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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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My vision darkened, my injured body flung through the void, a scream tearing from my throat.
Blood and bile rose in my throat, but I had no time to dwell on the pain.
My vision returned, a fist hurtling towards my face. I jerked my head to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow, but my still-healing leg gave way, and I stumbled.
The next blow landed, sending me sprawling. A foot slammed into my face.
Crack—
I was surrounded by a black void, the landscape barren and desolate. The owner of the foot that had just caved in my face grabbed me by the throat, lifting me into the air.
I finally saw him clearly.
His eyes glowed with a faint purple light, a sinister black aura emanating from his hand.
“Long time no see, wouldn’t you say?”
“…Long… cough…”
“Yes, far too long. I’ve been waiting for this… haha…”
He punched me in the gut, a sickening squelch as blood splattered onto the ground. He pulled his fist back, a mangled mess of flesh and bone, then replaced it with a grotesque, blackened limb.
“Cough…”
“Hahaha! This is exhilarating!”
The pain in my abdomen was excruciating, as if my insides had been rearranged. I bit back a mouthful of blood, but it flowed freely from my nose, too.
He seemed to revel in my suffering, his laughter grating on my nerves.
“How does it feel? Does it hurt?”
“…”
“It can’t be worse than what I endured… heh…”
“…Do you have a grudge against me?”
I couldn’t understand his animosity.
His reaction to my question was dramatic. The veins in his forehead bulged, his eyes turning bloodshot. His grip on my throat tightened, his other hand trembling violently. His smile vanished, replaced by a snarl.
“You… you…!”
“Cough… Speak…”
“Do you have any idea what I’ve become?!”
Of course, I didn’t.
He tightened his grip on my throat, his voice rising in volume as he recounted his supposed suffering.
“…Is that my fault?”
“…What?”
I still didn’t understand.
“…Say that again…”
“Why is that my… cough…”
“Say it again.”
“That’s not my… cough…”
The exchange continued, his grip tightening with each repetition. Finally, he lost patience and threw me to the ground.
“Cough…”
“You still don’t understand, do you…?”
“…”
“It was your insolence, your audacity to sigh in my presence, after losing your family. You, a mere commoner.”
He sneered, his voice dripping with venom.
“Did you really think anyone had positive feelings towards you? I guarantee you, no one at the academy likes you.”
“…”
“You should be grateful I’m taking the time to teach you a lesson.”
“…”
“If you’d just obeyed me, you might have been useful… hahaha!”
He laughed, then, annoyed by my lack of reaction, his face hardened, and he stomped on my stomach, right where he’d punched me earlier.
“Aaaaagh!!”
“Why aren’t you screaming? You haven’t gone mute, have you?”
“Heh… heh heh…”
He seemed displeased by my laughter. He removed his foot from my stomach and crushed my left thumb.
“What’s so funny?”
Crack—
“I said, what’s so funny?”
Crack—
“You still think it’s funny?! Even now?!”
Crack—
Crack—
Crack—
He broke my index finger, then my middle finger, then my pinky, but I couldn’t stop laughing. He looked at me, his expression a mixture of confusion and disgust.
“Heh… heh…”
“What’s so goddamn funny?!”
“You… you really don’t get it, do you?”
“…Get what?”
“Everything that’s happened… it’s because you lost to me.”
Thud—
Leon slammed my head against the ground.
“Ugh…”
“…Fine. I’ll kill you slowly, just like you want.”
He grabbed my face, his other hand reaching for my broken fingers.
Crack—
Rip—
“Aaaaagh…”
“Let me tell you what I’m going to do.”
“…”
“I’m going to pull out your fingernails, one by one. Slowly. You’ll see the skin stretch and tear.”
“…”
“And after I’m done with your fingers, I’ll move on to your toes. But that would be boring, so I’ll just dig them out.”
He removed my shoes and pressed his finger against my right big toe, his sharp nail digging into my flesh. I winced, but he continued to apply pressure, until I felt the tendon snap, his finger digging deeper into my foot.
“Gah…”
“Yes… slowly…”
He dug into my toe, as if he were tilling a field, leaving a gaping wound in its place.
He held up my bloody toe, dangling it before my face. I bit my lip, trying not to scream, drawing blood.
