Chapter 27

Chapter 27

✠

A total of eleven stigma bearers were swept away into the dungeon sink. They were unevenly spread out amongst the pavilions. There were five in the east, one in the west, two in the south, and three in the north.

The two bearers in the south were Ephael and Hestio. They both followed the butler’s announcement and took their seats in front of the lavishly set banquet table

“Hestio, you must be starving, since they dragged us into this in the middle of lunch. Here, open up—”

“Get that out of my face!” Hestio slapped the cake out of Ephael’s hands in disgust. The cake splattered across the floor.

“How dare you, Hestio! You just threw away perfectly good food! You’re going to be punished by “The Strict Order and Goodness.”

“Here’s an idea. How about I stuff it down your throat? Then maybe you’ll be rewarded.”

“Oh well, I was curious to see what would happen if you ate it.”

“It’s like you can’t distinguish friend from foe. How do they expect me to clear out dungeons with this idiot? Ugh, I knew I should’ve left this party...”

Apart from the two stigma bearer’s bickering, the banquet hall was utterly silent. The desserts served by the dolls half an hour ago remained untouched. The impish butler demon was nowhere to be seen either.

With no instructions to follow, the children sat staring blankly at the table. Most of them were rightfully wary of the food. However, some of the children were on the verge of tears, drooling while clutching their famished stomachs.

Ephael held up the forks and knives and examined them carefully. “They’re sharp. I think I have an idea of what they’re cooking up here.”

“I guess the best course of action would be to prevent the other children from eating, but...”

“Then we’re never going to get out of this banquet hall.”

That scheming devil would never let the children go until things worked out according to his plan. Although Hestio and Ephael were quite different in nature, their way of thinking was similar. It didn’t take long for some of the children’s patience to wear out.

“I-I can’t take it anymore!”

“Me neither! I’m going to eat too!”

The children began to scarf down the treats set out for them and soon their hungry impulses had become contagious throughout the hall. Even the more timid children began to grab the desserts in front of them.

At some point, all of the children went from starving kids to gluttonous pigs, voraciously devouring everything in sight. Some scooped up hunks of cake with their bare hands, while others inhaled dozens of cookies at once. Before long, some of the children began to fight over the food.

“Gimme that! I called dibs!”

The children’s eyes began to lose focus as they started picking up forks and knives, one by one.

“Get your hands off my food... It’s all mine!”

“S-sausages... I don’t want cake. I want sausages... Where are the sausages?”

There was someone watching the chaos unfold, a demon, who had been waiting in the shadows for this terrible atmosphere to build.

“Aha! Looks like the southern pavilion is about to begin the game!”

The butler Rodrigo materialized in the hall. His face was still flushed and moist from being in the bath. Rodrigo’s appearance and demeanor exuded an eerie, perverse sense of foreboding.

“Now then, the third game we’re going to play is called ‘Playhouse of Hallucinations!’ Forks, knives, plates, candlesticks, and so on. I’ve prepared various things for you to play house with. Please, enjoy the bloodbath with your friends!”

Ephael and Hestio stood back to back. Ephael wiped the fork he used to jab at the cake earlier and held it upright like a sword. Hestio took hold of a knife in each hand and crossed them together.

“Hestio, your blessing please?”

“We’re going up against kids here. Do you really need divine power for this?”

The children began to advance on Ephael and Hestio. As they held their breath in anticipation of an attack, something strange happened.

Poof!

A small explosion went off in the fireplace. The banquet hall was soon filled with the pungent smell of smoke.

Rodrigo coughed hoarsely and shouted, “What is this?! I thought I told you to clean out the chimney!” Now covered in ashes, Rodrigo’s recent bath proved pointless.

Helveros sat in the corner of the fireplace with a horrid look on its face. Once the acrid smoke and coughing subsided, the banquet hall was left in quite a different state than it was before.

“Ow, my head hurts...”

“What...? Why was I climbing on top of the table holding a knife?”

“My arm hurts! Someone jabbed me with a fork! I’m bleeding!”

“I-I’m sorry! I thought it was a s-sausage... Why did I do that?”

One by one, the children began to regain their senses.

“Looks like we won’t need to fight after all.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Hestio and Ephael set their forks and knives down with a dazed look.

Only Rodrigo seemed to be upset by the turn of events. “What is this?! What’s happened here?! Why did the hallucinogens wear off? Hey, Hellfire! Come out here right now! Hey, what is the meaning of this?! What’s up with all this smoke? What did you eat, you little turd! Huh?!”

Helveros cowered down until it was the size of a small candle. It tried pleading the fifth, but every time its small flames fluttered, more dark smoke billowed out.

“This is an antidotal herb!” Rodrigo flew into a terrible rage, trampling Helveros under his feet. “You worthless piece of crap fire! Die! Just disappear!”

“A, ah! No...! I-I’m sorry! Please don’t kill me!”

Hiss!

Rodrigo was a prominent, high-ranking demon. Even hellfire was reduced to ashes after taking a few hits from him. All that was left behind was a black lump of coal that was presumably its core.

Rodrigo crushed the coal under his feet. As if feeling better from his outburst, he smiled and ran his hand through his hair, but his brows furrowed once more when he discovered that the same thing was happening all across the manor.

“Wait, what’s going on in the western pavilion?! The hallucinogenic desserts weren’t even served! Chef, chef! What are yo— Why is the kitchen all messed up?!” Rodrigo gnashed his teeth as he inspected the other areas.

