"Unhand me this instant! What barbarity is this, to lay violent hands upon a defenceless lady?" A charming young lady in a rather not-so-ladylike state shouted with anger.
She was in underground chamber, hands bound with chains, delicate nails filled with dirt, her torn dress stained with soil and blood.
However, that wasn't all, she was also cursed, her alluring eyes half-lidded, not to seduce anyone but because she genuinely felt lethargic, unable to move properly without yawning.
"Hmm... Well, well, well... Sell me your soul and I'll consider letting you go." A young man with pitch-black hair streaked with gold and dirtied by dried blood, smiled faintly at her. His hands rested in his coat pockets. The coat was torn in numerous places, his white shirt marked with black and red stains and his body bruised with small slash wounds.
"Excuse me? That proposal lacks all logic, resembling your brainless skull, my good sir. One might as well call a bird free because its cage has been opened whilst the chain remains fastened. Your mercy is as hollow as it is cruel." She smiled darkly, looking at Sam with obvious disdain, licking her dry lips.
"Hmm... But it's not that bad. Don't worry, I'm not gonna sacrifice your soul to devils for my benefits. Five years of servitude and I'll release you. And yeah, I'm actually merciful. If it were other devils, they would force you to sign a contract without even asking you, eternal slavery, you get it?" Sam shook his head with a sigh, grabbing a chair and taking a seat, leaning forward as his legs stretched outward, etiquette-less and unruly, as his nature as a devil dictated.
"Of course. Let us agree to disagree." Trissy rolled her eyes, her hands hanging in the air as the chains made an unsettling sound. Her expression was disgusted. "Your nature is as devoid of warmth as it is of mercy. However, you needn't worry about the future. Be rest assured, your consistent cruelty will preserve you from the exhausting burden of love and affection. I believe the world will be quite fortunate. You seem to cultivate your own loneliness with care."
She paused, her lips curling into a sneer. "I suppose I can expect no less from a filthy, ugly devil."
Sam blinked in genuine bewilderment. He stood, walked over to her, observed her closely, scratched the back of his head in confusion and when he couldn't find the answer he was looking for, he called out.
"Amelia! Get down here for a second."
A few seconds later, Amelia descended the stairs, her body wrapped in a towel. By the looks of it, she had taken a bath just now, her pale skin glistening with droplets of water while her wet hair clung to her body. "What now? Let me rest properly."
Sam gestured for her to come closer. She frowned in confusion, then sighed and walked over.
Leaning forward, Sam started whispering in her ear, and gradually Amelia's expression changed, first it was annoyed, then confused, and then she started laughing, slapping Sam's shoulder. "Bahahaha, idiot. She's basically telling you that you're a cruel bastard who'll die alone and a virgin."
Sam nodded in understanding, glancing at Trissy with an irritated look. "Just say it like that, plain and clear. I hate those elaborate, complicated words. May my Almighty God be witness to my truth."
"Almighty God?" Trissy frowned, not familiar with those words. She didn't know any deity that was called that, nor was she aware of any god who had 'Almighty God' mentioned in their honorific names.
At that, Sam's fingers trembled. He turned around and glanced at her. Slowly, his mouth curled up in a cheeky smile as he instantly appeared beside her and clasped her bound hands. "Do you wish to hear about our Lord and Saviour? God of gods, the one who stands above all?"
Trissy stared at him blankly, her eye twitching in perplexity, her lips parting and closing a few times, unable to give an answer.
"Gosh, what do you think? You're trying to buy her soul, Sam." Amelia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. "I have a better method."
She grinned, grabbing a rifle and walking to the table, grabbing the bolt handle, pulling it out and ejecting the fired cartridge, then taking a fresh bullet from the table and sliding it into the receiver.
She walked over to Trissy, raised the rifle, and pressed the muzzle to her head, staring down at her with a vicious smile. "What now, bitch? You think you can call my boy here a virgin and I'll let that shit slide? Huuuuh? Is that what you think? Do you think I'm a pushover or what?"
