Chapter 158

R​ead o​n ​KatReadingC​afe

Content Warning

The second half of this chapter is…. the kind of Content Warning Lucia likes a lot.

The sun had set, and evening had arrived.

The crescent moon hung between the power lines.

The rattling sound of the window woke Eugene from his sleep.

The harsh wind continued to beat against the window, making it creak incessantly.

Eugene opened his tightly shut eyelids, revealing unfocused blue eyes.

The faint light shimmering in his blue eyes soon blurred.

It felt like he had been in a deep dream.

It wasn’t a pleasant dream.

Rather, it was a disturbing and horrifying nightmare.

Eugene absentmindedly raised his right hand. His right arm, fixed with a splint. The sensation of it being severed was still vivid. 

In the dream. Yes, it must have been a dream. If it had really been severed, it wouldn’t be so perfectly attached now.

Even if it had been reattached through surgery, it wouldn’t move so naturally. Eugene wiggled his fingers. There was no discomfort whatsoever.

He looked around. The familiar interior. It didn’t take long for Eugene to realize he was in a room at the academy’s affiliated hospital. The patient clothes he wore were familiar, so there was no doubt.

With a groggy mind, he tried to piece together his memories.

Why am I here?

I was definitely…

“Ah.”

At that moment, the drowsiness vanished in an instant.

In its place was an overwhelming sense of anxiety.

Eugene shot up from the bed.

The woman with the Red Fox Mask tore apart his body.

He should have been in pain, unable to move, but strangely, nothing hurt.

Cold sweat drenched his back.

A searing heat enveloped Eugene’s body.

Unable to control the overflowing supernatural energy.

Eugene grabbed the hair at the front of his head with his left hand.

“A dream…”

…It couldn’t have been.

It was real.

I was in the plaza of District 6.

Following Lucia.

I met the woman with the Red Fox Mask.

I fought her, but in the end, I lost.

And then… and then…

“Lucia!”

By the time he thought of her, he was already moving.

Eugene flung open the hospital room door with enough force to break it.

The loud bang drew murmurs from outside, but he paid no attention.

With an anxious expression, Eugene looked around.

What happened after I passed out?

Where’s Lucia? Alice? Is everyone okay?

Without a clear destination, Eugene moved aimlessly. He couldn’t stay still. His heart pounded.

The impatience felt like it would burst his chest. If I’m alive and was brought to the hospital, it means help arrived in time. 

Then they must be safe too. Lucia. Alice. They must have been rescued together. No, they definitely were.

His emotions were out of control.

Supernatural energy leaked out indiscriminately.

His bare feet, without shoes, touched the floor.

With each step, a clear footprint was left behind.

It melted. Everything Eugene touched melted into a gooey mess.

The lights flickered. The excessive heat caused the fire sensors to mistake it for a fire, triggering the sprinklers. 

Water poured from the ceiling to extinguish the fire. But it evaporated the moment it fell. Before it could even touch Eugene’s body, it turned into white steam, clouding the vision. 

Despite the panicked screams of people, Eugene’s footsteps didn’t stop.

Eugene only stopped running when he spotted someone.

A girl sitting on a chair in the hallway.

Her reddish-brown hair.

Though not braided as usual, it was a familiar head of hair.

“Arin!”

At Eugene’s call, Arin slowly raised her head.

The water droplets from the sprinklers evaporated, making Arin’s face appear blurry.

A gust of wind blew. The steam dispersed in an instant. Standing in front of Arin, Eugene spoke urgently.

“You’re safe? What about the others? Lucia? Alice? Are they all…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence, his lips trembling weakly.

The expression on Arin’s face as she looked up at him.

It looked like she was about to burst into tears.

That expression alone was answer enough.

His legs gave out.

He slumped down as if collapsing.

The heat that had scorched the air cooled.

Water droplets fell one by one onto Eugene’s body.

“Ah, ah…”

Before losing consciousness.

The last scene he saw came to mind.

Her pitiful expression as she looked at him.

The smile she forced, left a deep scar in Eugene’s heart.

“…AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”

The water from the sprinklers fell like raindrops.

Cooling Eugene’s body, which had been burning hot.

In the end, I couldn’t protect her.

This time too.

Again.

I couldn’t protect her.

◈

A foul smell lingered at the tip of her nose.

It was hard to suppress the nausea rising up her throat.

She had already vomited several times, so all that came out was pale stomach acid.

Regina held back tears as she covered her mouth with her hand.

It didn’t make her feel any better, but if she didn’t, she felt like she would scream.

A buzzing sound echoed.

From beyond the wall, the sound of a rotating saw continued to reverberate.

The sound of crushing. The sound of flesh being torn apart. The sound of muffled screams.

