually possess that body.
No wonder Kima was making that face. Leo neither seemed to be panicking too much nor showed any signs of the negative emotions born from betrayal; the only thing that seemed to be present was anger, but that would only help Wrath demons.
"E-Evan, you were also captured?" Patric called out after spotting Evan.
Pretending to notice Patric only now, Leo looked towards him.
"Brother Patric...?"
His eyes darted around before widening as he noticed the other party members. Then, as though recalling something, panic spread across his face as his eyes frantically searched the room, seemingly looking for someone. Since most people couldn’t even move their heads, Leo had to act the same way.
And because the room was dimly lit, Leo also pretended to have difficulty seeing.
"Heheheheh..."
Suddenly, Kima chuckled as he walked towards Lily, grabbed her wooden board by the axle, and, with a flick—
He rolled the board, making Lily rotate along with it.
"Looking for her?" Kima asked with a cruel grin.
"Master..." Lily softly muttered, as though she still hadn’t fully regained consciousness.
"Natalie!!!" Leo shouted, drawing even the other demons’ attention.
"Oh ho? Kima, did you capture that woman?" one of them asked.
"Hehe, damn right. Doesn’t she have a great body?"
"Sure does. Say, are you willing to give that woman to me in exchange for some natural treasures? I acquired some great ones outside the city walls."
The speaking demon licked his lips.
"It would be so good to have one of my women incarnate in her body..."
Leo and Lily immediately noted the word, and they instantly understood the demons’ motive.
It was to incarnate demons from the Abyss into the physical world. They had both read books and already knew the method demons used to incarnate themselves. Still, in the hope of gathering more intel, they maintained their act.
"Fuck off. I already have plans for her."
He turned towards Leo.
"Don’t you like fucking your slave day and night? And from the looks of it, she even seems to love you. Heheheh..."
Kima’s eyes sharpened as he stared straight into Leo’s eyes while gripping the top of the wooden board Lily was strapped to.
"Wouldn’t it be great if I fucked her right in front of your eyes while you watched everything with those stupid wide eyes?"
Leo stared back with a deathly serious expression. He didn’t know why, but Kima’s words just now made him want to abandon his act right there and give Kima the most horrific death imaginable.
Kima noticed Leo’s clenched fist, and it delighted him even more.
"Haha, you are feeling so helpless and angry that even the drug’s effects seem to be wearing off. Hahaha, perfect. What if I—"
Kima raised his hand and unexpectedly—placed it on Lily’s breast, or rather, his hands didn’t even brush against them properly when—
Thump!
Lily’s eyes snapped open, already glared directly into Kima’s eyes. Even her disguised black irises began glowing a brilliant pink, while a sharp vein bulged across her forehead.