Only Half of the Full Story

Wymond just stood there, menacingly.

More specifically, he spent a long moment staring at the disruptor, who in return gave him a taunting smirk. Meanwhile, I mentally prepared myself for another excruciating round of beatings, but to my surprise, Wymond lowered his axe.

“That’s more than enough testing for today,” he said. “We’ll stop here.”

“...Huh?” Dahlian and I both sputtered.

With a gentle swipe over his face, Wymond switched back to his human form. “I have fully confirmed you’re not as dangerous as you made it sound, Haruma.”

“Seriously? Now you get it?” I squeaked, drooping my shoulders. “I said I was cursed, not some bloodthirsty beast…”

“Hey, what gives?” asked Dahlian, pointing at the general. “Why drop the fight right after I showed up?”

“I do not wish to bring any outsiders into a private matter,” said Wymond, narrowing his eyes. “Especially those who should not be here in this city to begin with.”

“The hell you mean by that? You know me or something?”

The general lowered his gaze, and I could’ve sworn his eyes grew soft and reluctant for a split second before they became solemn again. He slowly turned around and started to walk away.

“Huh? Hey, where are you going?” I asked.

“I have no right to ask what your businesses are in this city, when my contract binds me from disclosing the truth of my missions as well,” Wymond murmured. “So I believe it’s only fair we part ways without getting the answers we wish from each other.”

Dahlian balled up his quivering fist while I bit my lip.

I so desperately wanted to argue that we did know more than we let on, but I happened to remember what Ashrenne warned me a moment ago. So, for once, I finally decided to keep my mouth shut and watch Wymond walk away peacefully—

“Contract binding, my ass!” Dahlian blurted out, pointing at him. “We already know what you’re all planning! You’re going to sacrifice the whole city under the full moon happening in a few days!”

Wymond froze.

Oh my freaking god, Dahlian, whyyyyy?! “Oi, what are you doing?!” I hissed, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. “Why did you tell him all that?!”

He shoved away my hands. “I hate it when people beat around the bush, you know. All these demons act like they know something, but they always have a stupid excuse to not speak up about it!”

“But now they know that we found out about their schemes!”

Wymond turned back around and squinted at us. “What nonsense are you talking about? Who told you such an outrageous lie?”

I twitched. “Huh? What do you mean?” I asked. “That’s… not true? You’re… not killing people?”

“Of course not. That goes against our peace treaty.”

My stomach started churning.

Lord Wymond would never lie. The fact that he denied it meant… we were wrong? How?

“Eh? Ehhh?!” Dahlian gawked at him and back at me. “What’s going on here then? They’re not wiping the city after all?”

“Th-then what the hell’s the queen doing with all those ancient sigils marked around the whole city?!” I asked.

Wymond narrowed his eyes. “How much do you know about our mission?”

“Uh…” The cat’s out of the bag already, I guess. “Th-the queen thinks Florathea is still alive, and realizing her people weren’t strong enough to defeat her, she’s been trying to get your help to find her and obtain enough power to finish her off herself, isn’t she?” I asked.

Wymond stared at me with that intimidating gaze again, making me shudder and lose my confidence in a matter of seconds. “That’s… what I’ve heard,” I mumbled out.

“It appears there has been a misunderstanding then,” said Wymond.

“What?”

The general moved his axe in front of him and gently tapped on the ground. Streaks of fire sprouted from the touch and quickly circled the three of us.

“Whoa, hey, what are you doing?” asked Dahlian.

“My contract prohibits me from sharing our mission with outsiders without Her Majesty's permission, so I’ll have you come with me to continue this discussion with her.”

“Wait, what?!” I asked.

A wall of fire erupted from the circle and enveloped us in the blink of an eye. Dahlian and I covered our faces as an intense wave of heat swept through us, but not before long, the heat vanished.

Next thing I knew, the air around us grew still and somewhat chilly, but not even a second later, a foul stench assaulted our noses, making me scrunch my face.

Dahlian and I carefully opened our eyes. We instantly dropped our jaws and gawked straight ahead at a long, red-carpeted hall with golden pillars and arching windows, all entirely stained in…

Blood.

