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Episode 8:
Sacrifice
IT IS I, YULUCIA. IN THIS MOMENT, I HAVE CURRENTLY found myself in a bit of a fix.
“What am I to do now?”
In the center of the gradually shrinking dark light, I sipped a cup of the cold, bitter, tealike drink. I hadn’t moved from this spot since this all began.
Admittedly, I had moved a bit to hide those four kids, but by the time I’d finished, there was no one here.
I had told them to catch me if they could in the most laughable pampered-daughter move I could make, but, like, there had been lycanthropes here, right? Couldn’t they follow me by my scent or something? Surely all of those silly vampires hadn’t all gone looking for me, right?
Е̄ ň u m̌á
Or had they?
I had at least managed to verify they were monsters with holy magic, so I had no regrets about what I had done.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Light magic manifested with white light, but not all light was white. Based on my knowledge of the dream world, I believed it was called visible rays? Wait, maybe that was black too? In any case, it seemed that magic just worked by reflecting how you envisioned it.
If that was true, then maybe it did have some effect on those with no dark attributes too? Darkness was darkness, but that didn’t mean that there was always something lurking in the shadows. However, if black light was actually considered dark magic, then perhaps light elementals and dark elementals were one and the same.
Then perhaps that meant I could use dark magic with holy magic? Well, that was enough following that train of thought for now.
In any case, I sure am bored. I wonder if the four of them managed to get away? It’s a bit hard to tell from inside this black light.
Ѐ ǹu m̈_â .id́
“Fine, I guess I have no choice. It’s time to go.”
If they hadn’t gotten away, then that was on them.
I still had some use for them, though, so I didn’t want them dying.
“Ow!”
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“Graaagh!”
The moment I left the black light and stepped into the manor, I struck and crushed the maid vampires I happened to come across.
W̄ е̊ bn о̊ v̀е̌ l Ĕ n̊um а̌.
“Oops, sorry about that.”
Not that they could hear my apology once they were just smears on the wall. But coming across a bug would startle anyone, you know?
Ah, they turned to ash. That would make cleanup easier. But still…
“This place sure is huge.”
Lady Elea had told me as much, but the Aubers were an old family line. They seemed to have added on to the manor several times over the years, so now it was stupidly huge and incredibly complex.
Just how much had these people filled their own pockets by taking advantage of their position? Ah, but probably the one who had actually done that was the original count, who had been replaced.
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“Hmmm.”
Tracking and detection were not skills I excelled at. I did have my catlike instincts to work with, so I had come this far in my search by following my nose. I got the sense, though, that there were a lot of them below.
Still, just how big was this place? The basement seemed like you could play baseball in it. There were minions in the chapel and outside the manor, but exactly how many of them were there?
I could somehow sense the three bigger ones, but I wasn’t sure which was Mylene.
If I summoned some lesser demons, I could make things easier for myself, but I had a feeling that a certain someone would notice if I were to use a crazy amount of magic to force open a summoning gate.
I had a feeling that I’d only have a single chance to fool his nose in his current angry state and open a big gate. I hoped I could summon the demons I had in mind. My overly protective so-called older brother had even taught me how to make the summoning circle I needed to summon them to me.
W е̃bn̄ о̊ v́él̂ Е ñ ûm̀ ä
“Maybe he’s one of those guys with a sister complex?” I pondered aloud.
In any case, maybe I would run into somebody if I just walked in a random direction for now?
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I wonder if I’ll find one of my four attendants? Or maybe one of the count’s family? I’d rather avoid their minions since they’re so corrupt, I thought as I arrived at a room that was curiously made of stone.
Was this the kind of room you’d typically find in a noble’s manor?
Binding chains hung from the walls and there were things like saws and axes scattered about. The wooden bed was covered in something reddish brown and the rotten smell of iron permeated the air.
It’s certainly possible that a noble’s manor might have this kind of room, I thought as…
Е̂.ñ um а_. ïḋ
Click.
“Oh my, if it isn’t the Lady Saint.” A beautiful woman with black hair entered the torture chamber, her high heels clicking on the floor, followed by a retinue of several beautiful maids. She looked at me and smiled.
“How do you do, Countess? May I ask what your name is?”
“You may call me Camilla.”
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“Thank you, Camilla.”
