Chương 83: Chapter 82 - Arch-demon

Atzi awoke feeling as though everything she had seen last night was a dream. Yet, when her eyes focused on the dingy room she was in, she knew it was not. A voice called out in her head, "Is killing those people okay?"

"I don't know! They're all gonna come back to life when it resets again, a-and it's not like I'm killing them personally. I don't know if I could even… What if this is the only way to figure out what happened in Hasen? A whole war's gonna break out, a-and... even if I stop this, Cory'll be killed or locked up..."

"I don't know," the Saintess said.

"I'm... doing this once and never again. Just once. So that I know enough so that it doesn't happen again. I can stop this happening every time, they can't get the book normally."

"You say death is wrong, but it's right if the other person is trying to hurt you. But now, these people aren't hurting you, but it's okay to kill them? I don't understand."

"It's not alright, it's just... this stuff is hard, okay? I never had to think about this before! Every bad thing I do gets undone, so how bad is it really? If I can do something awful but it saves people later, doesn't that mean it just saved people in the end?" Atzi looked down.

"I hate this..."

"I see. So it's okay to do bad things if they get undone, or it results in good things later."

"I don't know," Atzi replied. She hoped she wasn't teaching the Saintess the wrong lessons, but she was all-in on this awful plan. I need to see it through. Then never, ever do it again. Atzi took a deep breath, and then headed out of the room. Immediately, the people locked in cages called out to her, begging her to let them out, repeating the words Jem had said.

"You have to help us!"

"Atzi!"

"I've always believed you were a good person!" She did not see Jem in the cage. Atzi looked down, clenching her claw into a fist. It didn't look like they'd started sacrificing anyone, but Atzi could guess at what had happened. What could I have done there, though? Ran away? They had a hostage to stop me even if I tried. Fought them? I know how that ends.

"... Shut up." Atzi grimaced, trying to get through this.

"Wait, I know you!" someone called out. Atzi looked up to see a poor-looking young man, someone she'd only briefly met once. The chicken farmer she'd helped, days before the loop. Atzi groaned.

"So this is who you really were." He spat on the floor.

"Like you'd know..."

"If you want to shut me up you'll have to slit my throat." He raised his neck.

"You're going to do it anyway, right? So might as well get it over with!"

"Shut up! You think it's easy for me? At least you get to stay dead!"

"What, you think you're immortal? That explains it, you're crazy too!"

"Yeah! I am! I get to deal with this over and over and over again! So shut up!" The chicken farmer hurled a series of slurs and curses at her. Atzi groaned again and shut her eyes, trying to think about anything else. She opened them to see Cory watching her from the side. Atzi wasn't sure if she'd been watching the whole time, as she was too preoccupied by the cages.

"Not too much trouble, now, I hope?" Atzi wished she could talk directly to the guy, without Cory overhearing. You'll be alive again soon enough, deal with it for now. It felt absurd that she was resentful of the people getting killed, but she still did.

"Yeah, just... I don't want to deal with them right now..."

"I will. The others will be here tonight. They'll meet you in the other room." Atzi nodded, and returned to her cage. It had a bed, but it was a cage all the same. She curled up on the bed and waited. She didn't have anything to eat, but she wasn't hungry anyway. And she had a bucket for… everything else. So she slept away her day. It was easier. Eventually, the sound of laughter drowned out the cries, and then the Pangaeans filtered into Atzi's room, apparently finding something funny. With them was a new face.

A lizard woman Atzi had never seen before. Jessica, she guessed. Half her scales were black and the other white, divided across both sides of her body. She didn't wear a shirt. Atzi couldn't bring herself to care.

"Follow us," Oak said. Atzi nodded, and glumly followed along.

"Atzi, you'll be helping Alana grab the sacrifices."

"Are you sure? I'm not the strongest..."

"It's fine, she'll handle it mostly, you'll assist her."

