episode_0050

Josef Kramer.

A dark mage of overwhelming power and the research director leading Belzen.

Based on the results obtained from chimera experiments, he achieved widespread advancements in dark magic and was a highly recognized figure within Baob.

At the same time, he was also a renowned genius of slaughter.

“The trial will now begin.”

Who would have known?

That the end of the man called a demon would be so pathetic.

“Defendant.”

“………”

Following the call echoing in his ears, Josef raised his head.

What reflected in his blurry vision was an alien landscape.

It was a space that resembled a courtroom.

What had happened?

The demon, dumbfounded, looked around.

Just a moment ago, he had been walking between iron bars, but when he opened his eyes, a completely different scene met his gaze.

He couldn’t help but be flustered.

“What is this…?”

A short question leaked out.

He tried to move his body, but it wouldn’t budge. The demon was tightly bound with ropes and fixed to a chair.

Then a voice was heard.

“The defendant has no right to remain silent or refuse questions related to their person during the ongoing trial, nor can they state facts that would benefit themselves.”

“………?”

Sitting on the judge’s bench was none other than the snake.

The boy, clad in judge’s robes, was looking down at the demon from the highest point.

He recited the sentences clearly.

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

A chilling atmosphere hung in the air.

Whatever playful demeanor he had moments before was gone, replaced by a cold winter in the boy’s expression.

A gaze that seemed to regard the target as something less than human.

Josef felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

“What kind of trickery is this…?”

The demon muttered.

He wriggled to break free from his restraints, but the more he did, the tighter the ropes squeezed.

Even the dark magic he trusted wouldn’t activate.

Perhaps it was natural.

This was a world of illusion built on the snake’s lies.

Laws imposed by others wouldn’t work here.

“I can’t hear His whispers, what kind of crap did you…?”

“Silence.”

*Snap!*

As he snapped his fingers, the man’s mouth clamped shut.

While he was agitated by his jaw muscles not moving as he wished.

“Mmph, mmph…?!”

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

The demon froze like ice.

The cocky Josef finally began to realize that things were going strangely.

Something was wrong.

A chilling tension pierced through his lungs.

His shoulders were trembling without him realizing it.

The man quietly swallowed dry.

If he let his guard down for even a moment, it felt as though his head would be severed.

“………”

“The trial will resume.”

Indifferent.

The boy, acting as the judge, continued his lines calmly.

“Defendant, Josef Kramer.”

“………”

“The defendant, as a high-ranking executive of the dark mage organization ‘Baob’ and the research director of the research institute ‘Bergen Belzen,’ threatened the peace of the continent. Do you admit to this?”

“………”

“Silence will be interpreted as affirmation.”

The trial was unilateral.

The judge questioned the crimes, and the defendant could not offer a defense.

“Furthermore, you committed various unethical acts based on forbidden magic, showing a particular obsession with chimera research using humans as subjects. In this process, you even drove tens of thousands of innocent people to their deaths. Do you admit to this?”

“………”

“A few days ago, you ordered an attack on Gallimard Academy and even attempted to abduct students. Do you admit to this?”

His voice was devoid of emotion.

A chilling terror washed over him.

Cold sweat dripped from the man’s forehead. It was a hateful fear.

The judge despised it.

“I will now deliver the verdict.”

A solemn pronouncement echoed through the courtroom.

“The evil deeds committed by the defendant as a member of the cult are unforgivable crimes. Especially considering he oversaw the experiments and massacres that occurred in Belzen, the severity of his crimes is deemed heavy.”

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

Among them, 3,642 were young children who had not even reached adulthood.

Was it to appease the vengeful spirits?

He wanted the demon to experience the despair of the victims as well.

“Therefore, this judge hereby sentences the defendant to a total of 15,924 executions, corresponding to the number of unjustly sacrificed victims.”

*Bang bang bang!*

With the clear sound of the gavel echoing, Josef wore a puzzled expression.

Not just a death sentence… but ten thousand executions.

He was bewildered by this somehow strange verdict.

Of course, it didn’t take long for him to fully grasp the meaning of that sentence.

The judge snapped his fingers.

*Snap!*

The next moment.

The demon stood on the execution ground.

Before his eyes was a single gallows.

As Josef stared blankly at it, a thick rope flew from somewhere and wrapped around his neck.

Immediately after, his body floated up.

“………Cough?!”

The demon let out a single gasp.

He struggled, hanging in mid-air.

His windpipe was painfully constricted.

As his breathing was slowly being suppressed, the platform he was barely standing on gave way.

Immediately after, the rope also began to descend.

*Crack!*

The man’s neck, suspended in the air, broke.

It was an instant death.

The demon lay dead, eyes rolled back.

The snake, who had been watching the scene, snapped his fingers once more with a murmur to himself.

“That’s one time.”

*Snap!*

A clear snapping sound echoed.

The world was reconstructed.

Josef, who had become perfectly unharmed, opened his eyes again before the execution platform.

His eyes were filled with horror.

“Haa, haa…!”

The death he had just experienced.

The sensation of his neck bone breaking was vivid.

As the demon gasped for breath, a chilling voice brushed past his ear.

It was the golden snake.

“You have 15,923 more times left.”

