The sound of a metal lock clicking, and the creaking of the hinges could be heard rattling across the dark and empty basement hall.
Upon entering, the antiheroes heard a light set of voices.
"Don't worry, my sweet sons.... mama will always be right by your side to protect you.... shhhh.... don't worry.... you two can stay right here with me forever.... there's no need for you two to go out and work. You can help mama all your lives....ahhhhh..... but I really wish your father would return.... after all, I wonder... will you both really be able to become fine men without a father to raise you?? It worries me.... every day I keep on thinking about it... when will he return??"
"Sniff...."
Light whimpering noises from children could be heard.
On entering, the antiheroes saw Bella sitting at a table with nothing more than a lit candle in front of them, illuminating the group. She sat with her two sons in her lap, and she was hugging them tightly while staring at them with vulturous eyes.
She looked up from her children to see the group enter in the darkness, as Ashley lit a small fire on her fingertip so that her face was shown.
"We've returned."
"Oh!! You all are back!!! How long it has been since we've seen anyone.... how many days has it been? Durst, do you remember? What about you, Faux? No? Oh.... you two have always been so forgetful, always making mama remember everything.... tsk tsk..."
Ashley then placed a spiritual hand on the head of Bella, and closed her eyes as if she was meditating.
"I see..... I see...."
Ashley's face began to twist and turn with disgust and rage for a few moments, before she opened up her eyes once more. The two children who were sitting on Bella's lap seemed to be backing away in fear, however Bella hugged them even tighter as they tried to get away.
Ashley opened her eyes, and took her hand off Bella's head.
"This woman..... she's been through a lot..... it makes me sick just to know what happened to her..."
"Ally, could it be that you just used soul manipulation to witness her memories?", Samantha asked.
"That's right.... and to be honest, it makes me want to just....."
Ashley stuck her hand into her inventory, pulling out a man who had complete fear in his eyes. His leg had been stabbed with the edge of a spear, and his entire skin was a purple blue color from being compressed into the ball for so long. He had cuts and bruises all over him from when the mercenaries were allowed to take their revenge on the soldiers, as the only wound which had been healed was the fatal one to his head, which currently was a massive diagonal scar across his entire face.
"P- please help me!!!", the man shouted, however Ashley completely ignored his cries and grabbed the man's hair, tearing his head off.
Ashley dropped the head to the ground, and kicked it as hard as she could like a soccer ball, so that it splattered into the wall. She then started kicking the body furiously, while Bella watched in delight. The two children started silently crying as tears fell from their faces, however no sound was emitted.
"You piece of shit!!! Take this!!!! Take this!!!! Scum, every last one of you!!!!!"
Ashley furiously beat the dead body, until she seemed to be satisfied.
Bella merely smiled happily when Ashley had finished.
"I see that you've finished tenderizing the livestock! Thank you for the assistance! I'll make sure to make a wonderful steak out of this one!!", she said with a blissful face.
The faces of the two children in her laps were anything but thankful.
Bella got up after setting the children down and grabbed the body, dragging it towards the kitchen.
"What a fine piece of meat this is.... I'm sure I can make a whole bunch of good stuff from it!!"
Ashley then turned to Samantha and the others, and spoke in a ragged tone.
"Ah.... that felt good.... anyways, Sarah... come here for a sec."
Ashley grabbed the hand of Samantha, pulling her back to speak.
"I just read that woman's memories, and I was able to see her past.... but that's not important. What's important is...."
Ashley pulled Caspus out of her inventory, who was missing fingers, toes, and had marks and injuries completely covering him. He began blubbering like before as soon as he came out of the inventory space.
"Urp!!! Abubaduba!!!! Hewb!!!! Stawp dis pweashe!!!!"
Ashley lit a fire on her finger, and used it like a welders tool to start molding the face of Caspus into a different shape.
"AGH!!!!! URG!!!!!!"
The screams of Caspus filled the entire room, however Bella was too busy cooking up a storm and getting her children to help her to notice the commotion.
"Come on boys.... help me dice up these thick pieces...."
"Ok mama...."
"I'll help mama...."
The two had become more submissive and even started calling Bella their mother. They were so tormented that they forgot about their own parents at this point.
The face of Caspus began to mold and deform until it took the face of a completely different person altogether. There were many burn marks and imperfections, however it was undoubtedly the face of another person.
"Alright.... now heal him up.", Ashley said with a grin, while she grabbed Caspus by the nostrils and looked him directly in the face.