I cupped my mouth and fought back the urge to vomit.

There was so much blood everywhere.

A group of shadowy figures, dressed in familiar light blue robes and holding bloodied weapons, stood at the other end of the hall. A knot formed in my stomach when I realized every one of them also wore those smiling crimson theater masks and stood around in a trance-like state.

High above them, a familiar demon dressed in checkered and striped patterns slouched on the throne with his legs crossed and leaning against an armrest, grinning amusingly at the bloodied crowd beneath his feet.

“What… the hell?” Dahlian muttered. He and I turned to Wymond, who narrowed his eyes and wore an equally confused look as we did. He stepped forward and raised his axe.

“What is the meaning of this, Entrophys?” he asked.

Entrophys spread his arms and legs like an excited child would act on a chair. “Oh, welcome back, Wymie! I’m just playing around with these guys. They just showed up out of nowhere and tried assassinating the queen, so they were asking for it, hehe.”

“Where is Her Majesty?”

“Oh, relax, buddy. She’s with little Morie.”

“Little Morie?” He must mean Morienelle, the fourth demon general here. I swallowed and asked, “It’s you again… What’s going on here?”

“Oh? Harvie’s here too? Oh, how wonderful! And also… who the hell’s that guy?”

“Listen up, clown freak! The name’s Dahlian!” my poor, naive bro boldly proclaimed, pointing at him. “I’ll beat your creepy ass if you forget it next time!”

If Entrophys’s mask could blink, it would’ve done so by now. “Hehehe, you wanna go, loser?” he sneered.

“Hell yeah, I—”

“Don’t!” I screeched, clamping his mouth shut. “He doesn’t! He doesn’t mean that at all!”

“Mmmrph!” Dahlian wrestled with me before I threw a warning glare.

“Don’t provoke him, you idiot!” I hissed. “Do you wanna die that badly?!”

Dahlian shoved my hands away. “Of course not. I’m pretty sure I can take him on!”

“No, you freaking can’t! Trust me on this!”

While he and I bickered again, Entrophys giggled. “Wowzers, this kid’s ballsy too,” he said, glancing at Wymond. “Youths these days, am I right, Wymie? I told you we’ve got a bunch of good crops in this generation, haha!”

“And I remember telling you to refrain from killing any humans,” said Wymond, glaring. “What is this mess?”

“Oh, pish posh, can’t you see they’re still alive? I’m healing them, see?” Entrophys waved a finger and crudely stitched back someone’s missing arm…

But it was attached at the wrong angle. I’d rather not delve into the details, but it was painful enough that the poor guy woke up from his trance, screamed, and writhed around on the floor while Entrophys guffawed.

“Eugh, that’s barbaric,” said Dahlian, scrunching his face.

“Hmm? You don’t think it’s funny?” asked Entrophys, his eyes glinting.

“He doesn’t mean that either!” I desperately shouted out, cupping Dahlian’s mouth again with everything I had. “It’s definitely funny! Ahahaha! You’re so funny! You’re the funniest guy ever, my lord!”

“D’aww, haha! I knew you’d get me, Harvie!”

I kept wrestling with Dahlian, but his strength far surpassed mine. He eventually wrenched himself out of my grasp and squinted at me. “Why do you keep interrupting me?”

“Because I’m saving your life, that’s what!” I hissed back. “You should never challenge his sense of humor, or he’s gonna play poker with your body parts!”

He blinked. “That's... eerily specific. Did that actually happen in your visions?”

“It did! So zip it!” I turned back to the ambassadors. “More importantly, what the hell are those guys doing out here? I thought they were all dead or locked up.”

“That’s what we thought too!” said Entrophys. “They’re like cockroaches, I’m telling ya. You catch one loitering around, and suddenly there’d be dozens of them popping up seconds later.”

Right after he said that, a shuffle of footsteps gradually grew louder, followed by a flurry of shadows dancing around the pillars and outside the arch windows.

As if Entrophys somehow jinxed it, another horde of lunatics crashed through the windows and surrounded each of us, brandishing their divine artifacts with crazed expressions.