Trissy remained motionless, now even more lost and confused.
Meanwhile Amelia looked back, raising her rifle and resting it on her shoulder. "How was that?"
"Hmm... Two out of ten." Sam shook his head, disappointed with her performance.
"Huh? Why? I did everything like you taught me." Amelia groaned, ejecting the usable bullet and dropping the rifle on the table.
"Yeah, but there's no need for theatrics or drama. You do that when you need a hostage in good condition, and even then, you shouldn't exaggerate it, that makes you seem all bark and no bite. In cases like this..." Sam explained why her threats had failed and gestured casually. "We can just torture her."
Both of them stood above Trissy, staring down at her. She looked up with a mocking smile and stuck her tongue out but Amelia caught it sharply, pulling hard with a pissed expression.
"I'm gonna rip it out, I don't care!"
"Wait, wait! We need to save that for last!"
"Eh? Why?"
"We need to start with the nails. Let's rip them out from her fingers."
"Oh, that's interesting. What then?"
"Hmm... You remember that bitch Selina?"
"Yeah, so?"
"She gave me quite the inspiration." Sam grinned.
"So what are we gonna do?" Amelia licked her lips, grabbing Trissy's shoulders and holding her in place.
"After the nails, we'll cut off her breasts, and starve her. Then she'll have no choice but to eat her own flesh."
"Dude... That's cruel."
"Of course it is."
"Understandable, let's start then."
Amelia nodded as Sam grabbed a knife, while Trissy wore a blank expression, her mocking look crumbling into horror as she watched them preparing the tools, her eyes wide open as her body began to shake.
Those two... They're insane.
"What are you two doing?"
As Sam was about to rip out Trissy's nails, they heard a voice from above. Looking back, they saw Maric staring at them expressionlessly, a hint of confusion appearing in his bleak eyes.
"Torturing her."
"Enough. We'll decide what to do with her later." Maric sighed, feeling more exhausted than he ever had on a full moon because of those two. "Samael, for now curse her, seal her spirituality and force her into slumber. We'll check on her every hour to make sure she stays still."
"So what should we do, Mr. Maric?" Amelia raised an eyebrow, letting go of Trissy's shoulders and jumping over her head, holding her towel with one hand.
"Eat. Then I need to sort you two out. You can't stay here forever. Yuri was my companion, but everything has limits."
The two of them nodded in understanding, Amelia following Maric up while Sam stayed behind.
He raised a wall of spirituality, then gathered ingredients that belonged to the domain of Evernight, since She was the goddess associated with Slumber, to strengthen his curse and siphon power from Her authority, using ingredients such as a drop of Full Moon Essence Oil in the flame, Chamomile Pure Dew, Slumber Flower Powder, and other ingredients.
While the Evernight Goddess's slumber was related to rest and solace, Sam was twisting the original nature to fit his desires.
Besides, it wasn't like he was praying to Her, just using materials that represented Her authority. Sam definitely didn't want the gaze of a deity on him, so he would just siphon power from the materials and link them with the ritualistic circle he needed to draw later for the ritual to work.
After making sure he had a clean, spiritual environment, he set up an altar, taking a pure metal dagger, candles, extracts, essential oils and herbal powders.
Burning the extracts, essential oil and herbal powders helped him connect with his spirituality on a deeper level, adjusting it and entering a state of cogitation.
Then he started drawing a ritualistic circle, bizarre lines eventually forming a twisted half-moon dripping blood.
Exhaling softly, he rubbed his eyes. His reserves of spirituality weren't exactly in the best shape. He lit the candle that represented himself and another that represented the target, which obviously was Trissy.
If I was stronger and my reserves of spirituality were bigger, then I would have done this without all this work... Becoming a Serial Killer will boost my spirituality by a lot, so that's something I look forward to. He thought as he continued working.
But first, I need to think about the acting principles of the Unwinged Angel. My fight with Raymond taught me a lot, as well as my enlightenment about my own nature. He smiled faintly, feeling that his path was correct.