"Oh." One more step to the hells. But it'll be over soon. She knew she was being given an unimportant job to keep her busy, so she didn't do anything stupid. She'd seen people get given those kinds of jobs before. Cory, Daisy, Oak, and Jessica gathered around the metal chair in the center of the room, and began a chant. Cory held the book in her hands, unopened. There was now what looked like a complex symbol drawn on the floor. Tapestries Atzi didn't recognize hung on the wall.

The people in the cages cried all the louder as Alana and Atzi approached. When Alana opened the cage, the surge of bodies threatened to break free. But Alana just grabbed someone by their arm and ripped them out, before slamming the cage shut again. She even kept it closed with nothing but a hand as she motioned Atzi to click it back locked with the key. Atzi complied.

"We're bringing him to the chair," Alana said.

"Drag him with me." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Atzi went along with it. It was worse than she'd expected. When they reached the chair, Alana forcibly sat him down in it. She again ordered Atzi to help, having her use a bundle of rope to tie him down as he struggled and screamed.

"Perfect. You're such a great help, Atzi!" Alana smiled, withdrew a dagger, and just as the chanting reached a peak, slit the man's throat.

"That's one. Ninety nine more to go. Untie him." Atzi trembled, but rushed to do what she said. She closed her eyes and fumbled with the knots, but her usual capabilities had left her. She could feel the wetness over the scales of her clawed fingers. After a few seconds, she gave up and just sliced the corpse free. Then Alana kicked it, causing it to fall over in the circle with a wet splat.

"Ninety nine to go..." Atzi whispered. How is she fine with this? How is Cory fine with this? Has she brainwashed Cory? She... must have used the seduction techniques on Cory. Then found ways to keep her ensnared. Ninety eight. Ninety seven. Ninety six... Atzi got through a dozen before she cried out. Oak, Daisy, and Jessica still continued their chanting, echoes of Cory. Atzi begged, "C-can I get some air?! I... just..."

"Sure!" Alana shrugged, as though they weren't in the middle of a magical sacrifice. She pointed to the side room.

"Don't wander too far though. It won't be safe." Atzi ran into the room, grabbed the bucket, and vomited. Five times, until she was heaving nothing but the wish she had more inside her. Enough to have an excuse to not go back. She curled into a ball, claws bloody, and wept. I just have to endure, then... then… I shouldn't have handed her the stupid book! I just wanted to be with her! I didn't want this! She stayed in the room, waiting for someone to grab her. Nobody did.

Only when she felt the room shake did she run back out. The smell of a hundred corpses overwhelmed her, all piled into the circle. The chant led by Cory had reached its peak, and the circle was glowing a bright red that made more than just the floor look bathed in blood. Atzi stared at Cory. She saw a woman who had never been happier even as blood pooled around her boots. Surrounded by her real friends. Suddenly, Cory stopped her chant, and immediately threw the Sage of Sostra's book into the center of the circle.

They didn't need the book for the instructions. It was another sacrifice. The bodies started to twist, forming a homogenous mass of flesh around the book, until it was no longer visible. The sound of the snapping of bones accompanied the awful motion. Frightened, Atzi ran near the others for safety. Atzi was out of anything to throw up, and she already felt numb to the horror. She just stared.

The mass of flesh grew larger and larger and larger still, before surging all at once towards the ceiling, smashing through the stone. Atzi ducked her head, covering it with her claws, as rubble rained down on her. Finally, the demon was before them, so tall that Atzi had to crane her head back to see its full height, so tall it reached above the city streets. It floated rather than stood, with a giant wispy tail. Blood flowed to form its body as if by invisible veins twisting into muscles.

Around its head was a collar, glowing red like the circle in which it was summoned. It raised one awful hand, and Atzi heard more screams. People flew through the air as though sucked towards the demon, their bodies joining the mass as it grew even bigger.

"ALL SHALL BE ONE WITH I," it echoed out loudly. Atzi fell on her ass, staring at the nightmare unfolding above her. Cory, and the others, were smiling. She said, "We did it!" She's smiling at that? Atzi stared at her, nearly in as much disbelief at that, as the demon above. Cory... what happened to you? Cory looked down at her, still smiling. Pity on her face.

