Chapter 15

Two months has now passed since the Devil Kidnapping incident. The dungeon where people are kept as experiments and assistants has now become rather quiet, in contrast to the time where assistants resided in the cells. Only a handful still scream, but those are people who had resigned as Eiulj’s assistants and became either a caretaker mainly for Evealoras or food for Eiulj’s pets.

*Thud* *Thud*

Altafaigaman had thrown something to a pit, something soft and squishy yet made a loud thud as it hit the floor. From a height, he could see about four creatures emerging from the shadows. They were large creatures, even taller than Altafaigaman whose height reaches two and a half metres. They have snouts like that of an alligator, a large armadillo-like back, legs like that of a mammalian predator and a shelled underbelly. They are a species called saivak. They drew closer to the things Altafaigaman threw and ate it in one or two bites, sometimes even trying to bite the other for not leaving anything else.

Footsteps could be heard coming from his back. As he turned, he saw Teiyninya dragging a corpse with her and Eiulj, hauling four corpses, two on each hand. He was surprised to see Eiulj, who has a fourth of his size and about a half of Teiyninya’s, pulling two corpses, as if it was a light thing. They threw the corpses back into the pit and the saivaks started feasting on them.

“That’s the last of the corpses.” Eiulj spoke as she watched the saivaks devour the corpses whole. “I’ve got all the data I wanted to produce the next version of tablets. But I have to wait for the next batch of assistants.”

“Will you not test it on the remaining survivors, my Lady?” Altafaigaman asked, slightly confused.

“No, they’ve grown too resistant to the drug. Moreso since the earlier versions were more potent.” Eiulj answered him. She turned away and headed for the exit and the two trailed behind her.

“I have other uses for them. They either donate their bodies to be examined or undergo genetic mutations.” Eiulj continued speaking.

“Examined?” Teiyninya asked while tilting her head to the side.

“Meaning, I’ll cut open their bodies and check the condition of their organs and the like. Who knows, maybe their hearts turned yellowed or their blood started circulating a green colour.” Eiulj explained. “Do you want to donate your body, Ninya?”

Teiyninya shuddered at the thought of what she would do to her.

“N-no, my Lady. I...” She stuttered, trying to find an excuse to refuse being experimented on.

“Hahaha. Don’t worry. I won’t open you up.” Eiulj laughingly replied, causing Teiyninya to sigh in relief. “After all, I’ve already examined your kind multiple times.” She continued without looking back.

Teiyninya sighed in relief at first but now doesn’t know if she should be relieved that she won’t be experimented on, given she remained on Eiulj’s good side, or feel fear and anger as many of her kin had been subjected to her torturous experiments.

“Worry not Ninya. I’ve only ever used criminals in my experiments.” Without looking back, Eiulj reassured Teiyninya as if she knew what she was thinking of. “Your kind used to suffer from the Fallen Angel disease, right?”

“Ah, yes. That is right.” Teiyninya answered but was confused with the sudden question.

The Fallen Angel disease is endemic to Teiyniya’s race, the Shprae. Devils typically have long lifespans of about a few centuries. Because of the Fallen Angel disease, the Shprae’s average lifespan is just a bit more than a century. The disease mainly affects the wings at its base where it connects to the torso of a Shprae, causing excruciating pain. The only remedy at that time was to cut the wings off, rendering their ability to fly. Their wings were like that of angels but when inflicted with the disease, their wings had to be removed making them no more than a simple human. From there was the name of the disease given.

“That fallen angel disease, I provided the vaccine to it to your ancestors.” Both Teiyninya and Altafaigaman were surprised to hear the revelation. “So now, even after a few centuries of living you can still fly in the sky with no problem. Heck, I’m surprised it even reinforced the bones and muscles in you wings that it effectively became steroids.”

“My Lady, what about my race?” Altafaigaman couldn’t help but ask. He knew that there’s a low chance that Eiulj actually did anything for his race, but her response awed him even more.

“All species of giants have a certain inherent disposition of going berserk once you reach a certain age, and is more predominant in your race, the Se-Ivrahn. The vaccine I provided at first reduced your state of berserk from a few months to only a few days. Right now, each race of the giants has developed their own version to fit their needs. So now, you no longer need to be restrained in an underground cave for months and not even realising you were restrained.”

“You were being restrained?” Teiyninya faced Altafaigaman and asked him, shocked of she heard from Eiulj.”

“Yes. At one point of a giant’s life, they go into a state of berserk, losing their state of mind. Normally, giants would be restrained and let the effects pass by naturally, but that would take ages, and sometimes it would even go on for years. But the vaccines and medications we have been administered with lessened that time. I’ve only been restrained for three days when I entered a state of berserk.” Altafaigaman answered her query.

“Oh, okay.” She only replied with a blank face.

