***

Inside a worn-out tavern located in an inconspicuous alley just outside the City of Vilesief where Mephisto had just entered without much of a hitch. Three men were discussing the events of the day.

*burrrp!*

A bald man with a stocky frame belched loudly after taking a swig of beer, slamming the wooden mug against the table.

"Boss, was it okay to let that hack go?"

Behind the bar was a man with decent facial features except for the protruding scar around his neck that looked fearsome. This was, of course, the mugger trio whom Mephisto met earlier.

"...hack?" although he was a bit unsure of what his lackey meant at first, Mephisto's countenance surfaced in his mind, recalling his encounter with the odd individual.

"..Ahh...that charlatan. Let's not get ourselves involved with crazed weirdos. Insanity is a portent of misfortune, after all", he said as he wiped a wine glass with a towel, ruminating about something.

"..Quite shocking. So you're actually the superstitious type, boss?" a teenage voice interjected with a subdued chuckle.

Beside the entrance of the tavern, a scrawny boy with excessive bangs that covered half his face was sitting cross-legged on a stool, sharpening his knife.

"Given his looks, we could have just abducted him and sold him to slave merchants. At the end of the day, money is money."

The leader only sighed at his lackeys lacking intelligence, 'What a bunch of simpletons' , he inwardly thought with contempt.

'First, although the man's looks made him a casanova that would undoubtedly seduce even the most devoted nun, making him a valuable merchandise, the brief encounter simply felt so suspicious from the onset. Anyone with a working brain can deduce the abnormality born from a brewing undercurrent. Whatever it is, hoodlums like us are mere pawns in a tussle between those who held greater power.

Second, even if he's really of noble birth due to how he carried himself, abducting an aristocrat would be akin to courting death. Most of all, my instincts were at a clamor just by being in his presence, begging me to extricate as soon as possible.'

It was not a special skill like that of those who had broken free from the mortal chains and entered the realm of heroes. It was simply his spirituality that had been tempered by surviving countless life-threatening crises, cautioning him through a strange yet familiar sensation.

*eeeeekkk!!*

Without forewarning, an anguished shriek that shook the entire tavern resounded.

The boy who was at the entrance was sprawled upon the uncaring floor, curled up into a ball while fiercely clawing at his chest. White foams made of unknown substances were oozing out from his mouth. His bloodshot eyes and the enlarged bluish veins that were about to pop out covered his face down to his neck, as if he was being strangled to death.

"H-hel...m-e....p-pli..th" the boy could only issue disjointed words amidst the excruciating pain, spasming as though possessed by an evil spirit. Like a shrimp in a fetal position, his thoracic spine threatened to tear his skin apart.

In response, the bald man rushed towards his companion in a bid to render support but before he could do anything meaningful, he felt a hair-raising sensation on his back. Despite his muscular build, his arms flexibly reached out to his right shoulder blade and grabbed something disgusting to the touch.

As he brought the creature in front of him for closer inspection, a jet black centipede with translucent trunk and at least several dozen legs was ferociously wriggling in his grasp. He could see countless maggots squirming inside like offsprings of malevolence, awaiting to be born and spread pestilence throughout the lands.

His stomach then involuntarily churned due to the intense feeling of dread and revulsion. Feeling ill and nauseous, he inadvertently motioned to throw up in an attempt to forcefully disgorge his stomach's contents.

Such carelessness which was the result of his lapse in focus gave the creature an opportunity to proceed with its sinister mission. The centipede liberated itself from the man's grasp by thrashing about vehemently like a fish out of water, it then crept with the agility of a snake towards the man's neck, just below his ear.

Realizing his mishap, he reflexively snatched the creature but Alas, he was a second too late, and just right about time to endure the torment served by an ugly arthropod of Perdition. The creature had successfully infiltrated his body by entering through his ear.

*Gulp!*

Gripped with unspeakable terror, the bald man could hear the metaphorical sound of the passage of saliva down his throat. And without any delay, the vow was fulfilled as the torture began.

The hideous figure of the centipede was outlined by the man's facial skin as it crawled leisurely beneath. His teeth began chattering while his entire body was frozen in absolute fright.

*thud*

Falling unto the ground's callous surface, the bald man replicated the boy's miserable state as both of them writhed amidst the spine-chilling screams of woe.

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On the other hand, the leader had already reached for the backdoor to elude the curse that had befallen his associates. His instincts had unfailingly sensed the anomaly and warned him before the events took a turn for the worse.

But as he tried to twist the knob of the door, a jet black creature as though it had crept its way out from the abyss was on top of his hand, its pair of antennae was raised in victory while its venomous fangs were embedded in his skin.

"...."

"!!"

"No..!!"

The thug leader staggered backward as he fumbled towards the ground, he kept flailing his arm in a mad attempt to eject the creature from his hand.

Feeling his life essence seep away, his heart torpid and brain slackened, he groveled to the ground as if in genuflection before his maker, and frantically delivered a desperate attempt to preserve his life.

"..I-I'm..so, sorry" he said while planting his face on the floor as if the merciless soil was where salvation could be found.

"If I have committed any offense, I deeply apologize.." he continued, head still buried in the ground while shivering.