Caspus continued his blubbering, but Ashley gave him a horrible look to shut him up.
"Hey.... yeah, you.....living garbage.... you are literally the scum of the earth.... useless trash, who throws others into the garbage disposal without a care in the world.... only ever doing things for yourself.... yes.... you are a villain.... you are a monster.... but luckily for you, I've gone out of my way to prepare a perfect life for you!!!! How lucky you are!!! Lucky, lucky, lucky!!!! Look over there!! Do you see those two children, and that beautiful woman?? Congratulations! That's your new wife, and those two are now your sons! Go make her happy. If you don't, then we can repeat the process all over again....", Ashley said while taking her fingers out of his nose, and making the motion as if she was ripping them off one by one, jingling her necklace in front of him.
Caspus began nodding vigorously, as Ashley wiped the snot off her fingers onto the wall.
"Disgusting.", she said. "Ah. Come here for a second."
Ashley grabbed Caspus by the shirt and used it as a towel to wipe the rest of the snot off.
Samantha then smiled devilishly as she healed the man's wounds, and kicked him over to Bella. He stumbled, and Bella, who was infatuated in the cooking right now, looked back to see the man.
He had the same face as her husband.
"Darling!!! You've returned!!!! My, my my my.... it's been such a long time.... our boys have grown so old.... just look at them!"
Bella grabbed the two sons and presented them to the man who was trying to get up, wobbling after such rapid regeneration of his appendages.
"Look at how wonderful they are!!! They've grown to be such fine boys.... they are so helpful, and they always assist me in everything I do.... but now you're back.... ah.... how wonderful...."
Bella grabbed the knife she was using to chop up the meat and licked the blood off it, and she walked over to Caspus, putting it to his neck.
Caspus froze, hands on the ground and a knife to his neck.
"Don't you think so, darling? Don't you think our boys have grown up to be fine men??? Hmm???????"
Caspus began nodding and started blubbering.
"Mhm!!! Mhm!!!!"
"That's right.... of course you would agree.... who wouldn't agree??? Only someone who doesn't understand anything would try to say that they don't see these boys right here, right???? RIGHT???? Only an insane man would say that they aren't here!!!!! Look!!!!! THEY'RE RIGHT HERE!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! MY SONS ARE ALIVE!!!!! AND MY HUSBAND IS BACK!!!!! RIGHT????"
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Bella had taken the knife away from the neck of Caspus, and was dancing around the room with insanity, while she shouted these things.
"Of course!!!!! My sons are alive!!!! Anyone who tells me otherwise needs to be shown the truth!!! They need to see that my sons are not there, in the land of the dead!! Don't you agree, honey????"
Caspus began furiously speaking, terrified to the point of insanity.
"Y-y-yes!! O.... of... course!!!!"
Bella grabbed Caspus by the collar of his neck, dragging him up, and hugged him, bringing her children inside the hug.
Her eyes showed that of a madwoman, who had lost all reason.
"Yes.... we're reunited... we're once more a big happy family...."
Caspus and the two children, were completely filled with horror at the evil stares of this madwoman, however they could not do anything to rebuke her.
She held a knife, and had a physical strength greater than even that of Caspus, a Legion Commander in the military.
Her gripping strength was so great that even if Caspus wanted to break free, he couldn't. However, his mind too was broken, so he didn't resist.
He merely gave in, and gave the two children a sad yet sympathetic look.
'You too?'
----
The antiheroes headed to the freezer area.
A cold burst of air came out as soon as the tightly sealed vault was opened, and on walking in, the antiheroes could feel a chill.
Icicles covered the metallic storage room, however it was completely empty. Currently, nothing was being stored here.
Ashley opened up what was essentially a portal to her inventory, making it so that it covered the ceiling of the room.
Bodies began falling out of the portal.
It was the bodies of the 10,000 legionnaires which they had captured.
The bodies fell to the ground in terror, however Ashley ensured to apply pressure to their vocal chords, as she didn't want to hear the screaming of 10,000 men.
They squirmed on the ground, most of their injuries completely limiting their movements, and soon enough the vault was completely filled with the men.
"It looks like our supply won't run out for quite a while.", Samantha commented with a seductive laugh.
Garett pulled out his club, and grinned deviously.
"I think it's time to slice them up."
Trevor pulled out a short knife which Garett had made for him. It was better for this sort of thing than using a bow and arrow.
"Let's do so."
