"The fear of a sinner," the man spoke quietly, yet clearly, "It's a potent stench, some may call it. I consider it a fragrance. Knowing that a sinner such as yourself is feeling the weight of their grotesque actions brings me an endless feeling of satisfaction."
"--"
He fell silent for a moment, still adjusting to the seeming rapid shift in situations.
…I was walking down the labyrinth corridors just a moment ago, right…? I remembered something–or someone, popping up behind me. Was I knocked out? Is this the leader of this group or something? He thought.
"I can see the perplexion wrapped across your expression, sinner–allow me, Cah-In, to explain," the snow-haired man stood tall with a smile, surrounded by his silent, hooded followers.
It was a dark room, but at least compared to most of the dungeon, it had sparse light in the form of azure-flame torches, but the light displayed things that he'd rather not have seen.
Bodies were hung up by chains, displayed on the walls and stitched with crimson crosses in their torsos on display like religious statues.
"Welcome to the "Last Bastion of God's Will", sinner. Rejoice, you've been specifically chosen to fulfill a very important task," Cah-In told him, leaning close to the cage bars with his eerie, inhumanly-wide smile.
When looking at him with the intent of finding player information, of course what he received was [Error]--the man was likely in possession of the GOETIA System, like the other, as he surmised.
"Task…?" He repeated what he heard.
It was then, by proxy of Cah-In's eyes moving towards something else in the chamber, alongside an odd, heavy breathing mixed with low growling that he found what the man must've been referring to.
In the large chamber, decorated to resemble a twisted, hellish cathedral, a monstrous entity was chained near an altar, with its massive hands held down by pikes, and a plethora of chains around its neck.
Its skin was a mixture between a muddy brown and a shade darker than any blade, possessing a shape similar to that of a hound mixed with a creature straight out of fantasy, crossed between a dragon and a frog; it was an illogical existence that made little sense to his human eyes.
Even bound, its breaths sent vibrations through the flooring, reverberating a hum through the walls as it stared at nothing, having spears driven and lodged through its eyes.
"...Is that…a Defect…?" He asked slowly, completely taken aback by the creature's appearance.
"Quite not," Cah-In replied, "That, boy, is well-and-truly a creature from the depths of Hell."
Looking at it, the system came up with a prompt, filling his vision with a blackened, corrupted notification:
[Enemy…Identified: "Ä̸̛̗̖̣̊͒̄̏̇͒̚b̷̧͇͇͙̖̞̦̺̟̼̠̦̗̞̄͋̃̍̒̎͐͐͂͌̽̊͝y̴͔̟͔͖̥̣͇͆͛͛͠ͅş̴̢͇̰̩͔̝̝̠̺̟̺͂̍͗̄̒́́̇̽̑̓̃͆͘ͅs̶̨̭̲͙͐ ̵̛̛̹͍̼͊̓̒̈́̈̉̔̕̕͝B̶̛͇̞͔̾̽̽̉͆̆̃̏̈́̀̌̊͐̀e̸͖̮͇͊̇̅̏̂̀͌́̊h̷̡͈̺̗̭͎̪̬̋͒̂̐͌̋͒̔e̸̢͔̖͖̳̘̞͖̱̗̮̊̆͐͑̽̕͜m̷̧̗̩̬̹̝̪͍̤̳̜̄͝ơ̶̫̤̟̻̳͇̪̣̖̻̬̐̿̌͂͝t̶̼̘̲̩̗̙̺͙́̈́̄̾̃h̷̫̬̯̯̼̭̟̠̻̫̘̅̈́́̾̈́͂ | Level: ???]
However, something else caught his eye, something that he didn't notice at first with the imposing presence of the hellish entity bound and chained: a familiar head of silver-hair caught his eye.
"...Kamou…!"
He pressed against the cage, calling out to the girl who was strapped down to the flat-surfaced altar which sat just beyond the reach of the wide, sludge-seeping beast's jaws.
The girl was unconscious; unresponsive to his repeated yells of her name as he began to throw his body against the unmoving, metallic bars to no avail.
"Now, now, that won't do…You will need to wait your turn, sinner," Cah-In stood in front of the cage, speaking to him as he raised his hand, pointing it towards the altar holding the young woman, "This is a delicate process. Barbas' feast must not be interrupted."
"...Feast…?"
He fell still at those words, witnessing saliva in the form of grime spill from the round, blistered lips of the grotesque beast as it seemed to hunger for the pale-skinned woman.
Cah-In looked at him with a smile, "Why, yes! By bringing delectable, mournful sinners to Barbas, the seals of Hell grow weaker in his rise of power. With the seals of Hell growing fragile, those flaming depths will rise and overtake this world–bringing damnation to the sinners on Earth's crust–then, Heaven will truly be unattainable to them."
"...You're insane. Nothing you're saying makes any sense!" He yelled out to the snow-haired cultist.
"Insane? Of course I am. Sanity is a possession of the stagnant. I move ever-forward, unstopping and immovable from my path. If I was bound by such things as empathy, morals, and emotions, I am sure even my loyal soul would waver," Cah-In spoke to him with a smile.
He fell silent, his mouth agape at the sheer insanity of the one he was dealing with. Sitting there on his knees, bound at his wrists and ankles, he did nothing for a few minutes as the flame-lit torches flickered before finally–Cah-In made his move.
Clapping his hands together, calling the hooded followers forth, the man smiled, "The time has arrived, my fervent believers: the "Supper of Hell" will commence!"
"--No! Stop it! Stop! Kamou…! Wake up!"
He began relentlessly bashing his shoulder against the cage with the sparse strength he could form with his bound limbs, quickly bruising his body as he continued throwing himself against the bar-formed cage in an attempt to either break out or wake his companion.
The cloaked followers moved towards the bound beast, taking to each side of the cross-inscribed walls, tugging on the chains as the loosening allowed the behemoth to inch closer to the slumbering woman.
"Kamou! Kamou–!" He yelled until his throat felt as though torn.
He began tugging at his bindings to no avail, then attempting to cast magic, which also failed, likely due to the mystical enhancement of the ropes that glowed slightly as he attempted magecraft.
The silent, red-painted followers began to slide the barbed spears out that bound the beast's jaw like a steel cage, causing a deathly miasma to fill the room in the form of the hell fiend's breath.
"Kamou–!"
Seeming to awaken, the beats began to thrash, slamming its meaty maws against the floor as the entirety of the chamber trembled, though Cah-In only continued to grin.
The sight of its awakening drove him further, making his desperation spike as he looked for any way out of his bound situation.
Think, Jeong-Hui…! Think! Think! What can you do?! Anything will do–anything! So! Do it! He urged himself.
Kamou seemed to have awakened, holding wide, tearful eyes now as she attempted to scream, but was muffled by the cloth in her body. She attempted to fight her bindings, but could hardly move due to how tightly they were secure.
"Kamou…!" He yelled out once more.
The creature's maw continued to near her as the chains were drawn back, causing its heavy, putrid breath to envelop her in its vile state.
Not many choices opened to him; his position was compromised by the bindings keeping his movements tightly locked.
Still, there was solace in one fact: the cultists seemed completely enamored with the process of awakening the bound, demonic entity–that was his one opportunity.
While erratically looking around, checking the cage for anything of use, he looked to his side, having his eyes meet with the dagger at his hip.
…Bingo! He thought.
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