His words which was a kind of repentance born from his irrational belief in the unknown. Perhaps, it was paranoia that had driven him into a crazed state. Or maybe, this was faith in its most quintessential form, his spirituality attaining selfhood and guiding him.

No.

It was fear. The crystallization of unprecedented terror clawing at his sanity.

"..God! plea-!", He muttered quiveringly as he brought his hands together, palm to palm, praying in utmost diligence, mustering the last ounce of his courage.

"God?", However, an ancient yet sinister voice had interrupted his plea.

"...IT SPOKE?!"

The thug leader was unable to contain a squelched yelp. He could feel the insect raise half of its trunk in the air, looking down on him while on a higher pedestal.

"In your moment of despair, you still blindly cling to 'Him' in hopes of redemption?", the deep and raspy voice continued to resound in his mind as if two rusted metal sheets were being rubbed against each other.

Shocked into silence, the thug leader's mouth was wide open, disbelief written all over his face. For some absurd reason, a fraction of the fear dissipated and the seed of veneration had taken root in his spirituality.

"Tell me, mortal.." the mysterious voice which seemed to originate from the bottomless pit of hell spoke once more.

"Faced with imminent death, do you believe those condescending existences in heaven will come to your rescue?"

"..."

"You wish for deliverance but do you wholeheartedly believe your soul will be spared from eternal damnation?"

"...."

The thug leader who held his palm together genuflected once again but with more intensity, ravaging the earth with his flesh as if in deference to the unholy yet divine existence.

"ha ha HA! HA!....NO!!" the guttural voice cackled and hissed, sending waves of terror which almost sapped away the thug leader's consciousness.

"Even angels fall from grace, with their wings plucked and banished into the underworld. So, trifling mortal, seeing how religiously devoted you are, recite your God's name as I introduce you to the perpetual flames of Gehenna..."

Swamped by the ever-rising trepidation in his heart and the mysterious existence's sullen hatred that could be barely stifled, the thug leader articulated in earnest his will, his unfettered desire.

"M-my faith..lies in the divine and benevolent being who rules one of the great concentric circles of Hell. The Governor of The boundless Deep and Reverend Proginator of Sins."

In pursuit of self-preservation, his outright obsequiousness had become his beacon of hope out of this hell hole. Or, maybe, this was genuine reverence to a lifeform of higher order.

"Glib tongued, are you not? Most of all, what's with the ludicrous appellations?"

The suffocating atmosphere seemed to have abated although just a smidgen as the ancient voice became temperate.

"I-If I have given offense, my life is yours to reap. But-", after a brief respite, he resolved himself to abandon his life to the mighty existence's verdict and continued.

"Despite being a trivial human akin to a pebble on the road, inconsequential and disposable, may I at least know of your sublime name so I may engrave it in my heart even after death..?"

"hmpf-!!"

But the mysterious existence who ought to be on the level of a deity just harrumphed in response to his earnest request.

"Know your place, mortal.." the sonorous voice berated the thug leader, and continued in a mocking tone, "But, I must admit your cajolery has earned you your life, albeit temporarily."

"Then, if you are able to render meaningful service, perhaps your insignificant life might be extended indefinitely. "

"Your every wish is my command!", he replied eagerly while still in flawless genuflection, expressing his peerless devotion.

His vision was then dyed with the color of the night as the archaic voice echoed in his mind, "Mephisto. Remember it well"

"I'll keep in touch soon..." the mysterious voice added which sounded like a baleful omen.

"..."

The thug leader remained motionless for quite some time, waiting for the palpable tension in the air to dissipate completely. The frosty temperature in the room had noticeably risen as well, reverting back to its natural order.

When he could finally feel his limbs again, a tingling pain lingered in his chest. He frantically examined his body only to see a hole the size of an eyeball exposing a creature coiling around his heart. Like a slumbering infant, the creature breathed rhythmically as though cradled in the womb of its mother.

Soon after, the flesh around the wound's edges subtly wriggled as it underwent the proliferative phase and ultimately healed in a matter of seconds, leaving without so much as a scar.

*thump!* *thump!* *thump!*

As the thug leader was collecting his composure and loosening his taut nerves, a clanging noise erupted inside the tavern as if weighty objects were thrashed around.

As he focused his gaze on the origin of the sound, a spine-chilling sensation wafted over his body. The darkening shadows outlined two familiar yet sinister silhouettes, and as they inched closer, their facial features sharpened.

His collaborators whom he had assumed were dead just stood threateningly a few meters away from him, unmoving. As the sunlight peeked from the gaps of a nearby window, their eyes gleamed murderously like feral beasts out for a hunt.

*thud!* *thud!*

A loud sound suddenly broke the silence as the two figures could be seen kneeling with one knee, palms against the floor with their backs slightly leaning forward. Their lowered heads faintly obscured the expression on their faces.

This sudden development was beyond the thug leader's expectations which astonished him greatly. But the look of surprise on his face was quickly replaced with comprehension as his brows furrowed inadvertently.

"..I see" he muttered as he gazed at the inhuman figures while in deep contemplation.

After a while, he flashed a wicked grin as though he had gained valuable insight.

***