Ch.137Serial Killer. (1)

# The blood-soaked female knight screams and flees.

In a rainy alley.

From the alley where screams scatter, a boy appears.

A build that could belong to a middle schooler at most. Hair dripping with rainwater and beauty that would make women who faced him lose their senses.

On the surface, he was the kind of being that stirred protective instincts.

Hmm hmm.

The boy hummed as he strolled through the alley. With each flash of lightning, his red eyes gleamed eerily in the darkness.

The boy’s nails protruded sharply like those of a wild beast. Their tips were covered with chunks of flesh. Surprisingly, all of it belonged to other people.

“Ah, demon…!”

The humans killed by the boy all uttered the same words with their dying breath.

Demon, they said.

Surprisingly, it was true.

A demon resided within the boy’s body.

Not just any demon, but the great demon Baphomet.

“Kyaaaah!”

The cornered female knight screams. Despite being a knight, she was too slow in her escape. Her skin was so fragile that it bled profusely from just a scratch of his nails.

Or perhaps the body he had devoured was exceptionally superior.

“P-please spare me…! I didn’t see anything, so please…!”

How noisy. Weak yet loud. What kind of dimension was the human realm?

She should be hiding and keeping quiet, not making noise.

“Keu, keuuup…”

Before she could get any louder, Baphomet reached out and strangled the female knight. He could have snapped her neck instantly if he wanted, but he didn’t feel like it.

Baphomet grabbed her neck and lifted her up. The female knight struggled with all her might to survive. The more she struggled, the deeper his nails dug into her skin. Blood seeped out, blocking her airway.

“…Keo, keoeok.”

As the female knight went limp with her death rattle, Baphomet paused. A lightning-like sensation flashed through his mind.

Indeed, there was something strange about this body.

This wasn’t meant in a negative way.

The exquisite pleasure felt with each strangling. He hadn’t felt this sensation from the beginning. But as one became two, two became three, and then tens and hundreds of humans were killed…

At some point, when killing other humans with this body, a volcano-like pleasure would surge through him.

At the same time, he understood. Why the other great demons were so obsessed with the human realm.

Although he could only descend in this parasitic form attached to a soul for now, once the Demon God descended, such restrictions would disappear.

‘…’

Baphomet, who had been in ecstasy, frowned.

Something felt off.

He slowly looked around, but sensed no presence. There couldn’t be any presence. The female knight he had just killed was the last survivor in this village.

Then there was only one answer.

‘…’

It was clear that an intruder had appeared in the southern Abyss, where his main body resided.

Baphomet closed his eyes.

Red demonic energy rose around him. The next moment, the landscape of the Abyss appeared before Baphomet’s eyes.

The largest active volcano in the Abyss. In the middle of a high-temperature zone where lesser beings wouldn’t dare approach, Baphomet’s own body sat with closed eyes.

And right behind it.

A woman was standing.

‘…A human?’

While the mere presence of a human in the Abyss was surprising, that wasn’t what shocked Baphomet.

He had killed countless humans. There was no special reason. Simply for pleasure, and to obtain more beautiful bodies. Among them were city lords and renowned knight commanders. He had killed many, and continued to kill.

Countless times. But.

Such a beautiful body, he had never seen before.

Amidst the surging magma, lightning that burned demons erupted. Despite dozens of his servants perishing, Baphomet could only admire. A silhouette too beautiful to exist in the ugly dimension of the Abyss flickered.

He wanted to devour it.

*****

Olivia gazed steadily at Baphomet’s body. Behind her, demons half-melted by lightning screamed in agony.

High-ranking demons who had been Baphomet’s subordinates. It took only a moment for nearly a hundred demons to be reduced to mere chunks of meat.

[■■■…■■■!]

Sounds that were mere noise. Despite how unpleasant they were, Olivia had no intention of killing the demons immediately.

It was to wake up the Baphomet before her. As much as she wanted to kill him right away, what was in front of her was just an empty shell without a soul.

Since Baphomet was a demon unbound by physical form, he had to be killed when his soul returned to the Abyss for it to be effective.

‘He should have noticed by now.’

Even if it was an empty shell, it was still his body, so he must have set up some means of surveillance.

He would soon notice the anomaly.

No sooner had she thought this than Baphomet’s body twitched.

A giant wolf with a hunched back, covered in sheep’s skin.

His eyes, which had been closed like a corpse’s, suddenly opened. The red eyes rolled around wildly before stopping precisely where Olivia stood.

Grin.