We smiled at one another, with me standing where I was in the torture chamber while Camilla held a tattered child in her arms like a doll.
Ẅе̄ b n.ov̂ ēl Е̂ ṅ ūmа
“Where did you find that?”
“She was a lucky find. She’ll make a fine aperitif.”
Christina’s eyes were vacant from blood loss as Camilla lifted up her chin to lick off the oozing blood so that she could bite into her again.
“Did this belong to you?” Camilla asked provocatively, then sucked the girl’s blood while looking at me.
Likely, if I were an ordinary Yulucia, I would be angered by how she was tormenting my attendant and lose my cool. Which was exactly why…
“Yes, she does. Thank you so much for finding her, Camilla,” I answered with a gentle smile.
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Camilla frowned slightly for just a fleeting moment before the smile she wore as a mask returned. “Hee hee. I see that you remain unruffled by this situation.”
Unlike Mylene, Camilla looked down on me. No matter how powerful she was, she was still a “person” in the end. The haughtiness of someone in her position made her more talkative than necessary, since she was more interested in getting me to succumb to her and lose heart than outright killing me.
“Say, Yulucia? Did you know that humans are quite marvelous? The blood of those harboring strong emotions taste so very sweet. I wonder just how sweet the blood of the Saint will be.”
Well, then.
She and the other vampires just didn’t know, did they? That the sweet taste was actually born of a person’s karma.
“Christina, that makes me so happy to hear. I didn’t realize you felt so strongly.” As I sweetly called out her name, Christina’s shoulder twitched slightly.
Еn ü m а .і̂d̃
Camilla had been relaxed up until this point, but now her gaze shifted in annoyance. “Indeed. But they’re starting to lose their flavor, so I’ll give them back to you,” Camilla said a bit hastily as she tossed the unmoving Christina at me.
Behind her, the maids threw the other three humans at me like they were tossing out the trash.
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Fantine, Ninette, Noir—I see that none of you managed to escape.
“Do you understand what this means, Yulucia? These four children are still barely alive. What will you do now, Lady Saint? Will you heal them with the holy magic that you’re so good at?” In a display of power, Camilla taunted me as I stared at my attendants who had been so mercilessly drained of their blood and beaten.
She was right, though. I could tell from a glance. The four of them still barely drew breath, just as Camilla said. But I would be unable to heal them with holy magic.
The problem wasn’t the magic itself—it was because they had practically no soul left in them. From what I could tell, vampires sucked out the souls of people through their blood and turned that into power for themselves.
Е̃n ú m̌ а. іd̂
How did this work, exactly? I had a pretty good idea now just from looking at the four of them. Humans who survived being drained of their blood and souls were transformed in both body and mind by the desire for another soul to replace the one they had lost. The reason a vampire’s victim became a vampire wasn’t because of the common theory that they were cursed or because it was some contagious disease, it was because their soul itself had been altered. This was why vampires thirsted for souls and the blood of humans with strong souls.
When a living being died, their soul rapidly dispersed and dissipated into the world. Only a very small fraction of souls that had accumulated lots of experience were able to spend those “experience points” and be reborn while preserving the traits of their souls.
Even though I was a demon, not even I knew where those souls that dissolved into the world went. However, even if a corpse was restored, once their soul had dissipated, they couldn’t be brought back. This was why resurrection magic didn’t exist.
If left in their current state, my four attendants would either die or turn into vampires. They really were just beyond saving. And so, I decided to pose this final question to them, not as a human, but as a wicked demon:
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“Do you still want to live?”
It was a very simple question. My demonic voice whispered into the hearts of their very selves.
Е nû ma
Ninette’s, Noir’s, and Fantine’s shoulders twitched slightly in response. And…
Christina alone cracked her eyes open slightly to glare at me with hatred.
“I take that as a yes.”
The pact was made.
Thin black chains jangled as they extended from my hands and wrapped around their souls.
“Manifest Light.”
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Camilla tittered with glee as she watched me recite the words of the spell. “Ha ha ha! What a foolish girl! You’ve actually done it! Now that their bodies have been healed, they’ll turn into vampires! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
She roared with laughter as I moved on to the final touches.
It was not their bodies that I was saving, but the feelings they had hidden within their souls.
