BXBX NOVEL Chapter 30 30 - Escaping Illusions
"We must offer something live to the damned reaper or else he'll never let us out of this illusion," Unlike her sister, Karla was calmly assessing the situation. The terror in her eyes, however, was just as dire as Fina's.
With each passing breath, Fina's gasps were getting louder and louder. Fidgeting on the spot, her whole body was shaken from the shock of sensing the monster on the other side of the door.
"Fina! Cut it!" Karla yelled out loud, visibly disgruntled. "We're not kids anymore, pull your weight!"
"B-but!" The fear in Fina's eyes continued to grow.
'What the hell are they doing? Aren't they supposed to protect me?' Haruki couldn't figure out why such a seasoned adventurer was terrified of the monster. 'I can sense it though, the fear in her heart, it's not just an impulsive response, but something rooted much deeper.'
Frustrated from the stalemate, Asuka took a deep breath and moved in front of the scared spy. Clamping her head between her hands, she brought her head close to her and looked directly into her eyes.
"Charm!"
Like a doll of rag and cotton, Fina's body flopped on the floor in the very next instance. Witnessing the scene, Karla let go of the door and leaped towards her sister, unsure as to what had just happened to her.
"What did you do?!" Holding Fina in her arms, Karla glanced up at Asuka demanding an answer.
"Charm!" To her misfortune, she fell victim to the same ability as her sister. "Thank lord, I thought it wouldn't work on women."
Lifelessly flopping down on the floor, Karla laid right over her sister. Shifting her attention to Haruki, Asuka took yet another breath before transforming into her demon form.
"Do you have a plan?" Haruki asked, only to be met with a gaze screaming the obvious.
Looking down on the girls, he knew what had to be done. However, leaving one alive after what happened was a terribly scary preposition. Clutching his heart, he got down to his knees to assess the girls. Acting as a reminder of the monstrous fate he was about to doom the girls to, a rhythmic knock on the door rang once again.
"What about the tiger? Can we not offer her?" Having been in the empire's military, Haruki knew more than well that offering the beasts wasn't the answer.
"I doubt the tigress can even sense astral monsters or else she would've been attacking it already," Asuka's reply realized his doubts. "And even if she could, she would've just torn the reaper apart before it breaks the illusion."
'And that'll trap us in this thing forever,' turning to the coachman's window, he could see a blizzard brewing up ahead. 'It doesn't seem like we have much time either.'
After taking the Kunais off of Fina, Haruki propped himself up and turned to Asuka. He couldn't let their experience go to waste, especially when he was easily overpowered by most of the adversaries he had run into so far. Until now, he hadn't laid a finger on innocent life, but that too was about to change the very next instance.
'Tyrant's heart!' The curse pushed him further into clarity.
"Drain their level, and throw them out," For the faintest moment, Haruki noticed a hint of reluctance in her eyes, but it lasted no more than a second.
"Familiar summon!" As she spoke those words, a small tentacle-like creature began to crawl out of her palm. "Lulu, take care of those girls for me."
He could still see it in her eyes, the apprehension to give her familiar that command. Turning his back to the creature, he felt no different than Asuka in that regard. Slowly crawling across the floor, the sound of the slimy creature's writhing about drew both of them to silent tears.
"I didn't think I'd have to use my new ability for something like this," Asuka mumbled, facing away from the creature as it continued to grow out of her arms.
Although they've both been turned into demons, within their heart resides deep empathy for the innocent. Had it been a monster like the criminals on the streets of Laria, neither of them would've shed even a single tear before offering them to the reaper.
'Tyrant's heart'
'Level up!'
Like a deafening bell, the curse and the announcement kept on ringing in that silent cabin. Staring at the other side, neither of them dared look back at the debaucherous acts being committed by the creature behind them. Motionless they stood listening to its movements and the sound of their flailing bodies. The weight of their choice laid heavy on their shoulders, and the distant sounds of the approaching blizzard deterred them from breaking their stillness.
"Do not be swayed by their suffering," Trailing into their ears, Asmodia's voice broke the silence.
"W-was that...." Asuka whimpered, doubting the voice she had just heard.
"Yes, it was," Turning around to their motionless bodies, Haruki gave her an answer. "Open the door, I'll move them out."
"Lulu, come back," drawing the creature back into her arms, Asuka quickly got to the door.
As Haruki grabbed the girls and laid them right by the door, Asuka opened the door to the Lanterned Reaper. Cloaked in a torn-up hood, the reaper held a lantern with souls burning inside in a deep blue flame.
"M-my lantern it keeps me warm," It uttered through its skeletal mouth. Pointing its finger towards Haruki, it urged him to come closer. "Offer me a soul or suffer the blizzard just as I once had."
Listening to his demand, they both glanced at each other to be affirmed of the horrendous act in the eyes of each other. However, failing to find refuge in each other's gaze they shied away from each other just as quickly as their gazes had met.
"Here," Haruki, uttered, throwing out the motionless bodies of the unconscious girls. "Take them and leave."
The reaper's head hung low as he stared at the girls thrown to his feet. Looking back up, it let out a cackle with its bony teeth and jaw. It almost felt as if he was mocking them for offering the girls to him with such ease.
"Bless thee, traveller, bless thee, muahahaha!" Holding the lantern over the body of the girls, the reaper began to draw their souls right out of their bodies. "I'll save you a seat beside me in hell ahaha! Ahaha!"
While the glimmering light of their souls travelled to his lantern, the lanterned reaper kept on cackling.
"Like parents like daughters, into my lantern, they go," The reaper mumbled before dragging himself away in the snow.
'Tyrant's heart!'
"Get into the carriage, the blizzard is passing," Resting his hand over Asuka's shoulder, he pulled her away from the carriage door.