"Don't be scared, Atzi. It can't hurt us due to the ritual. Just don't leave this room."

"I wasn't gonna…" Atzi whispered. She sniffed.

"You seem... happy."

"I summoned an arch-demon! It means I've come a long way in blood magic! It's just one step down from summoning a Lord of Hell!"

"You're gonna do that too?"

"Oh, no. Probably not." Cory shrugged.

"No reason to."

"If you had a reason to, would you?"

"Yeah, probably." How do I ever help her if she's like this? She's got someone else, she's excited for killing thousands of people... Alana leaned over and kissed Cory. Atzi dropped her head into her claws. Oak spoke up, "Once the Gods distract the arch-demon, we'll need to get out of here immediately. Then we head back home. To Pangaea." Well. It's still a way to learn what happens in Hasen. After all, why not tell me at that point? Atzi nodded silently. She heard a thud from above, and looked back up.

She saw the rough form of the Ancestor smashing his fist into the side of the arch-demon. Blood spewed out from it, only to reach out in the form of hands, which ensnared the god. Then, flames engulfed the entire scene. She heard the Dragon roar. Several more gods smashed into the arch-demon, including a gigantic snake even larger than the demon itself, which Atzi assumed to be the Serpent. Atzi didn't have time to comprehend more of the giant scaled form before the arch-demon went flying aside.

Internally, Atzi hoped the Serpent would win.

"It's safe to go now," Oak said. He reached out a hand to help Atzi up. Atzi took it. The group fled through the sewers, occasionally stopping as the city shook. Eventually they reached an open sewer grate outside the city, and all leapt out. Oak spoke again, Atzi assumed for her own benefit.

"Now we just keep running. We need to get to Mediolanum to get a boat back home." Atzi just huffed as she ran along. - Eventually the group slowed into a lighter jog, once they were far enough away that the trees of the swamp covered Sostra behind them. Atzi muttered to itself, "It's worth it. It needs to be."

"What are you muttering, Atzi?" Cory asked. Atzi turned to her.

"Nothing. But. Um. Cory... if you could go back in time, what would you change?"

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow.

"How far back?"

"I dunno, as far back as you want."

"Oh, that's easy then. I'd run away from home as soon as I could, grab as much money as I already knew about, and then move to Hasen. From there I'd contact everyone in this group so I could grow up as a spy on the inside."

"Does it mean that much to you? You'd be hanging out with a load of people that you're working against, wouldn't that be miserable?" Cory shrugged.

"I'm used to it."

"Like... with V?"

"No matter how much I worked with V, I made sure I always had a plan to kill them if they were in the same room as me. Can't trust them. I bet they did the same for everyone else."

"I guess V would, yeah." I don't actually know.

"Bet they keep a dagger up their sleeve."

"And a spare in their boot, and a spare in their underwear."

"... What's Pangaea like?" Atzi suddenly asked.

"Oh, it's beautiful, Atzi! It's filled with so many great people. That's why it's worth fighting against Hasen no matter what." Atzi lowered her voice, and meekly said, "Well... I trust you, Cory." Cory smiled.

"I know." I wonder if they used magic to mess with her brain and that's why she's so loyal to them. Must be something like that. Night turned to day as they continued along. Atzi felt tired, and wished they could stop at an inn. She didn't know exactly how long it was until the coast of Mediolanum, but it had to be a few hours still. At one point, she could see what looked like wooden rubble in the middle of the road- Alana shouted, "Down!"

Atzi dove to the floor, just in time to see a metallic behemoth of a blade that must have been as big as a tree swing over the top of everyone's heads.

"You all dodged!" a voice came from the forest, almost like it was whining. The giant blade retracted into the tree line, as though by magic.

"Wh-what's going on?" Atzi asked. A form leapt out from the trees. Before them stood a woman with five eyes and pitch black skin, holding a massive sword that seemed to constantly shift in size in her hand, going from the monstrosity that she'd swung at Atzi to something more reasonable - but still half her body in size. Her fanged mouth was twisted into a smile, and she wore a belt of skulls. She curled back her weapon as she prepared to strike again.