11 A Demure Sin: Naked Nature

The sound of bare feet dragging their way across the sea of green fields was heard out loud. Not because of overpowering the aggressive gust of a hilly meadow, but a sense of priority. When the threat was right before their eyes, the survival needs became their only matter. Hence they were sharping their ears, rubbing their eyes with hope it was all just one bad nightmare—but it was a very real reality—therefore gathering and watching each other back as the threat in the form of a twisted child whom they knew well for years as another inhabitant of their little village... but now it was his little feet he slowly dragged without care, approaching the tremble bodies of theirs with the intention to deliver and create a state of turmoil…

…and a state of turmoil for sure would happen if only there was no one such a one-horned devil standing a hundred feet away from the ground, menacingly staring at the twisted child with her cold lemon-yellow gaze,

"What's your name again, big sis? Eri-Erynew, is it?" 

The shrill voice, typical to a five years old boy was then heard by the agitated crowd of Kasala residents. Still sounded so pure and sinless according to their sense of hearing, but their eyes would then disagree with them following the supposed childish conversation which showed rows of oversized sharp teeth when the child opened his mouth to channel his deceiving voice…

"You do have a knack for dodging things, huh? And those rough and cold yet deft hands for being able to catch my tongue and make it cramped. Unforgivable!"

…moreover after the child stuck out his pride… a sharp, proboscis-like long tongue which no doubt he used primarily to suck dry the blood of unaware prey. Leaving only a tiny mark or wound the size of a small needle, nearly invisible to the naked human eye, hence many of his victims were left diagnosed as a death of blood loss. The child was no human himself, yet ironically, the child's only threat was now also no human, for this threat was born with an eyesight that was stronger, greater, and sharper—and most of all, brighter—than those ordinary humans… thus helping this threat to find the real causes of the death of thirty marauders… and that caused the twisted child to approach with full caution,

And when the twisted child seemed to enter the prohibited area of hers, the one-horned devil began to make a movement. Landing perfectly, smooth as butter without any scratch nor damage when her bare feet collided with the ground; now she was standing in front of the inhabitants of Kasala village,

"Thank you for the compliment." 

Such a merry phrase yet expressed in such a cold timbre, leaving quite the opposite impression within her. Despite feeling calm in her presence, the native inhabitants felt something tense around their devilish savior; it was much different when facing that inept, self-proclaimed lord. The level of her impassive facial expression was still the same sure, but this time though—the one-horned devil seemed lowering her head a bit while staring deeply at the twisted kid as though trying to understand him… the way he thought and what he would do so that she could create countless of simulations inside her head as precautionary measures… for the threat this time, was much more troublesome.

"Thank you, huh? You don't think it's too early for that, do you? Well whatever," the twisted kid sniggered, throwing a snide remark as he stretched out his small hand and then opened his tiny palm, directing it right at where Erynew stood.

Such a suspicious move gave an aggressive sense to anyone watching. Tingling ones' nape hair and arousing their senses of alert – ready to defend themselves by praying innerly. For someone like Erynew however, it wasn't praying that mattered in order to defend herself, instead her prayer was hoping she got what it takes to defend these people, as she tried her best to make sure anything that would come out or produce from that twisted child wouldn't be able to touch nor harm these native inhabitants.

However, lack of information and was vulnerable against the element of surprise still troubled her… at least that was a thing before she fought the self-proclaimed Holy Knight guy. And thanks to the unfriendly rendezvous that night, she learned and overcame her inattention,

"What?" 

The twisted child was startled for his sudden attack had been thwarted. It was a flying blade, dashing at the speed of light from a blind spot… the twisted child apparently had twisted intention of ambushing those humans whom the Devil tried to protect out of an unexpected way and corner,

A silent powerful attack that at least could kill some of them covertly. But instead of hitting the fleshes and bones of his prey, the blade rammed the glass-like barrier—an amorphous solid surface that covered the whole Kasala residents from all directions, even underground as well. It appeared thin and fragile, yet capable of resisting such a powerful attack. Instead of shaking the barrier on impact, it was that purple-black blade that almost shattered if only the twisted child continued on attacking, leaving a few chips on its dark metal surface. Being overly underestimated his opponent, the child wisely stopped targeting the native residents before recalling the blade to return to his palm,

"I see… that crazily huge magic circle wasn't created only to show off, huh?"

The twisted child whispered to himself, looking at a few chips on his blade as he felt dismayed and shocked, knowing that his opponent was more prepared than he thought – that one-horned devil truly deserved to be the biggest threat to his agenda. Well it was no wonder, that one-horned figure was a devil after all… a figure that should've become an old tale's myth… one hell of myth,

The twisted child should've been afraid, no matter if he was a monster or just an ordinary human, to face the unknown power he was about to witness for the first time. His small body should've trembled, and his feet should've been hammered down where he stood, rendering him unable to run even when he wanted to—and even if the Devil let him to. But no he did not, for this little freak accident had been expected since the Devil showed up, when he still pretended to be a weak, hopeless toddler. And also, this little freak accident somehow, pumped his adrenaline… increasing the rates of his blood circulation and breathing, and as a result a burst of loud laugh was then ringing the ears who listened,

"Fascinating! Truly is fascinating!" the shrill laughing stung anyone who listened to it. It wasn't a mad expression out of despair in the face of the power of a Devil, but more like because of how hilarious this little freak accident could be, "A Devil protects humans? Isn't a Devil supposed to be the villain in any story? What kind of joke is this anyway? Wanting to be funny has its limits you know! It's so disgusting that I want to throw up!"

