It hurts…Sob.

How long have I been stuck in here…In this darkness, crucified by that psycho of an elder.

Still hurts…Sob.

I can't feel my arms anymore or my legs…No, I don't feel anything but the pain in my palms.

I'm scared…Sob…Help!

Mother!...Where are you? Why did you choose to leave? Leaving me alone.

Ahh!...I still remember her homemade cookies. They were as sweet as her long golden hair and her big honey eyes.

Honey!...hehehe~ I remember the bee stings when I tried to steal some honey. I ran home crying with a swollen eye as the pain pulsed on my face. Mother scolded me but then she hugged me, and all the pain went away.

I miss those days and the hugs… Sob.

Why did you ABANDON me, MOTHER!...Left ME!

I was a small child, forsaken with nothing but a necklace as a memory.

Aron.

Where are you? Are you looking for me? Or did you abandon me too? Like her.

Sob…P-Please… I can't bear the loneliness anymore…I need you, My friend, My Family…My love.

Help me…As you did before, avenge me…Us, Freya. They…They killed her…Sob!…BASTARDS!.

I want them dead…Burned alive.

I shall carve their flesh, tear out their hearts, shatter their ribs! and sever their limbs.

They shall SUFFER!... as I suffer!

NO! Innocence is a myth…they will kneel and beg to be killed, or we shall embrace…Carnage

And with their Blood, I shall be reborn

An Empress.

heheh~...HAHAHHAHA!

*Cough!*

"!!!" What's that?

Freya, is that you? Are you alive?

Hang in there Sister, I'll come for you. These Nails cannot keep up from going back to our love.

…

Step. Step.

"Hum?" hearing the faint echo of footsteps in the dark, an old man immediately turned around, gripping hard on his cane.

From the darkness emerged a figure with gray skin, pink hair, and two black curved horns atop its head.

"AAH! Lord Obsidian, welcome again to my humble abode" The old man bowed deeply in respect to the figures in front of him.

"Obsidian is my clan name. Call me Xenodrake or Casper," he snorted, evidently disliking the use of his clan name.

"My apologies, Lord Casper." The old man bowed once more.

"Good…Never make this mistake again…anyway how are the preparations?" The demon queried as he approached the elderly man.

"Everything is ready Lord Casper, but...Is it truly going to work and is this the sole option?" the old man said with a hint of doubt and regret in his voice.

Xenodrake's eyes glowed with an eerie red light as he stared at the old man. His gaze seemed to pierce through the darkness, and a sinister grin crept across his face.

"Fear not, old fool. The ritual will succeed. Besides..." He rested a hand on the man's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Your hands are already stained with the blood of your kin." His voice was low and calm.

Demons are experts in whispering in the minds of morals. Darion, with his fractured soul, succumbed easily to manipulation. Any lingering doubts vanished as he recollected his goal.

"Yes…A small price to pay to have my son back"

The demon's grin broadened, whispering again, "Precisely. Focus on your goal. You will have your son back, better than before. You have my word. Now, let us begin"

Darion nodded, taking a deep breath, he approached the last wooden door in the corridor unlocking it.

The duo soon reached the end of the staircase. This time, instead of Darion advancing ten steps, Xenodrake stepped into the shadows.

Sniff. Sniff.

The unseen creature in the darkness sniffed the newcomers, recognizing the demon's scent. It approached and knelt before him.

"I miss you too, my Horrors." He waved, conjuring a purple portal. "You are no longer needed here; return to the dungeon."

As the portal's light revealed the monster's form to Darion, his heart skipped a beat staring at that face. No eyes, no ear or nose, just a bloody mouth, a face that will surely give him some nightmares. The Faceless Horror didn't waste a second jumping in the portal going back home.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Closing the portal, the demon gestured for Elder Darion to unlock the second door.

Stepping inside, Darion attempted to cast his Fireball on the flammable substance; however, Xenodrake intervened.

"No fire and no magic. We don't want the ritual to fail, do we?"

Darion quickly nodded, canceling his fireball; he wouldn't risk the failure of the ritual, he already spent too much time and recourse to get to this stage.

From buying a ton of ingredients for the demon to paying for guild quests, just picking the mercenaries for the ritual was a pain in the ass.

Darion had to play it carefully, and only killing one or two per three to four quests, in order not to draw attention, just poisoning their food and making it look like they were killed during the quest was hard.

Thankfully, with the demon's help in controlling his creations, the process was manageable for three years. Now, it was time to reap the rewards.

Xenodrake snapped his fingers, conjuring four portals in the air around the bed. Being a demon, he had superior vision in the dark.

Clank!

Descending from the portals, Four Black man-sized nails pierced the stone floor effortlessly Next came a thick metal chain.

The chain moved like a living serpent wrapping itself on all four nails, creating a square protective barrier around the bed.

On each ring of the metal chain hung a white small talisman with a blood circle in the center. These talismans emitted an eerie, faint glow, contributing to the unsettling ambiance of the room.

Darion watched with a mixture of dread and anticipation as Xenodrake continued his preparations.

The demon pulled out a piece of red skin with strange writing on it. The fleshy page hovered near him as Xenodrake raised his hands, initiating the ritual.

"With the Blood of the foe and the Blood of the kin; I Xenodrake Casper Obsidian. The Demon of Flesh and Despair calls for the Keeper of the Abyss"

"Accept this offering and let the gateway between worlds open"

As Xenodrake chanted, the red skin page burst into flames, emitting an acrid scent that filled the chamber. The flames danced in an otherworldly pattern, casting eerie shadows on the walls.