Samantha summoned a number of barrier shards, sharp enough to cut diamond, and Ashley simply used her magic to start ripping the limbs from the people.
If their screams could be heard, it would have been loud enough to create an earthquake.
In just a few minutes, 10,000 soldiers had been sliced into bits. Arms, legs, heads, and torsos covered the floor of the vault for hundreds of square meters.
Ashley then used her abilities to separate the body parts into certain areas, creating an evenly organized system.
"Legs over here.... arms over there.... heads over there.... ah.... there we go.... nice and neat!"
Garett laughed devilishly as he watched this, and Ashley then performed one last action.
"And now.... for their souls...."
She held out her hand, and once more sucked up the souls of all the men like a vacuum.
When she did this, her eyes went a bright blue as if they were being charged up with energy.
Soul after soul entered her body, and she seemed to be gaining more and more power as time passed.
[Player Ashley has evolved. Title gained: Reaper of Souls]
[MP: Limitless]
The four merely smiled at this.
"Heh heh.... no limits, eh?", Garett commented. "Well, I suppose that's about right. Soon enough, there will be no stopping us."
----
The vault door was shut, and closed tightly.
The antiheroes walked past Bella, who seemed to be happily cooking while Caspus and the two kids watched her from a distance.
"Honey, don't just stand there with the kids! Help me out here, please!"
"O.... ok.... I.... I got it.... what do you.... what do you need?", Caspus asked, trembling.
'It seems he's found those two brats to be his only companions in this hell.... hehehe.... it will be fun to watch him squirm.', Ashley thought.
"Could you scoop out the eyes there? And then could you grind them up into a fine paste for the soup? We can't be forgettin' the most delectable parts!"
"I.... understand...."
Caspus listened to Bella's sweet orders, knowing that there was a malice behind it which threatened his demise.
Garett called out to Bella.
"Bella, we've prepared a number of livestock for you. They're all in the fridge, so please begin the cooking as soon as possible. Make sure that your husband and children are helping you. After all, they are very caring and helpful, even if they are a bit mischievous at times."
Bella smiled at Garett and responded.
"Of course!"
She continued her cooking, while sauteing chunks of meat, tossing the pan about in skilled manner.
"I would love to prepare everyone in this village something to eat!"
"Then, prepare an entire banquet for 300 people. Thank you for your hard work."
"Oh no, not at all! If my husband and my children are helping me, then this much will be nothing!!"
Bella smiled and got back to work, and Garett walked over to the kitchen as well, and began taking out some of the tools of torture which filled the area.
"If you'll excuse us, we're going to be using these. We have one more loose end we need to take care of."
----
Kota was unsure of where he was.
Everything had gone black after that idiot, Brot, had stabbed him in the head.
"Where am I? Is this the afterlife? Everything is black?"
Kota had a single memory of that ghastly woman, and her ugly, terrible face before he entered this blackness, but right now, looking around, he was surrounded by his enemies, floating within this abyss.
However, one by one, these enemies seemed to fall into nothingness, disappearing from his sight.
"Where are you going? Help me!!! Don't leave me here alone! Take me with you!!"
The legionnaires which surrounded him had faces of terror that could only show how scared they were of what was about to happen, but Kota tried to remember what had happened.
It then hit him.
He had no body right now.
He was just a soul, floating in this abyss.
"This.... is this hell??? That can't be! I was a just and caring leader! I gave my all for my people, despite the fact that they never lived up to my expectations! I was a just and heroic leader, and I ended up giving my very life for them! Why am I not in heaven!?!?!?"
Kota was frustrated, but then a thought came to him.
Where was his body?
The other legionnaires seemed to have physical bodies. Why did he not?
He looked around desperately, trying to find it, and as the men of the legion disappeared from his sight, he caught a glimpse of it.
It was floating around, undisturbed and all the people around it were falling into the abyss, their bodies and souls leaving.
"There it is! I have to make it over there!"
Kota began swimming in the abyss, and found it easier than he thought to move around.
He made his way over to his own body, and infused his soul into it.
His eyes opened, and he felt as if he had woken up from a deep slumber, however on looking around, he was in the same dark abyss.
Now, nobody was here. All the legionnaires who were once floating around had exited, one way or another.
"How can this be.... I am alone in here...."
"You are not alone, Kota...."
"We are here, Kota...."
"Your soldiers.... your followers...."
"Our souls are present with you, inside this monster...."