“The pacts have been made. Devour their pitiful souls and reveal yourselves!” With my words, the light changed into a multi-layered summoning circle composed of intricate levels.
Having sensed something from the change, one of the maids went flying at it and gasped as she was instantly repelled by the light. That was why I had cast the holy magic spell—to prevent any vampires from interrupting this sacred demonic ritual.
Working as carefully as I could, the intricate summoning circle reached hundreds of layers as I weaved my emotions into the magical equation.
Ѐ ǹ u m̀ а̇ .і̇ d
I only had this one chance to use a summoning circle of this scale.
For my one and only summoning, my feelings had been necessary in order to make sure it was successful. This summoning circle had no compelling power within it. Nevertheless, there were those that only I could summon.
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So, come and be welcomed.
“By order of the Devil Princess: Come to me, my darling demons.”
***
When the four attendants came to, they realized they were in a place shrouded in darkness. There was no sky, no ground, not even a horizon. They couldn’t even tell up from down in this dark world. The only things the four of them could see were each other.
Ẇ е̌b n о̇ v̈еl̄ Е̂ ňüm̈ a
They tried to speak, but their voices made no sound. They tried to scream in desperation, but there was still only silence. They tried to run toward one another, but they never got any closer. When they tried to run elsewhere instead, they didn’t get any farther either. They couldn’t even be sure just how far away they were from one another in this dark world. Only Ninette continued trying to run while screaming something.
Ninette had been cold from blood loss and in agony when she heard her lady ask if she wanted to live. She tried with all her might to answer yes. She resented Yulucia for bringing her to this place, but she hated the idea of dying more than anything else, so she didn’t even hesitate and was the quickest one to wish to live.
But why was she being hunted right now?
Something she couldn’t see was pursuing her like a predator chases prey. It was hurting her.
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All she’d ever wanted was to live an easy, comfortable life. She wanted to live and do nothing. That was why she had leeched off her twin brother, her friends, and Lady Yulucia. What was so wrong about using them?
She continued to scream her laments into the dark world as she ran in fear. In her final moments, an enormous black sheep devoured her slothful soul whole.
Е̂_n̈ ù m̃ а́ . іḋ
That was when the other three also started running from something.
Fantine ran too, but she tripped on the empty air, tumbled onto something invisible, and each time it happened, she was harassed in all kinds of ways as something laughed scornfully in her ear.
Being asked if she wanted to live should have meant that Yulucia intended to help her, right? Fantine screamed that Yulucia was a liar as she continued to run.
She was being toyed with. She was their plaything. The world belonged to Fantine and everything in it was supposed to be her playthings, so why was someone toying with her life now?
Fantine was the most important person in the world and yet Lady Yulucia had lied to her and given her as a plaything to some invisible assailant.
When Fantine cried out for someone to save her, an enormous white monkey crushed her prideful soul and slowly chewed it until it disappeared within the beast.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Noir had given up running and had a faint smile on his face as he desperately begged for his life.
He desperately sang the praises of the invisible someone in this soundless world, sucked up to them, pleading that they could do whatever they wanted with his twin sister and the other girls so long as they spared him.
Noir cared not for what anyone might think of him; if this was enough to save him, then it would be a small price to pay. He was willing to do whatever it took to be able to push every headache aside and live unbothered and unburdened. He saved up money, stole items, and used other people’s possessions to live an easy, comfortable life.
Living an easy life meant taking possession of the privileges of others.
This was why he felt no guilt about selling the privileges of his sister and friends. However, when he offered to sell Lady Yulucia as well, the whatever it was that had been silently looking down on him suddenly exploded with anger. Noir was crushed under the hoof of an enormous black goat. It grasped his greedy soul and crunched it to bits.
Christina ran frantically. She couldn’t die in a place like this.
Ėn̄u mа́
After all, the reason she had said she wanted to live was because she wanted revenge on Lady Yulucia. She would get revenge against that woman who had stolen everything from her beloved Lady Adeline and Lady Aureline. She would gladly give up anything to make that happen.
Christina gave into despair and wailed as she flailed her arms around, trying to intimidate her invisible attacker.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
All she wanted was to get revenge. All she felt in her heart was hatred for that girl.
She hated Yulucia for robbing the people whom she loved and respected of their honor.
She hated her for taking away her happiness.
