Ch.50Anne’s Diary (6)

“Joseph Kramer.

An overwhelmingly skilled black magician and the director of the research institute leading Belzen.

Based on the achievements from his chimera experiments, he made extensive advancements in black magic and was a prominent figure widely recognized even within Baob.

He was also counted among the greatest masters of slaughter.

“The trial will now begin.”

Who would have known?

That the end of a man called the devil would be so miserable.

“Defendant.”

“……”

Following the call that rang in his ears, Joseph raised his head.

What appeared in his blurry vision was an alien landscape.

It was a space reminiscent of a courtroom.

What was happening?

The devil looks around in a daze.

Just moments ago, he had been walking between iron bars, but when he opened his eyes, a completely different scene greeted him.

He couldn’t help but be bewildered.

“What is this…?”

A question escapes briefly.

He tries to move his body, but it doesn’t budge at all. The devil was fixed to a chair, tightly bound with ropes.

Then a voice is heard.

“The defendant has no right to refuse to testify during the upcoming trial process or to decline questions related to personal matters, nor can he state facts that would benefit himself.”

“…?”

The one sitting at the bench was none other than the snake.

The boy, dressed in judge’s robes, was looking down at the devil from the highest position.

He recites each sentence clearly.

“The defendant cannot defend himself and can only submit to the unreasonable sentences of the court. Do you understand?”

A chilling atmosphere lingers.

It’s unclear where his previous playful demeanor had gone; only a cold winter remained in the boy’s expression.

A gaze that seemed not to view the subject as human.

Joseph felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

“What kind of prank is this…?”

The devil mutters.

He squirmed to break free from his restraints, but the more he struggled, the tighter the ropes became.

Even his trusted black magic wouldn’t activate.

Perhaps it was only natural.

This was a fantasy world constructed based on the snake’s lies.

Rules established by others had no power here.

“I can’t hear His whispers, what kind of nonsense is this…”

“Silence.”

Snap-!

With a flick of his finger, the man’s mouth closes.

While he becomes agitated by jaw muscles that won’t move according to his will.

“Mmph, mmph…?!”

“The defendant is not permitted to speak. The only things that can come from the defendant’s mouth are screams, pleas, and wails.”

The devil freezes like ice.

The fidgeting Joseph finally begins to realize that something is seriously wrong.

Something has gone terribly wrong.

A chilling tension pierces his lungs.

His shoulders are trembling now.

The man quietly swallows a dry gulp.

It felt as if his neck would fly off if he let his guard down even for a moment.

“……”

“The trial will proceed.”

Regardless.

The boy playing the role of judge calmly continues his lines.

“Defendant, Joseph Kramer.”

“……”

“The defendant has threatened the peace of the continent by serving as a senior official of the black magic organization ‘Baob’ and as the director of the research institute ‘Bergen Belzen.’ Do you acknowledge this?”

“……”

“Silence will be interpreted as affirmation.”

The trial is one-sided.

The judge questions the crimes, and the defendant cannot make excuses.

“Furthermore, you committed all manner of unethical acts based on forbidden magic, and were particularly obsessed with chimera research using humans as hosts. In this process, you drove tens of thousands of innocent people to their deaths. Do you acknowledge this?”

“……”

“A few days ago, you ordered an attack on Galimar Academy and attempted to kidnap students. Do you acknowledge this?”

It was a dry, emotionless voice.

A cold terror washes over him.

Cold sweat drips from the man’s forehead. It was a detestable fear.

The judge despises it.

“I will now pronounce the verdict.”

A solemn statement echoes over the courtroom.

“The defendant’s evil deeds as a member of the cult cannot be forgiven under any circumstances. I judge the severity of the crime to be particularly heavy, considering that you oversaw the experiments and massacres that took place at Belzen.”

The number of victims at Bergen Belzen was exactly 15,924.

Of those, 3,642 were children who hadn’t even reached adulthood.

Was it to appease the vengeful spirits?

He wanted the devil to experience the despair of the victims.

“Therefore, this judge sentences the defendant to death… 15,924 times, equal to the number of victims who were unjustly sacrificed.”

Bang bang bang-!

As the sound of the gavel rings out clearly, Joseph makes a puzzled expression.

Not just a death sentence, but ten thousand executions…

He was confused by this strange verdict.

Of course, it didn’t take long for him to fully comprehend that sentence.

The judge flicks his finger.

Snap-!

The next moment.

The devil is standing at the execution ground.

What appears before his eyes is a gallows.

While Joseph stares at it blankly, a thick rope flies from somewhere and wraps around his neck.

His body then rises into the air.

“…kuhk?!”

The devil lets out a groan.

He struggles while suspended in the air.

His windpipe is painfully constricted.

As his breathing was gradually being suppressed, the foothold he was barely standing on collapses.

Immediately after, the rope also begins to fall.

Crack-!

The man’s neck breaks in midair.

It was instant death.

The devil is dead with his eyes rolled back.

The snake, who had been watching the scene, flicks his finger once more with a self-mutter.

“That’s one.”

Snap-!

A clear explosive sound rings out.

The world is reconstructed.

Joseph, suddenly unharmed and intact, opens his eyes again in front of the execution platform.

His eyes are filled with shock.

“Haa, haa…!”

The death he just experienced.

The sensation of his neck bone breaking was vivid.

As the devil exhales roughly, an eerie voice brushes his ear.

It was the golden snake.

“15,923 times remaining.”

A meaningful statement.