"She has taken us..... our bodies have been destroyed, but she has absorbed our souls...."
"Men!? Where are you!? Why can't I see you!?"
"We are nothing more than souls...."
"Kota, we must take revenge on them... on this monster.... it is the spirit girl, you met in the throne room...."
"She is a being beyond comprehension...."
"She holds the very power of death in her hand...."
"Kota, for the sake of justice, you must beat her...."
Kota looked around frantically, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from, but there was nothing.
Nobody.
However, Kota remembered well the face of that spirit girl.
"She is.... a demon.... a monster beyond comprehension... an abomination.... for the sake of justice, I must make it out of here and find a way to destroy her!!!"
Soon after, Kota felt as if his body was being propelled forward by an unknown force.
It was as if he was in a spaceship, and a hole had been torn in the wall, forcing all the air and mass to flow out into the vacuum.
His body was moved downwards, as if he was falling, and he fell out, looking around.
He was in a dark room- so dark that he could barely see anything, however there was a single light.
A flame, hovering above the finger of that woman.
The spirit.
The monster herself.
The flame increased, to reveal that her three comrades were next to her. And they were all staring at him as if he was a piece of meat which they were about to consume.
They were inside a prison. Behind them was a set of iron bars, and they each held knives, pliers, and other malicious tools as they licked their lips and seemed to be laughing with delight over Kota's pitiful state.
Kota tried to move his arms, but he couldn't.
He was being pinned down by pressure alone.
The spirit girl approached him, and put her corrupted and cursed eyes right next to his.
He felt as if she was staring right into his very soul, and those eyes were filled with a burning fury.... one that had lost all sense of reason, with an insanity far beyond anything Kota had ever seen.
This woman was far beyond mad.
She was the very definition of ludicracy.
Kota felt his bladder relieve itself as this woman seemed to be chuckling horribly at his demise, however in just a moment, that too left his realm of what he could feel.
"Disgusting..... I suppose we'll remove the disgusting parts of you first."
Ashley held up a butchers knife, which was covered in blood.
Kota couldn't even bring himself to look down- his muscles were so constrained that he could not do so, but he felt a burning pain near his groin area.
He desired to scream so loudly that it would pierce the ears of those around him, but no matter what he did, not a single muscle in his body would move.
"I know.... you want to scream, don't you? What about those people you abandoned for the sake of your courage, your heroism, your JUSTICE? Hmm???? I'm sure they wanted to scream as well, right? I'm sure they wanted to shout at you, but they couldn't... they couldn't disobey the chief.... but now, here you are, in a situation where you can't disobey me... and I order you not to scream!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!! DOES IT HURT!?!?! DO YOU FEEL THIS PAIN!?!?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW, HOW HORRIBLE IT IS TO NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO SCREAM!?!?!?! AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!"
Something seemed to come forward. It looked like a piece of glass that was floating in the air, in the shape of a shard. It sliced open Kota's chest.
"Oh? It seems you were already missing one.... you see, when I found that shark, he was missing both of his lungs. Well, that wouldn't be fair, now would it.", the blue demon said.
The shard sliced open the other side of Kota's chest, to reveal his other, functioning lung.
"There it is.... now if we just....."
The shard then sliced the attachment between the lung and the trachea, and the red demon then stepped forward with some pliers.
Kota felt a burning pain like never before, and now he would not even be able to scream at all even if he was not under such a great pressure.
Right now, he was under the ultimate state of terror.
The red demon grabbed the ribs of Kota and one by one with the pliers and plucked them out.
He then grabbed the lung into his hand.
"Interesting... truly interesting.... I wonder if we can do some research on this???? The lung of a fish!!! HAHAHA!!!! Surely, I'll be able to find something out here!"
Kota's heart was so overcome with fear, that it stopped in that moment, however soon he found it beating again, as if someone had physically grabbed it and squeezed it, forcing the blood to pump through his veins.
"Oh, no.... we can't have that....", the red demon stated in a sinister tone.
Kota looked up, and his very heart was outside of his chest. His veins ran across the hand of this demon, leading inside of Kota's wrecked body. His heart was grasped in the hand of the demon in front of him, who was squeezing it so hard that he almost crushed it, yet it seemed to be continuously regenerating as he beat it with the pulsating vibrations of his own hand.
"If your heart stops, all we have to do is force it to keep beating..... you won't get any mercy from us..... we will force this blood through your veins until the pain you caused for others has been paid back a thousand times over with interest!!!!"