Hestio and Ephael whispered to each other as they watched.

“The western pavilion is where Tesilid is. Maybe he did something to detoxify the kids?”

“I highly doubt it. He’s not clever enough to trick someone so thoroughly.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Of course.”

The two boys had already made up their minds that Tesilid couldn’t have had anything to do with such a direct confrontation.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo was seething. “How dare you make me angry!” The whites of his eyes turned blood-red as his silvery hair whipped about his head angrily. He was finally revealing his true demonic nature.

He sighed as if disappointed and said, “How unlike me to get so worked up. Anyhow, this won’t do. No, it won’t. It seems we need to bump up the difficulty of the games for our dear guests.” His monstrous fangs glistened dangerously as he offered the children a horrid grin. “Let us skip over games 4 through 9 and jump straight into game number 10. The moment you’ve all been waiting for! It is called ‘Red Light, Dead Light: Dead Man’s Flower!’”

The children all wore puzzled expressions as they looked to Rodrigo for an explanation, but no further instructions followed.

“Just know that this is a timeless game played all over the Demon Realm. You’ll learn as you play.” Rodrigo snapped his fingers and jet-black powder began to fall from the ceiling.

The children panicked, frantically dusting the tops of their heads. Rodrigo snapped his fingers again, and this time the banquet hall began to tremble before a doll with the appearance of a common garden mole burst out of the ground. Judging from its checkered flat cap and denim overalls, the mole seemed to be the manor’s groundskeeper.

“This mole here is going to be ‘It,’ understand? Let’s get right into it! And the game—begins!”

“The dead man’s... flower... is blooming!” The mole awkwardly yelled out the words as he looked back at the children.

“What in the world... W-wait a minute! Y-your head”

“My head? What about my hea— Ahh! There’s something on my head!”

“Something’s sprouting from my head!”

The mole continued to stay in character. “The dead man’s... flower... is blooming!”

“I-it keeps growing! Wah!”

“Ew, what is this? T-this is disgusting! Mommy!”

The black powdery substance that fell from the ceiling was seeds. The demonic plant immediately put its roots down into the children’s heads and blossomed. However, the growth rates were different for each child.

Hestio turned his head which was now home to a budding, green sprout to look at Ephael.

“Ephael, there’s nothing on your head.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Must be because you’re as dumb as a bag of rocks.”

“Thanks for the compliment. But you’re right. There’s nothing on my head... Hm? Wait... I can feel something growing now.”

“Oh? It’s growing! It grows when you wave your hands around. Keep waving them.”

The two boys kept waving their hands and turned to look at the mole.

“The dead man’s... flower...”

The plants on their heads stopped growing when the mole turned away and did his little chant.

“Is blooming!”

The moment he turned back to look at them, the plants started growing again. But as soon as they stopped waving their hands, the plant stopped growing as well.

Hestio shouted to the children around him, “Stop moving! The plant grows when you move while the mole’s looking at you!”

“Fabulous! You figured out the rules already! Pretty good for a little monkey... or should I say little lamb!”

The children froze where they stood, only their tiny buds and flowers waving about. The banquet hall plunged into an abrupt silence, with just Rodrigo’s excited voice piercing through the uncomfortable atmosphere.

“Right now, the Dead Man’s Flower has taken root inside everyone’s heads. Any time the mole detects movement, the flower will become more and more embedded in your bodies and blossom. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

“N-no!”

“I don’t want a flower growing from my head!”

“The Dead Man’s Flower is the most beloved flower in the Demon Realm. There are various shades in which the flower can blossom, but only those that display a deep violet hue are regarded as the finest. It’s such a rare color that only appears once every thousand years. Even I have yet to see one. However!”

Rodrigo continued to monologue over the children’s whimpering,

“Who knows? Maybe one of you will bear a beautiful violet Dead Man’s Flower. I give my word that I shall recognize the worth of whoever is able to make a violet flower bloom, and I will allow them to live on forever as a flowerpot. So, do give it your all to produce beautiful flowers!”

Despite his encouragement, no one seemed excited in the least. The horrible sensation of the flowers winding about their bodies was too terrifying.

To make matters worse, the Dead Man’s Flower’s roots gradually made their way deeper into its hosts’ heads, nourishing itself with flesh and bodily fluids. It was rather obvious they would be turned into dolls once the flowers were in full bloom. The children stifled their tears in an effort to remain still.

“Oh, let me tell you, just in case we have a few brave souls left. If you try to forcefully pull out the flower, or even try to cut it, the roots will instantly penetrate your skull. You’ve been warned.”

Ephael drew back the knife he was aiming at the back of Hestio’s head. They needed to come up with a different plan.

“Hestio, what do we do now?”

“Why are you asking such obvious questions? We need to escape the dungeon and get treated by a cardinal-level healer. You want me to tell you how to get out of the dungeon too? We just have to defeat the dungeon boss.”

“Hm, I guess we need to take care of the mole and butler first.”

“Exactly.”

Hestio put his hand against Ephael’s back. He prepared to bless, in other words, buff, Ephael. “Ephael, sic ‘em!”

“Oh... yeah, sure.” Contrary to his begrudging tone, Ephael moved swiftly. With a sharpened fork in one hand, Ephael burst forward toward the mole. He closed the distance between them in an instant.

“The dead man’s... flower... is blooming!”

Just as he was about to reach the mole, Ephael came to a sudden stop. His gaze met the mole doll’s button-like eyes.