Suddenly, a rift opened above the bed; it was like a crack in reality itself, a tear in the fabric of existence. From within the rift, a profound darkness spilled forth, tendrils of shadow reaching out like inky fingers.

The blood in the giant pots floated in the air, gathering beneath the rift in a massive blood ball before being sucked inside.

Xenodrake smiled, confirming the keeper of the Abyss had accepted his offering.

'With that out of the way now it's time for the real power' He clasped his hands together in a praying gesture.

"O' Great Lord Of Flesh And Despair, Ruler of the Abyssal Dominion, I, Xenodrake Casper Obsidian, summon thee!"

"Let your great powers flow into this world and resurrect this body of flesh. By the blood spilled in your name, let the very fabric of its existence be molded according to your will!"

As the chant echoed in the chamber, the rift above the bed widened further. A dark-purple beam of lightning descended from within.

The body of Darion's son began to levitate in the air, the dark-purple energy danced around it for a moment, before making its way inside him through mouth and nose.

Darion watching from the side, felt a mixer of fear and disbelief, the sight before him was beyond his understanding. The existence of the abyss and its lords was only legends to people like him. He never thought that there would come a time when he would see it with his own eyes.

"!!!" His heart raced faster seeing his son floating in the air.

The once lifeless body now showed signs of vitality as an otherworldly force coursed through it. His limbs twitched, and his eyes, previously dull and vacant, now glowed with an unnatural gleam.

Darion almost yelled in joy, but he restrained himself. Sacrifices had been made to reach this point, and he wouldn't jeopardize the ritual.

The process was swift. The once-dead son now pulsated with life, gently descending back onto the bed. The room, once filled with ritual energy, returned to an uneasy stillness as the abyssal rift closed, and the powers retreated.

Xenodrake, a wicked satisfaction evident in his eyes, turned to the old man "The ritual is completed, your son is reborn"

Darion stood there in shock, unable to comprehend the unfolding events, I mean resurrecting the dead?…of course it was impossible, yet he had believed and done everything to make it a reality.

"Cough…Cough…D-Dad!"

"!!!" The gentle voice of his son snapped Darion out of his stupor. He couldn't take it anymore; and dashed toward his son, throwing his cane away not caring about his health, he stumbled to the ground but managed to reach his son.

"Shhh!... I'm here, son. Everything is fine. I missed you." Tears streamed down Elder Darion's cheeks. He refrained from touching his son, fearing that if he did, his hand would just pass through him, showing that everything was a mere dream.

The demon observed their reunion with a sinister smile.

'The contract is fulfilled. Rejoice, mortal, and make good use of your last moments. When they are done, I'll consume your soul and take your son as a vessel for my perfect creation... hehehe-"

Cough! Thud!

The demon collapsed, clutching his chest.

"I-Impossible... Cough." Blood dripped from Xenodrake's mouth as his expression soured. "Someone destroyed the dungeon core? WHO?"

Furious, The demon waved a hand creating a purple portal; he immediately jumped in it back to the dungeon leaving Darion and his son alone.

"Dad, where are we?" the boy asked as his eyes momentarily glowed with a purple light.

The father didn't reply and slowly wrapped his arms around his son, pulling him into a hug.

"Home, son."

Unbeknownst to the father and son, a figure lurked in the shadows. Blood dripped onto the cold stone floor as the figure raised a hand.

"Home my ass!"

"AHHH!" Darion howled in agony as a sharp object pierced his neck. He fell, holding the wound.

"DAD!" The boy cried.

Pethra stood above the old man, placing a foot on his chest. She managed to free herself by…well...Painfully

Pulling the Nails off the wall can be slow, hard, and extremely painful for a 19-year-old girl. The pain itself could affect the mind messing with it a little.

Pethra with a grim look on her face, gazed at the elder with a mix of anger and determination. She had endured unspeakable pain, but the desire for revenge fueled her strength.

"Good suffer more" Hearing his screams was music to her ears, but Pethra wasn't satisfied yet.

Turning to the boy calling for his father, Pethra displayed a sadistic grin. Walking toward the boy, she grabbed him by the neck, forcing him to sit on the bed.

"Elder Darion. Here!...Here! Look."

Darion, hearing his name, forced himself to look. What he saw made the pain momentarily vanish.

Pethra held his son by the neck, a black nail close to his throat.

"Cough... P-Please," he begged, forcing his forehead to the floor.

"Tsk... Tsk... Elder, please raise your head I want you to see"

"Huh?"

Pethra brought her face close to the boy, flashing an innocent smile as she spoke.

"A small price to pay…"

Thud!

"...For my happiness"

She slowly pushed the nail into the boy's throat.

"NOOOOO!"

"HAHAH…that's it suffer"

"Hmm?" Then something peculiar happened—or rather, didn't happen.

The boy didn't cry or show any emotion. He was silent and frozen like a statue.

Crack!

His head snapped, turning 180 degrees, gazing back at Pethra with purple eyes.

"!!!" Feeling the danger, Pethra took steps back, and she was right. In the next second.

WEIIIII!

A high-pitched cry filled the room, unusual and strange, like a mix of a baby's cry and a beast's howl.

Then the boy's body began to grow rapidly, his fingers became long and turned into strange tentacles

The growth continued even after becoming a blob, fat piece of meat, until…

BOOM!

WEIIII

He burst from the ground in the middle of the village.