Indulging in my desires mercilessly back then gave me clear inspiration. I wanted to kill Raymond, so I did. That allowed me to begin digesting my potion. And because he was a higher-sequence Beyonder, the process was accelerated. That means my theory is right, act on whims and satisfy my desires without hesitation or remorse. That's the first rule. As for the second...
He paused, a thoughtful look appearing on his face as he began thinking about it. It's about erasing concepts of right or wrong... Hmm, there's no such thing anyway. There's only winners and losers. From a loser's perspective, the winner would be wrong, and from a winner's perspective, he is right. But a bystander might think something else entirely, in other words, it's all about perspective.
Everyone's abyss is different.
And my abyss should be superior to anyone else's, and my individuality indomitable, stalwart and a reflection of my soul.
As for the last rule... Sam tilted his head, glancing at Trissy as he finished his preparations and walked to her curiously.
Trissy looked up with clear wariness and bitterness as he grabbed her slender arm and pulled it towards his mouth, not caring about the soil or blood. His teeth sank into her soft flesh as he drank her blood while she could only watch, horrified and helpless.
I see... He felt the potion digesting, but the amount wasn't anything significant. Though he also felt a bit annoyed.
I need to be as monstrous and inhuman as possible. Paimon made a few references about it in her book... Right, she didn't give any answers, just hints about it. Well, I still got it, so it's fine. Besides, reading about other devils helped me create my own acting principles, so I can confidently say that this was easy.
At the same time, Trissy flinched, hissing from pain and pursing her lips, trying to find something positive about her seemingly hopeless situation but... there was nothing. That's why her situation was hopeless. She might have even found herself in the hands of people far worse than the Demoness Sect.
Clenching her fists, she still refused to submit, glaring at Sam fiercely, her electric-blue eyes locking with his wide, unblinking golden eyes, resembling a map of a burning sky.
For a moment, she even forgot that she was his captive and was about to be cursed.
All she could do was watch those bright, luminous eyes glowing in the darkness, getting lost in them, her lips parting, wanting to say something, anything but all she could do was stare.
How... beautiful.
However, Sam slowly let her go, his sharp teeth leaving her flesh. Trissy could feel his tongue on her arm, making her tremble slightly while Sam straightened and wiped the blood from his mouth after spitting some out.
Pity... She thought with sudden irritation, but then froze, blinking in bafflement as she thought how pretty this little devil looked.
Nevertheless, she shook her head, her surprised expression slowly crumbling, replaced by solemnity and the melancholy flashing in her eyes.
What am I even thinking about... He's just a boy, and my enemy... Not to mention, I'm not a woman, the potion changed my gender forcefully. She thought bleakly, killing any thoughts and indecent intentions she'd had about Sam.
She couldn't help but feel sour and resentful, not even understanding her own feelings, and being horrified by the fact that the potion had not only changed her gender, but was slowly altering her mind as well, truly turning her into a female, be it her mind, body or soul.
At the same time, Sam sighed and took a step back to the middle of the ritualistic circle, behind the candle that represented him, observing everything and making sure it was all perfect.
After seeing that everything was ready, he nodded to himself and stood up. However, he paused, remembering that he had never prayed to himself, and had never crafted a three-line honorific name to represent his existence and feign the role of a creature from the spirit world.
Hmmm... Let's go with this then. He shook his head, not really caring about it as long as the honorific name could point to him, though he felt confused since he'd noticed his potion digestion vanishing for some reason.
Hmm, wasn't she scared?
He frowned, but quickly snapped out of it, focusing on the task as he proclaimed the incantations loudly in Devil Language. The air suddenly filled with a loathsome, filthy aura, saturated with madness and malice.
"Brother of Ruination and Heresy;
Devil of Endless Horizon;
Crownless Prince of Chilling Abyss;"
As he whispered the words, a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere. Instantly, Sam channeled his [Curse Magic] into the ritualistic circle and activated [Link] to connect himself with her to raise the effectiveness of his...
"Curse of Slumber..."