Chapter 86 - Midlight Village#6

MAX'S POV:-

"I know it might confuse you from here onwards, to what have you done to deserve the wrath of someone whom you have never met before. So let me tell you a story as I torture you slowly and comfortably," the 'child' speaks as he draws something on Belphegor's forehead.

'I take it all back. The previous situation doesn't even compare to this. What was I doing when I was of that age? Yeah, I was dreaming of getting enrolled in the Royal Academy. Hehe, and here we are finding a 'child' of similar age, about to torture a Sin Devil right in front of my eyes and telling a story while at it. Haha…the instructor was right, Visca really is dangerous. Everything can kill you,' my thoughts are in turmoil looking at the absurdity in front of me. 

"You see, when I first heard about you, or more precisely, about you, Gluttony and Envy, I recalled a certain incident that occurred in my life. It is sort of a dark past of mine, so I won't go into it. So, back to the point, as I was saying, when I heard about you three and especially all the atrocities you have committed, my blood boiled like crazy. I soooo wanted to rip you into pieces that I might have just dashed in search of you to kill you," he says as he draws a small circle on his forehead then moves to his back and tears his shirt or whatever he was wearing on his body and starts drawing another circle there.

"Hey Morpheus, my buddy there can't feel any pain, all his pain related senses do not work," the boy with the scythe speaks as he sits there as if watching an interesting show.

'Well, it is interesting all right. Not something you might get to see every day,'

"Thanks Leraye, but I already can see that. So yeah, you know…but then I thought, maybe it could be all accusations, you know? Who knows, someone might be framing you for things you haven't even done? At that point, I got confused about what I should do and what move should I make next? So I ended up leaving it for the future. By future I simply mean that I will decide what to do next after I see you," Morpheus completes a small complex circle and then proceeds to draw a few more.

"Brother, you are just speaking nonsense. Can you get to the point already? I am very curious to know why you started telling this story," one of the children speaks with an annoyed tone. 

'Yeah, honestly, all he spoke is bullsh*t right now. Is there any specific reason for this or not?'

"Reaching there, Icelos. So after I decided to leave things for the future, I proceeded with the research. It was all similar to the previous things I had heard before, but there was one thing that caught my interest. Can you guess what it was, Belphegor?" Morpheus pauses as the same wintery smile returns on his face. Silence prevailed in the area, increasing the tension to another notch. 

"Case #4536. Day 9086, Midnight at 1:00 AM. One man, one wife and a daughter. Do you remember what you did to them? Of course you don't remember. Oh! Don't get me wrong, that family has nothing to do with me, if that were the case you would be screaming right now, but you know that family had something similar to what I have and I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if it were my family instead of them. You know, I have a very very very bad tendency to compare myself to those special situations. That is all the reason I can give it to you. I know it might even sound absurd to you, but trust me that I am genuinely angry at you and it isn't unreasonable at all," he says as completes all the circle and moves a few steps back.

His smile then vanishes as he closes his eyes, breathes a bit before opening his eyes and commanding,

"Phan, pour all the mana you can into that circle at the back."

The other kid then moves towards the Sin Devil's back and

-Whoosh

"What the??" I almost stopped myself from cursing out as I looked at the absurd amount of mana coming out of that other child. Haha…and we think our class has the most outstanding geniuses that this world ever had. We truly are living in a pond, with our small outlook on life.

Phan then pours the mana into his back. After pouring that absurd amount of mana into his back, he steps back a few steps. For a few moments of silence, nothing happens.

Then…

"Huh? I can move…aah..aaaah…it's burning….aaaha..aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA…" He twitches on the ground, trying to cover his body with something as he wriggles like a snake there. His screams resound there for minutes that turned into an hour…

"AAAA..AA…F…F..AAAAAAAAA….FORG….AAAAA….FORGIVE…AAA.AA.AAAA" he tries to beg to Morpheus, but it's all in vain as Morpheus simply looks at him with emotionless eyes.

My honest feeling right now? I feel happy. It is satisfying to hear those screams. The more he screams, the better it feels. I too have researched the Devils and I too know about their atrocities. That is why it is all the more satisfying. All those who have been tortured or destroyed my this Devil can finally rest in heaven peacefully. 