She hated her for being so rich.
Eñ ûmа
She hated her for being so happy.
She hated her for being loved and adored by everyone.
She hated her for her position and her power.
She hated her for having both honor and a future.
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She hated everything about Yulucia von Versenia’s entire being.
It wasn’t fair. She wanted everything Yulucia had.
Ẇ e bn оv̊ е̄ ĺ Ë n̆ ú m ã
Before Christina could scream this, an enormous golden snake appeared and sneered at her as if it could see deep into the depths of her very human emotions.
Hatred was the opposite of love. Because Yulucia was so radiant, Christina could only hate her and never look straight at her. And so, the snake gulped her envious soul down whole and dissolved it without leaving a single sliver behind.
***
Shiiiiing…
A sound resonated and the light of the summoning circle shattered. The remnants of it faded away like snowfall in spring. Once the light was gone, all that remained was even deeper darkness than before.
The darkness was reduced to something like mud, with the lights illuminating the room dimly seeping through it. An excessively dense shadow gushed forth, covering the entire floor. The vampires jumped back in fear of the bizarre phenomenon. The deep darkness then swallowed up the four attendants like a bottomless swamp.
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“Wh-what’s happening?!” Camilla shrieked. She couldn’t understand. It made no sense. She couldn’t comprehend what she was witnessing at all.
All the other living beings of this world who stood in this room shared her confusion.
Darkness filled the vicinity like a moonless night. It was a darkness that scared even vampires, and they were creatures of the night.
Quietly, slowly, beings that had once been the four attendants rose up from the surface of the darkness that now covered the whole floor. While they were still the same children, there was something clearly different about them. The expensive clothes given by the family of the grand duke for their service looked so weathered now, as if they had been exposed to wind and rain for hundreds of years. The four of them gave off a sinister miasma as they absorbed the sea of darkness and then turned their malignant gazes upon the weaklings.
“Attaaaack!!” Camilla let out an animalistic shriek as she gave the order. The maids took on their beast forms and pounced on the four children.
Then one shadow wavered and…
W̊ ӗ.ḃ n̂ôv е ľ_ Е̃_n̊ u m̂ а̂
Slice!!!
The being who had once been Ninette unsheathed the sword at her waist and, in that single swing alone, the blade snaked out like tree roots and impaled every single one of the vampire maids.
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“∮∝､￠燿∴∝▲､￠￠∴∮珥□￠燿□￠､￠∝ ▼ !!” The being roared with laughter as she spoke words that no human should have been able to pronounce.
The impact of it rocked even the gigantic manor. The vampire maids who had been pierced by the sword withered away into dust.
These demons had devoured corrupt souls, acquired bodies to possess, and were now able to manifest in this world in human form.
I watched in silence.
Ẇ е̃b n̂о̃ v̆ е̂ l Е n u ṁa
Oh nooo!
What am I going to do now?! Camilla’s gone now too! She must have run away! Leaving me behind?!
The four beings who now inhabited the bodies of my former attendants knelt before me and bowed their heads. Noir had always acted as their leader, so the one in his body now took up the role to greet me in a distorted voice. “Mistress, it’s so nice to see you again.”
Ah, it really is them.
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“I’m so glad to see you all too,” I said. “Have you all been well?”
They were the four demons that the Dark Beast had found for me in the Demon Realm, whom I had then raised and changed in my image.
Е ñ um̂ а
The thought then struck me once again: This was impossible.
Honestly speaking, their appearances gave them away immediately. Their complexions were a dark and disgusting sight. And the veins under their skin or whatever that was were constantly wriggling. It took a lot of courage just to look them in the eye.
I was pretty sure I knew the reason. They looked just like that monkey demon who’d run away from me after evolving during the demon-summoning incident. Furthermore, since he had only just evolved, he wasn’t able to skillfully use his powers, whereas based on what had just happened, I could tell these kiddies had already mastered them.
Not to mention, this sinister presence? The miasma they were radiating was enough to decompose the stone flooring. And what was more, it reeked something awful! This would not do. There would be pandemonium if I brought them back with me to the human world.
Also, there was something else that worried me.
I hadn’t thought that what little remained of their souls would possibly be enough for payment to sustain them, so when I’d offered up my four attendants, I had experimented with merging them with my demons. This method also fulfilled the pact, since they got to live, so it was two birds with one stone! Kinda. Which was why I’d gone ahead with it.