“Then, your face. I’ve always found your face irritating.”
“…”
“I’ll peel off your skin, nice and thin, exposing your eyes and cheekbones. Heh heh.”
“…”
“Finally, I see fear in your eyes.”
“…You think you have time for that?”
He tilted his head, then laughed, as if he’d just realized something.
“Hahaha! You… you were relying on the Headmaster, weren’t you?! That’s why you were so arrogant.”
“…”
“Unfortunately for you, even she can’t easily break through this barrier.”
“…?”
“I hear it’s demon magic. Even she will need time to dispel it!”
Demons. A race said to grant wishes in exchange for a price, wielding the power of darkness.
I hadn’t considered that possibility. He wasn’t just a demonically influenced human, a demonkin. He had a demonic benefactor. And they wouldn’t have overlooked the Headmaster.
She might be a master of human magic, but even she couldn’t possibly know every demonic spell. It would take time for her to break through the barrier.
And I knew exactly what he’d do to me in the meantime.
It would be fine. I’d endured worse. I was—
“Heh heh… finished thinking?”
Crack—
He ripped out another fingernail.
The skin stretched, then tore, the pain a constant, throbbing ache.
“I’ll just pull it out again if you regenerate it…”
I gritted my teeth, but the pain didn’t lessen.
He held me by the throat, his other hand slowly tearing out my fingernails, watching my reaction.
I still had my right hand. I tried to slash at his throat, but my dagger bounced off his skin.
Clang—
It sounded like it had hit metal.
He frowned, his grip tightening, and he twisted my finger with even more force.
“Aaaaagh…!”
“Save your strength. You’ll need it to stay conscious.”
“Ugh…”
“I think I have about five minutes before she breaks through.”
What followed was a familiar hell.
He slowly, meticulously, tore out my remaining fingernails. I screamed, but he just laughed, enjoying my pain. He’d wake me up if I fainted, eager to continue his torture.
When he was done with my fingers, he moved on to my toes, as promised, slowly digging them out, one by one.
The pain was different this time, a dull, grinding ache as the bones cracked and the flesh tore, the tendons snapping. I screamed and screamed, my voice hoarse.
He drank my blood, savoring its taste, then moved on to my face.
“Next… as I said… this.”
He pointed at my face, and I trembled, my throat raw from screaming.
He held a black dagger, its tip tracing the contours of my face.
I struggled, but his demon-enhanced strength was too much. I couldn’t break free.
He began to flay my face, peeling off thin strips of skin, exposing the flesh beneath, my eyes, my cheekbones.
The scraping sound, the tearing of flesh, the searing pain—it was unbearable. I screamed, and he clamped his hand over my mouth, silencing me, continuing his gruesome work.
My screams echoed through the black void.
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“Now you look presentable.”
Leon smiled, his face alight with a sadistic glee.
Before him lay a man, unconscious, his body a mangled mess.
His fingers and toes, bloody stumps, lay scattered around him. His hands and feet were twisted and deformed.
But his face…
His eyelids had been sliced off, his eyes exposed. His skin had been flayed, his cheekbones and jawbone protruding. His lips had been peeled back, revealing his teeth. He looked like a skull loosely draped in skin.
Leon’s smile widened. His transformation into a demonkin had awakened a sadistic streak within him. He reveled in the pain he inflicted.
He wanted to continue, but he couldn’t risk it. The Headmaster would be here soon.
Reluctantly, he plunged the black dagger into the man’s heart, ensuring he wouldn’t regenerate.
‘I survived… I won…’
He was the victor, and the victor was always right. He hadn’t done anything wrong.
He turned to leave, but his feet wouldn’t move.
A figure stood behind him, its eyes glowing white.
[…I’m… sob… so sorry… child…]
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IDK if it was Leon’s decision to defect to the demonkin, but dude, his family, especially his father must suffer severe consequences because of what he did to his own son. They should be stripped of his title, humiliated by everyone and die in exile.
And whoever is that figure that always apologizing to Jenison for his predicament, that ain’t gonna cut it. May Jenison continue to hate all the otherworldly forces that put him to that world, especially that worthless goddess.
But of course, that is wishful thinking.