After another hour, his screams finally die as his body withers like paper. Morpheus then moves towards me and before I can speak anything, he looks at the lying body of Katherine. He touches her hands for a few seconds before speaking.

"She can't be saved."

"Huh?" I think I heard something wrong. Isn't it simply a sense enhancement magic? What's there about not being saved or whatnot?

"Her nerves below her brain are all destroyed. You see nerves are-" Morpheus tries to speak, but I interrupt him,

"I know what nerves are, but there still has to be a way. How can you still be sure about it? She is still alive, all she needs is her senses to get normal and she will be fine again." I glared at Morpheus as I hear his bullsh*t talk. I have been there so I know how it feels, and I believe it's completely curable.

"Her senses are destroyed and her heart has stopped working. Scientifically, she died then and there. The only thing that is keeping her alive is her magic. That too will deplete in a few hours. Since it's magic channels which restore the magic in one's body and her sense of magic is destroyed too, she is just waiting for death now. You can give her a peaceful death or she will die a painful death. There is no saving her now," He speaks with a sorrowful voice. I look at him with my eyes wide open, I then stand up and punch him in his face. He didn't dodge and let me hit him. I hit him again and again and again…

Tears trickled down my cheeks. I didn't want to believe it…

"Please tell me it's a lie…Please, I beg you… do something then…I don't want to lose her…after so many years, I finally have someone who cares about me. I don't want to lose her, I beg you…please do something," I literally begged as I grabbed his legs with tears in my eyes. My resolve that formed after watching her being killed all those times. Was it all worth nothing? Is there no way? Even if I regressed again, is there no way out? What happened in this regression is the best that happened till now and that too because the Devil talked with us for a few moments, otherwise we would have died if it were even a second later. 

"Is there really no way?" I once again look at Morpheus, who turns his head, gesturing a no as he looks at me with sorrow filled eyes. I see him clenching his fist. So, he is a kind human, huh? Maybe…

"Morpheus, if I tell you that…" I hesitated for a few seconds, but then a determined expression forms on my face as I look at him. Let's give it a shot before giving up. Morpheus is looking at me with a slightly confused, slightly curious look. I gulped before speaking again,"..if I tell you that, I can regress in time every time I am killed. Will you believe me?" I ask him. He tilts his head slightly before speaking in a monotone," Continue."

I then tell him about my experience and everything without leaving a single speck of information, and he and the others listen to me quietly without disturbing me. Daphne had a complicated look on her face, but she didn't say anything. After the story is over, Morpheus ponders on something before speaking.

"Let me give you something, okay?" He speaks, then he takes out his dagger and points the tip of the dagger into my forehead. Then an image of a circle comes into my mind. I can literally see and recall the circle, even though it's very complex.

"I am going to kill you now. As soon as you die and return, draw that circle on the ground and pour your magic in it. Since I will be around the radius of the signal, I will come immediately. At that time just say these words, 'You asked me to do it because you were needed here', okay?" He speaks with an understanding voice. I looked at him for a few moments before realising what he meant. A smile blossoms on my face as I realise what is going to happen next. I then nod and then…

[Zliwsn diwfn aresut]

"Listen carefully. This expedition is meant for you guys to get some experience in the wild with the monsters. Visca isn't forgi-"

I immediately ran back towards an empty ground. Somehow I knew the exact length the circle should be, so I began to draw it.

"What are you doing, Max?" The instructors couldn't help but ask me this question as he looked at me drawing an unknown circle. Everyone gets curious about the circle as they watch me draw it. 

Knowing the value of time, I drew it as fast as possible and poured my mana into it. After pouring mana into it, it started glowing before it stopped working and then vanished all together. After moments passed and nothing happened, I couldn't help but be tense if I ended up doing something wrong. Sweat started trickling down my forehead as I thought of that possibility.

"Max, what happened?" Instructor asked me as he sees my worry filled expression, but before I can answer him,

"Aaaand here am I? So, which one of you called this Batman?"