Cariha however is having other thoughts. To her, this outcome could only be thought of as a nightmare.

How did that fucking bastard know about the importance of those vials? Could… Could someone have warned him about this, about what we’re planning to do? Already? So little time has even passed! This is unbelievable.

She considers the unidentified person who appeared when a man with a mask had allowed that demihuman whore and her daughter escape. The man with the mask was who they believed to be Ajax. But who was that person that had carried the woman away from the scene, preventing her public execution?

She doesn’t remember whether the unknown figure was a beastkin or not.

Though, she can only think of her thief as being that man. Just like that man had interfered then, stealing that harlot who the Twin Moons had sentenced to death for killing a human being, he had once again interfered, once again stealing something!

Cariha chews on her thumbnail as she considers the humiliation that she would face if they returned to the base of the Twin Moons with no results at all. If that man somehow escaped, wouldn’t her own subordinates abandon her for her incompetence? After all, she had basically handed him the vial when she had tried to block her face.

As she has these thoughts of her embarrassment swirl in her mind, she hears the sound of muffled laughter. The beastkin woman lying facedown on the ground with her hands tied behind her back is laughing. Through the sharp pain on her face, even though she knows she has been disfigured for the foreseeable future at least, she still finds time to laugh…

Cariha glares at the woman. The woman notices the silence in the hallway as well as the glares of the four women who are still making sure she cannot escape. She immediately stops her laughing, realizing that she has made a mistake.

She was only happy that her son would not have to go along with their plans, that he had escaped with his life. Though she doesn’t know what they were trying to force her child to drink, she knew that it could only be something sinister. Her soft laugh was one of joy, of relief. Even if she were to die here, her son would still live. That was all that she had wanted.

Cariha however only wishes to defile this woman to death right now. To violate her in front of the women around her, perhaps with the knife in her hand. But, she still needs her for their ritual. She would rather not be forced to torture a child in order to get him to drink the vials, at least when her subordinates are able to bring back both the vials and the child.

If she did so, it would be like she was draining the boy’s innocence with every scar she inflicted on his skin, every needle she inserted under his fingernails. The offering would be subpar and she would have to continue searching through the building for another candidate. She had already sent Poil off to search for the escapees anyways.

So instead, she does the next best thing. She feels like now is a good time to let out some of her stress. When the little boy comes back, he’s going to be finding his mother alive, of that she will make sure. Though, he will regret allowing himself to be taken by that demihuman man.

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If they’re able to catch the man who took him and her vials as well, she hopes he can be brought back here so that he can see the fruits of his bravery.

She takes out her special knife of decay from her thigh holster.

“Utha, make sure to properly cover her mouth. She’s going to scream. Timor and Krevlith, hold her legs down so she doesn’t kick.” Cariha says, with cold eyes and a clenched jaw.

The women comply with her orders. They do wonder if perhaps it would be easier to simply bring the woman back inside the apartment that they had taken her out of, yet they decide that they should speak carefully with Cariha while she is in this state of anger.

Cariha has decided to cut off the woman’s left leg at her mid thigh. Her knife of decay is sharp but it is still only a knife. It might take a minute or two to properly cut through the muscle and bone of her thigh, but she would have some fun here. She had gotten the inspiration after seeing the boy’s own leg.

He was living with quite a troublesome condition.

How could the woman properly empathize with her own child without sharing his condition? Shouldn’t she learn what it's like to live without the use of her leg, just like her son did? Such were the blonde woman’s cruel thoughts.

Due to her knife’s special feature of decay, the wound would not bleed too much. Perhaps a cup of blood would spill from her leg at the most. The leftover stump would be almost cauterized, though in actuality it would be more like “necrotized”. This difference was crucial.

Due to her wound being decayed, it would be much more prone to deep infection. Before long, perhaps within three or four hours, her blood would become poisoned and she would die a painful death, unlike with the black mutilation upon her forehead. That wound could still become infected, but the chance was comparatively low.

"Hm. If only the boy was still here to see this." Cariha comments, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

The boy's mother looks up at Cariha who has already turned her to lie on her back. Her position is uncomfortable because she is lying on her tied up arms. Of course, it won't compare to the pain she is about to experience. She doesn’t even wish to struggle with her legs, they’re being quite securely held down. All she can do is pray that her son remains alive.

She has hope. She feels like her son is already saved, even with the four men pursuing him and the benevolent kidnapper. She doesn't know who that person was who intervened but she can only thank him.

The beastkin woman can tell that this blonde human doesn't just want to kill either her or her son yet. Even if he is somehow caught, he will be caught alive. She wishes to make her beloved son drink that strange liquid. She won't kill her child until then.

But, for the beastkin mother's mistake of taking some pleasure in her son's execution being stopped outright or at least delayed, her leg would be removed. She cannot even cry right now.

The demihuman mother feels as if Lord Osva had already brought her to hell. She has not been a sinless person, but did she really deserve this? She cannot say. She stares up at the human woman who is only staring down at her with a smug smirk.

This woman wasn't just a psychopath or a simple lunatic. She had done this before. To how many men, women and children, she simply could not fathom.

Her actions all seem designed to inflict the maximum amount of suffering and pain possible.

At the very end of the hallway, Sigvor remains watching the situation. Dzan was more reasonable than she had assumed he would be. Rather than trying to rescue the hostages, he had instead stolen the two vials. Somehow he had known of their value and chose them over the two hostages.

He was smart to do so. When did he finally grow a brain? Ha!

Sigvor's job was now much easier. All she had to deal with was four people.