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“Christina, is there still a human soul within you?” Their true selves might have been demons now, but just how much of the four humans still existed within them? When there was no response, I asked again, “Christina?”
The being inhabiting Noir then poked Christina’s body, which helped her finally realize that I had been addressing her.
“My apologies, Mistress. It feels a bit strange to be called the name of my vessel.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Since living in the human world, I had completely forgotten: Demons had no names. To be more accurate, demons couldn’t name one another, because that meant erasing each other’s beings. Also, humans with weak souls were incapable of naming demons who were too powerful. It had taken me time to get used to being called nicknames too, since they weren’t my actual name.
But that statement made it seem like…
“Are you saying that nothing remains of the souls you fused with, then?” Maybe they had been weakened, since the compensation I’d offered hadn’t been enough?
Ѐñ ů mа
Despite my fears, the one in Christina’s body shook her head. “They do remain, Mistress. I can say for certain that this soul has fused with me and, from gaining its knowledge, it has affected my way of speaking and preferences. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
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I had a bad feeling about this. And the demon in Christina’s body confirmed my fears as her face contorted with twisted delight. “The majority of what was left of the soul was comprised of negative emotions toward you, so I couldn’t bear it.”
“And you ate them?”
“Yes,” the four of them all answered at once.
Which I supposed meant that they had eaten everything but stuff like their way of speaking, their preferences, and what knowledge they possessed? Well, how should I put this? I was pleased that they had grown up into such wonderful demons. And also glad that they had managed to obtain vessels and souls that they vibed with.
Е̃ń u m̃.а.i̊d̂
That being said, if each of them had fused with even a fragment of their respective vessels, then that meant that my pact had been fulfilled in a way. Probably. Though my former attendants had certainly been cheated in this deal.
The important thing here wasn’t the size of the soul, but the fact that they had managed to fuse with them at all, so they didn’t seem to have been weakened. In any case, it was annoying to keep calling them “the demon inside so-and-so’s body.” However, now that they were this strong, no human could give them a name. Whoever gave them a name might end up being tied to them, so we couldn’t ask an elemental or dragon (if they even existed) or someone like that to do it either.
But wait, perhaps I could…?
“You four.”
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“Yes!”
“You must remember that my name is Yulucia. And now I shall give you all names.”
Eñu̇m a
I was a demon giving other demons names. However, the four of them merely bowed their heads deeply without a word of protest. Was it because they trusted me just that much? Or were they so loyal to me that they didn’t care if I wound up destroying them?
However, I wasn’t doing this without carefully considering the outcome. I had possessed the body that I had been reborn into and not even holy magic worked on me. While I was still a demon, I was exceedingly close to human and even possessed human qualities.
I was pretty confident that I could do this.
We were demons. Ethereal lifeforms. If I believed that I could do it, and they believed in me as well, then our wish would certainly be granted.
“Your name is Noah.” I named the demon possessing Noir’s body.
“Your name is Nia.” I named the demon in Ninette.
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“Your name is Tina.” I named the demon in Christina.
“Your name is Fanny.” I named the demon in Fantine.
I wasn’t sentimental about it or anything, but at the very least, I would use nicknames of those four attendants I had been unable to befriend.
The four demons—I mean people—stayed crouching in silence for a long moment. When they silently stood back up, it was like their entire appearances had changed.
It was safe to say it had been a success. With names now, they were able to contain their sinister auras. Their former selves’ features—reasonably attractive, but still humanly imperfect—gave way to the kind of cold beauty that made them look like exquisitely made dolls.
I was afraid that they had changed too much. Hmm, it was probably because they were more like me now, where their faces were completely symmetrical and they didn’t have any flaws. Nevertheless, it should be safe to call them human now; it seemed that just giving them names had been enough to stabilize them.
Ӗ ǹ u m̆.а́
However, would the world accept them as the same people as my former attendants?
Eh, whatever.
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“Come along. We have some cleaning to do.”
“Yes, Lady Yulucia!” they all responded at once.
The five of us walked outside of the manor.
Now it was time to begin exterminating the vermin that had made their nest in my feeding ground.
Е n_ü mа . id́
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