Erynew wrinkled her brows a bit… because she was so done with that kind of laugh, that kind of mockery, and that kind of ethos… which also reminded her of something she detested, yet still trying her best to disregard it and keep her mind clear and calm, "I have my own reasons. Say whatever you wanna say."

"Yeah of course you do." the twisted child gasped for fresh air after done laughing, and with that the tension came back between them, and a wide wicked smirk decorated the twisted child's face then… looking wide and clear while pointing his blade now coated in a dark-purple smoke-like aura.

"That sword." Erynew perceived something from that blade. Even if it already had acquired a different appearance and form, she couldn't forget the feeling of that aura emitted from its dark metal. A dark-purple smoke full of frustration and vexation that she felt once with her own hand.

"Oh you notice it." the twisted child responded, realizing that the Devil had been staring anxiously at his blade. And looked like she was expecting an answer, hence he gave her one, "It's Wolframs by the way. I'm sure you're already familiar with it. The sword you stopped with nothing but a finger. Such a disgrace for a royal heirloom. Well it's no wonder though, since the former wielder was also a disgraceful crap. It's not worth letting him wander around with it, moreover after running away from his duty and mentioning quite a… sensitive name."

The answer Erynew desired… she had received it and now everything became more lucid inside her head, creating yet another crimson spider-web pattern in her mind evidence board which led to an outcome, yet a disfavored one. If it affected herself only, she could go on lightly without a burden she must bear thereafter, but… the name that twisted child just allured apparently quite liable information in a bad way which ones should pay the fine with their lives for knowing such a name.

"Therefore, according to our law—though our group is quite lawless—I have to end your fate here." the child continued, showing his insidious smile, "Well, one way or another… the order still is to terminate the inhabitants of this region anyway."

The level of threat was now in a completely different realm than the threat of a boastful lord with magical equipment… Erynew was well aware of that, and even a group of common folks consisting of peasants, elders, and children who knew nothing about the harsh world of Arcane Art were too aware of the current threat. Such a threat existed around them for obvious reasons—it was to push themselves settled in the very edge of political, and military affairs which spiced with supernatural dispute they strived to avoid… 

…some folks simply wanted to spend their ordinary life within a remote neighborhood where the egocentric influence seemed foggier, and while those who drew themselves closer to the circle of the monarchy were safety guaranteed, the remote common folks would be less burdened with things as simple as 'royal donation', moreover in war seasons like this, because that what 'royal donation' was used for…

…and that was one of many reasons for some to separate themselves from the inner circle of busy towns. They were settling in where they could take care of themselves and were mostly independent. And one of the reasons for their choice was that over five centuries ago almost all the abomination creatures in this reality had been wiped out by humans following the Great War. It was practically rare to find nonhuman existence, let alone monstrous beings these days, and thus by separating themselves from crowded regions now were less dangerous aside from typical bandits or marauders,

Yet here the residents of Kasala village experiencing something contrasting… stood in front of them, a one-horned Devil who oddly bothered herself to protect them to the point she created a glass-like barrier. And thanks to its transparent nature, they were capable of reading the Devil's alarmed expression… because they were about to put the same one. 

Maybe the time difference between today and five hundred years ago was already stretched far enough for the abomination creatures to repopulate their kin in this small human dwelling. That kind of thought abruptly came as fast as the thing appeared from under the ground before their eyes. That thing could hardly be described as standing beside the twisted child, but it was more appropriate to recount it as… floating… with the help of a pair of thin layers of brown skin stretched over its extra pair of arms while its long bony fingers behaved as its wings. Its unnatural arms were always flapping, moving tirelessly up and down on its emaciated narrow waist… and by doing so, its lower body wouldn't touch the ground beneath for it literally had no lower limbs to settle its monstrous body on such a solid surface…

…no flesh and not even bones… there simply existed dripping blood and melted giblets filled the entire ground beneath that floating monstrous thing into crimson fluid of viscera porridge, leaving only a handful of dangling intestines from its exposed abdomen that quickly instilled a horror image of the most disturbing nightmare the Kasala inhabitants could think of. Because to some degree, curiosity drew their eyes to that thing nonetheless, towards its naked and what was left of its upper body, only then to gain an instant rue. A face they recognized well for years was shattered in mere seconds. A heart-shaped head that was once full of bushy brown hair, now had turned into thin messy hair and whitening due to a reason they would consider twice to know. The motherly gaze of a gentlewoman had now ceased from existence… and there only remained cold white eyeballs staring hollowly at them, reaching the point of no return where the mind lost its ability to deceive the heart.

Amongst hundreds of thousands of settlements across the continent, why did a face they dear the most, for it had become a small part of a community sharing the same emotions and ethos in this cruel reality, end up as a hideous monster? Was it because the reality was too small to contain its cruelty?

They kept wondering and wondering so… a vain effort of wondering… denial of dissent… all came in one same voice of agreement, that the pregnant lady who moved into the village all years ago, wasn't the same lady they saw today for the mother was now full of crimson color,

"I admit. My current state won't even be able to shake you – not in this child's body." 

As the twisted child continued speaking to the alarmed Devil, his corrupted preternatural mother was slowly descending above his head at a height where her eerie-looking tentacles—of which normal folk would call intestines—could reach the twisted child's whole body and smear his wavy hair and his tiny skull with revolting viscous bodily fluids of his mother. Slowly lengthen the intestines filled with white mucus, using the abhorrent arms of his mother… with motherly feelings… the abnormal tentacles were gently rubbing his narrow neck, and tiny chest, later stretching out and twinning them around his short arms…

…standing there and being swamped by questionable fluid, the most hideous smile yet to be shown by that twisted child,

"It's time for the son to return into his mother. Become one flesh and blood."