“Ugh…”

Regina couldn’t hold it in and vomited again.

Coughing painfully, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

‘This isn’t…’

It was a thought she had repeated several times.

This isn’t right. This can’t be right.

The scene etched in her mind flickered before her eyes.

The chainsaw literally ground away at Lucia’s abdomen.

Scraping away bones and internal organs, waiting for them to regenerate.

Then the chainsaw tore through the perfectly healed abdomen again.

The floor was littered with shredded flesh and bone fragments.

Witnessing this scene from right beside it, Regina felt her hair stand on end.

A cold chill ran down her spine, and her eyes were bloodshot.

It was a horrifying sight she couldn’t bear to watch with a clear mind.

“Ugh, uggh, ughhh…”

The faint screams came through the cracks in the door.

Astaroth, annoyed by the noise, gagged Lucia’s mouth.

As a result, Lucia’s screams were muffled. Blocked. They sounded like the howls of a beast.

The smell of burning filled the air.

Even though it was blocked by walls and a closed door.

The unavoidable smell tormented Regina.

“Ah, ugh, kuhhh, ugh…”

Her limbs were burning fiercely.

It was Astaroth’s flames. Flames that wouldn’t extinguish.

They were constantly burning Lucia’s extremities.

If her regeneration slowed even for a moment, the flames would spread across her entire body.

To prevent this, Lucia had to keep regenerating her limbs.

Everything below her elbows and knees had already turned to ash and scattered.

Her flesh was torn apart as if she were being butchered.

Shredded pieces of internal organs.

Pools of blood.

Moans that couldn’t even become screams.

The nauseating smell of burning and blood.

‘This isn’t right…’

It’s horrifying. Too horrifying. Regina couldn’t breathe properly. It was grotesque. It felt like watching a snuff film. What made it even more horrifying was that she couldn’t die. 

Even in such a messy and brutal hell, Lucia didn’t die. Super regeneration. Her supernatural ability kept her alive. 

It was an endless hell. They say hell is where those who commit unforgivable sins go, but what did this girl do wrong to be trapped in such a hell?

‘She couldn’t have… done anything wrong…’

Regina knew what had happened that day, in that place. She had heard everything. Lucia had sacrificed herself to protect her friends. That choice deserved respect. But this was the price.

Regina was Astaroth’s ‘friend’. If you put it nicely. Astaroth had assigned her that role, but in the end, Regina was Astaroth’s slave. You could even call her a pet. 

From the moment the Red Fox Mask was placed on her, she couldn’t resist. Seri, at least, tried to resist clumsily using hypnosis, but Regina couldn’t even do that.

Normally, she wouldn’t even be able to think like this. Those dominated by the mask unconditionally affirmed Astaroth. 

They agreed with her actions, praised her, and worshipped her. If Astaroth told them to die, they would gladly offer their lives. But Regina was slightly different. Because Astaroth had granted her a certain degree of autonomy.

Perhaps calling her a ‘friend’ wasn’t entirely empty words, Astaroth didn’t completely suppress Regina’s ‘will’.

So, while Regina obeyed Astaroth’s every word, she could still express her dissatisfaction inwardly.

In the end, nothing had changed. Regina was still Astaroth’s slave, and she obeyed her every command. Even if she thought, “I don’t want to”, she couldn’t defy Astaroth’s orders. If Astaroth told her to die, she would think, “I don’t want to die…” but still kill herself. That was the only difference.

‘…Damn it.’

That tiny difference tormented Regina.

It wouldn’t have been this hard if she had been completely dominated.

Watching someone you know being “dismantled” alive isn’t easy on the heart.

Especially when you’re partly responsible for it.

Not long ago, she and Seri had visited Carlos’s orphanage. Carlos had called them to help Anna, who was traumatized by the incident, but it was a good opportunity for them. 

They planted false memories in Anna and led Lucia to the plaza in District 6 that day.

 

In the end, Regina was partly responsible for Lucia’s current state. That fact burned her heart. Even though she told herself it couldn’t be helped, her heart raced.

“Ughhhhhhh…!”

The chilling sound of the chainsaw didn’t stop.

The sound of flesh and bone being carved didn’t stop either.

The sound of shredded chunks of flesh falling to the ground.

The sizzling sound of burning and the acrid smell.

Regina covered her ears at the muffled moans.

‘This isn’t right…’

She repeated the same thought, but there was nothing Regina could do.

Regina closed her eyes as if praying.

Hoping that this horrifying sound would stop.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Lucia is being tortured terribly.

Isn’t it really horrible?

Regina is feeling guilty because of it.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Astaroth sure is efficient, I’ll give her that. 

Not many places you’ll see the villain directly powering up the hero, heh.