“Berserk is like sleep walking. The vaccine is used to lessen the time of berserk so you can wake up faster.” Eiulj stepped closer to Teiyninya and whispered.

“Oh, I understand now!” She replied enthusiastically.

From the side, Altafaigaman only stared blankly at Teiyninya.

“But now I wonder. Lady Eiulj, just how old are you?” Teiyninya asked innocently, but Altafaigaman, at the back, jolted and panicked when he heard the question asked.

He thought Eiulj would flare up upon hearing the question, but his fear subsided as Eiulj answered indifferently.

“I don’t know myself, but I am older than the both of you. I was born in the Odkradiina Empire, so that is...” Eiulj indifferently replied.

“Odkradiina Empire?! That was about three thousand years ago!” Altafaigaman couldn’t help but shout from the surprise. Eiulj is not just older than them, she may even be older than his race.

“I guess it has been that long, has it.” Eiulj spoke indifferently again. “Ahh. Thinking back on it, I’ve always scolded His Imperial Highness, Osaraios, for now attending his class.

Altafaigaman was still in a state of shock from hearing when Eiulj was born, and is now staring with his mouth agape. Teiyninya creeped beside him and asked where the Okradiina Empire is located and who His Imperial Highness, Osaraios is. But she got no answer as he was still in a state of shock.

“Ah, yes, Ninya.” Eiulj called out to Teiyninya who was still asking for an explanation.

“Yes?!” She replied, surprised.

“How are your legs? Any discomfort?”

Teiyninya’s legs were like that of a human’s legs and not like that of a needle. She was given something like prosthetic legs made specially for Teiyninya. Walking on pointed legs can cause them some discomfort and would usually require them to balance themselves with wings. But with legs like a human, then there is no need to wings so, she can hide them.

“No, my Lady. It’s rather comfortable.” Teiyninya honestly replied to Eiulj.

“That’s good then. Just inform me if you feel uncomfortable and I’ll adjust it. My mana and magic aren’t as impressive as yours so developing a morphing spell for me is quite taxing.” Eiulj shrugged as she explained.

“Ah, yes, my Lady.” Teiyninya replied back with nothing more to say.

“Enough of that for now, we can have a talk about it later on.” Eiulj cut off the conversation then and there and forced it to move another direction. “We need to transfer the people to different rooms so they can assist me better.” She continued.

As they walked, Teiyninya pestered Altafaigaman for answers but still didn’t get a reply. It was only after they finished their jobs did she get to hear an explanation.

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On the surface, it’s as if life has returned to normal with the addition of snow and a cold weather. Some children came out to play with thick clothing, throwing snow balls at each other. The children of the orphanage were no different, playing with snow in the garden space. This time, Aniem had remained there, guarding the kids and playing with them while Frianne had gone out to purchase food.

It may be fun and games for the majority, but a certain man has only experienced pain in the winter. He screamed at the top of his lungs, speaking incomprehensibly and has been doing so since the blizzard stopped. As of now, he is restrained on a bed in a hospital, struggling to get the binds off of his person. While bound, his limbs were being held down, preventing too much movement.

“His mind is still unstable even if it’s been a month since he woke up.” A man wearing thick clothes and writing something spoke while observing the screaming man. “We won’t be able to get information form him if this keeps up.” He continued.

“It’s amazing in itself he was able to survive. Especially in the state he was in.” A woman beside him added on to his statement.

“Well, compared to the other bodies we found, he had the least damage done to him.”

The woman became silent afterwards while having a melancholic face. As they both watch the man being restrained further by several people. From behind the two observing, they can head footsteps. As the sound grew stronger, the person in question finally appeared.

“L-Lord Osar, welcome. We had not received any word of your arrival.” The man who was writing stood up from his seat and bowed along with the woman.

“Well, I had planned to visit a few days from now but it was suddenly cancelled as I have another appointment at that time.” Osar replied to the man. “It seems he has still not recovered from shock.” He continued

“Yes, he still has not.” The man replied back.

Osar stepped forward, trying to get a glimpse of the man’s face as it was his first time actually visiting this person. As soon as his face was in full view, the screaming man stopped when he took a glimpse of who was in front of him. He had recognised Osar and instead of shouting at the top of his lungs, he spoke in a soft yet clear voice.

“Lord... Osar...?” He broke to tears soon after seeing Osar nod at his question. He calmed down a bit and puled.

After all that thrashing and crying, he had returned to a state of slumber. Everything was calm yet again in the room, that even those who were restraining the man’s movements were sitting on chairs wearing exhausted faces.

The man who is now asleep had been admitted to the hospital about two months ago with severe wounds, or rather holes, around his body. With nothing short of a miracle, he had lived through it and was able to stay alive until magicians arrived and sealed the holes. Now who really is this man?