Before he could grasp its meaning, the boy was already flicking his finger.

Snap-!

“Let’s take this step by step.”

Crack-!

The devil’s neck breaks helplessly.

“That’s two.”

Snap-!

He revives.

The gallows doesn’t miss the moment when Joseph is disoriented.

His neck breaks once more.

“That’s three.”

Snap-!

The devil finally realizes the snake’s intention.

This was an infinite prison.

Until the boy reached the number he mentioned, the man would continuously have his neck hung on the gallows.

A blank whiteness spreads through his mind as a distant terror arrives.

However.

“15,921 times remaining.”

There is no mercy.

Snap-!

It was time for punishment.

***

The devil’s deaths were varied.

With as many as 15,924 executions, I constantly changed the methods so he wouldn’t get bored.

Hanging, beheading, burning at the stake, dismemberment… I think I tried every kind.

The devil being torn apart while screaming.

“Kuhk, kuheuk…!”

“12,084 times remaining.”

Snap-!

“No, no…! No!! D-don’t do this!!!”

“10,834 times remaining.”

Snap-!

“S-spare, spare me…! P-ple, please…!!”

“9,999 times remaining.”

Snap-!

Death repeated to the point of tedium.

By the time the remaining count entered the 5,000s, Joseph had already lost his mind.

He could only scream, having lost his language function.

“Kuaaaaaaaa!!!”

Of course, I wasn’t exactly in great shape either.

Although it was an illusion, incredibly cruel scenes were playing out before my eyes.

It felt like a strain on my psyche.

“4,273 times remaining.”

Nevertheless, I didn’t stop.

Because it was something that had to be done.

I wanted to comfort the tens of thousands of wrongfully killed spirits, even if only in this way.

I flick my finger.

‘Why.’

Too many people died.

Although they didn’t appear on screen, their stories were no different from Anne’s.

How much sorrow must there have been?

Victims ground up in experiments.

People who surely lived with their own dreams, dying in a place where not even a single flower could bloom.

Stars that should have shined were extinguished too early.

I stand here as the agent of countless tragedies.

“No, no, no, no, don’t tear it out!!”

The final 1,000 punishments were chimera experiments.

I returned exactly what Joseph had done to his test subjects, without a single omission.

The devil pleading on the operating table.

“Something’s growing in my stomach!! Something’s eating my stomach!!”

I was watching silently.

The indifferent gaze reflected in the mirror was truly that of a villain.

‘Nothing new.’

I never once thought of myself as virtuous.

If asked whether I was a good person or a bad person, I would always answer that I was probably closer to the latter.

The only difference is who I’m bad to.

I wanted to be a bad person to bad people.

‘I wanted to protect.’

Because there are many good people in the world who help bad people.

I thought it might be okay to sometimes have a bad person who helps good people.

I quietly raise my head.

“……”

The punishment was approaching its end.

It was time to wake up from the nightmare.

Joseph standing there in a daze.

The devil, having finally collapsed mentally, was standing there drooling.

I quietly approach him.

“This is the last one.”

Thud-.

I grab the devil’s neck with my hand.

His body comes along without resistance. I gather the last remaining lie with my fingertips.

The shadow ripples.

‘I hope… that I have been sufficient punishment for this person.’

A prayer that strays for a moment.

Then I recite the incantation.

“Myungjeon (Clarity Turn).”

Crash-!

Simultaneously, a large crack appears in the void.

The world made of lies shakes unstably, then shatters into pieces like glass fragments.

In the collapsing scenery.

I put strength into my hand one last time.

Crack-!

The devil’s neck breaks.

Following the scattered remnants of the lie, the body falls helplessly to the floor.

This time, he didn’t come back to life.

He had finally reached the death that seemed forever unattainable.

“Haah…”

I exhale a short breath.

The surrounding scenery had returned to normal.

I was at the lowest level of Belzen.

While I was briefly massaging my stiff wrist, a stunned voice comes from behind.

It was none other than Irene.

“W-what… did it really end like this…?”

It was a surprised reaction.

Since barely any time had passed in reality, it was perhaps natural for the fox to be surprised.

From her perspective, it would have looked like I simply walked up and broke the neck of Joseph who was standing there blankly.

I subtly ask.

“Did you perhaps hope for something more?”

“Of course not, but it was just so sudden…”

“Hehe.”

Irene answers awkwardly.

I gently pat the girl’s head with an outstretched hand.

“It’s okay.”

Such a particularly affectionate warmth.

“It’s really over now.”

“If you say so… then I guess it is.”

The fox nods while muttering.

Her scarlet tail droops as if tension is releasing. She seemed to have been tired for a while.

I smile slightly.

“You did well.”

A simple statement.

I gave the girl a light hug. A soft warmth seeps into my embrace.

I leave a quiet whisper by her ear.

“Miss Irene.”

“……”

“You really did a great job.”

“……”

The fox is silent for a moment.

“Let’s go back now. A warm dormitory is waiting for us.”

“…Yeah.”

Finally, a response comes.

As if emotions she had barely managed to control were rising again, the girl’s voice was wet with tears.

Irene buried her face in my chest.

As if she didn’t want her flowing tears to be seen.

“It’s all over.”

I pat her fragile back.

For a while, we had to stand in place, ruminating on the fact that everything was over.

The fierce fox rescue operation.

[EP6. Bergen Belzen]

-Lost Girl, Monsters Who Cannot Cry-

It was the moment when the episode came to an end.”