A significant remark.

Before he could even grasp its meaning, the boy was snapping his fingers.

*Snap!*

“Shall we do it step by step?”

*Crack!*

The demon’s neck broke limply.

“That’s two times.”

*Snap!*

He revived.

The execution platform didn’t miss Josef’s moment of confusion.

His neck broke once more.

“That’s three times.”

*Snap!*

Only then did the demon realize the snake’s intention.

This was an infinite prison.

Until the boy truly completed the stated number of times, the man would be continuously hanged on the execution platform.

His mind went blank, and a distant terror set in.

However.

“You have 15,921 more times left.”

There was no mercy.

*Snap!*

It was the time of punishment.

***

The demon’s deaths were varied.

Since it was a staggering 15,924 executions, he continuously changed the methods so the fellow wouldn’t get bored.

Hanging, beheading, burning at the stake, dismemberment… it seemed every possible method was used.

The demon, screaming, was torn apart.

“Cough, cough, hack…!”

“You have 12,084 more times left.”

*Snap!*

“Ah, no…! No!! Don’t, don’t do it!!!”

“You have 10,834 more times left.”

*Snap!*

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

“You have 9,999 more times left.”

*Snap!*

The endlessly repeated deaths.

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

He merely screamed, having lost the ability to speak.

“Aaaahhhhhhh!!!”

Of course, the one inflicting it wasn’t completely fine either.

Although it was an illusion, unimaginably cruel scenes were being replayed right before his eyes.

He felt his mind straining.

“You have 4,273 more times left.”

Nevertheless, he didn’t stop his hand.

Because it was something that had to be done.

He wanted to comfort the tens of thousands of unjustly deceased spirits, even if it was just like this.

He snapped his fingers.

‘Why.’

Too many people had died.

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

How much sorrow there must have been.

Victims ground down by experiments.

These were people who had undoubtedly lived with their own dreams, yet they died in a place where not even a single flower could bloom.

Stars that should have shone had set too early.

I stood here as the agent of countless tragedies.

“No, no, no, no, don’t, don’t tear it!”

The last 1,000 punishments were chimera experiments.

He returned to Josef exactly what Josef had done to the test subjects, without a single omission.

The demon, pleading on the operating table.

“Something’s growing in my stomach, in my stomach!! Something’s eating away at my stomach!!”

I watched in silence.

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

‘It’s nothing new.’

I had never once thought of myself as noble.

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

It was just a matter of who I was bad to.

I wanted to be bad to bad people.

‘I wanted to protect.’

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

Sometimes, it felt okay to be a bad person who was kind to good people.

I slowly raised my head.

“………”

The punishment was nearing its end.

It was time to wake from the nightmare.

Josef stood there, utterly dazed.

The demon, his mind seemingly completely broken, was drooling and immobile.

I quietly approached him.

“This is the last time.”

*Thump!*

I grasped the demon’s neck with my hand.

His body followed without resistance. With my fingertips, I scraped together the last remnants of the lie.

Shadows flickered.

‘Please… may I have been sufficient punishment for this man.’

A fleeting, out-of-place prayer.

Then I recited the incantation.

“Bright Transference.”

*Shatter!*

At the same time, a large crack appeared in the air.

The world made of lies swayed unstably, then shattered into countless pieces like glass shards.

Amidst the collapsing scenery.

I put force into my hand one last time.

*Crack!*

The demon’s neck broke.

Following the scattering remnants of the lie, his body fell lifelessly to the floor.

This time, he didn’t revive.

He had finally reached the death he thought he’d never attain.

“Haa…”

I let out a short breath.

The surrounding scenery had returned to its original state.

I was in Belzen’s lowest level.

As I massaged my stiff wrist for a moment, a bewildered voice came from behind.

It was none other than Irene.

“Wh-what was that…? Did it really just end like this…?”

Her reaction was one of confusion.

Since not even a moment had passed in reality, it was perhaps natural for the fox to be surprised.

From her perspective, it must have looked like I simply walked over and snapped the neck of the dazed Josef.

I asked subtly.

“Were you perhaps hoping for something more to remain?”

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

“Haha.”

Irene answered hesitantly.

I gently stroked the girl’s head with a slowly extended hand.

“It’s alright.”

It was a particularly tender warmth.

“Because it’s truly over now.”

“If you say so… then I guess it is.”

The fox mumbled and nodded. Her orange tail drooped as if she was finally relaxing. She looked utterly exhausted.

I let out a small laugh.

“You’re commendable.”

A simple remark.

I lightly embraced the girl. A soft warmth filled my arms.

I left a low whisper in her ear.

“Irene.”

“………”

“You truly worked hard.”

“………”

The fox was silent for a moment.

“Let’s go back now. A warm dormitory awaits us.”

“………Mm.”

The answer finally came.

Her voice was wet with emotion, as if the feelings she had barely suppressed were resurfacing.

Irene buried her face in my chest.

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

“It’s all over.”

I patted her slender back.

We had to remain standing there for a while, savoring the fact that everything was finally over.

The fierce fox retrieval operation.

[EP6. Bergen Belzen]

-The Lost Girl, The Monsters Who Cannot Weep-

And with that, the episode came to an end.