At the same time, the corners of the wolf’s mouth rose madly. A blatant look, like a predator eyeing delicious prey.

All demons crave human souls, but Baphomet was a bit different.

<The Wolf Who Harvests Corpses. Baphomet>

He craved human bodies. More beautiful, stronger bodies.

Olivia looked at Baphomet.

His height was so enormous it nearly touched the ceiling, like a withered old tree. His back was hunched, and his teeth and nails were similarly curved.

A seemingly ridiculous appearance at first glance.

But that was Baphomet’s intention.

Even that body was just a shell he could discard at any time.

[“…So you really are human. Did you cross through the [Passage] created by the Northern Duke?”]

As Baphomet opened his mouth, red light swirled in his eyes.

[The Great Demon, ‘Baphomet’ uses ‘Mental Fracture’.]

[The title, ‘One Who Has Touched Truth’ resists ‘Mental Fracture’!]

Tsutsutsutsut!

Baphomet hurriedly grabbed his eyes and stepped back.

[“…What?”]

Baphomet’s gaze shook violently. At the same time, a cautious emotion filled his eyes.

But he didn’t retreat.

That was prey worth taking the risk for.

Baphomet decided to try persuading Olivia first.

[“Human, would you make a contract with me? If you contract with me, Baphomet, I will grant you one wish.”]

“…What wish do you think I would make?”

Olivia spoke as if it were ridiculous. In her right hand, a staff exuding the scent of deep winter had appeared.

[Using transcendent magic, ‘Staff of Antiquity’.]

Kugugugugugu!

A terrifying force arose around Olivia. The temperature of the volcano, which had been burning hot, instantly dropped.

The rising magma not only solidified in place but froze while emitting steam. The final breath expelled by the crater was cold enough to freeze even ashes.

Winter.

The southern part of the Abyss was transformed into complete winter.

Baphomet looked at Olivia with shocked eyes. Just by his bobbing Adam’s apple, one could tell what he was thinking.

“I’ll ask again.”

[….]

“Do you have the ability to grant my wish?”

At Olivia’s words, Baphomet’s face reddened as he charged forward with a roar. The claws of the great demon who had ruled one quarter of the Abyss for thousands of years shot out fiercely.

Olivia didn’t dodge. Instead, she pointed her staff at Baphomet.

The cold moved.

The claws didn’t reach Olivia. Feeling something strange about his body, Baphomet lowered his eyes.

Gone.

[…?]

Baphomet rolled his eyes for a long time. And then he saw.

His lower body, standing there without its upper half.

Olivia moved her staff to aim at Baphomet’s head.

Deliberately, feigning leisure, slowly.

In truth, using the [Staff of Antiquity] against Baphomet was excessive.

Demons are a race that knows no honor, so when they sense a power gap, they flee immediately.

[The Great Demon, ‘Baphomet’ prepares for ‘Abyss Escape’.]

Just like now.

Tsutsutsutsut!

With a tearing sound, a black door appeared from Baphomet’s shadow. The door, covered in dark demonic energy, grew in size, distorting the dimension around it.

Baphomet jumped through the door without hesitation.

“Kuhehuk…”

Shortly after, Baphomet rolled on the ground with a groan.

Although only his head remained, fortunately his soul form was intact.

If that monster of a human hadn’t been cautious about him having only a head left, he would have met his death without a chance.

Hurriedly looking around, he saw the dazed body of a boy. It was the boy he had been using until just now.

Because he had sent his soul form back to the Abyss, the boy was standing blankly like a puppet with cut strings.

‘Quickly, into that…’

Just as he was about to devour the boy’s soul again, Baphomet’s expression froze.

With a squelching sound, the boy’s pale white hand grabbed Baphomet’s head. Soon after, the boy’s hand was dyed with a red aura.

[Kuhuk…?]

“Hey, where’d you leave your body and come with just your head?”

[H-how…? I definitely devoured the soul…]

With a crushing sound, Baphomet’s head was smashed. His soul form was also sliced by a giant scythe that had suddenly appeared.

Baphomet perished without even being able to struggle.

The boy made a satisfied face.

“It wasn’t you who ate me, but I who let myself be eaten. I was curious how creatively a demon would kill people.”

The boy licked his lips and shook off the residue on his scythe.

“But it wasn’t anything special.”

The boy, no, the Serial Murderer smiled eerily and turned his head back.

“Isn’t that right? Olivia?”

Pointing his scythe at Olivia, who had crossed dimensions using the [Door] opened by Baphomet, the Serial Murderer took aim.