novelraw Chapter 185: Plain Black Boots
Chapter 185: Plain Black Boots
***
’I uh... I don’t know what to do.’
A bad man, a villain maybe—he could easily bet that was what most would call him.
Technically, he’d say that it was fair, but not really.
At least he didn’t think so.
Yes, he’d done things... bad things to people.
Yet, it wasn’t really by choice, even though they were incredibly vile... As much as an understatement that was. Truly an understatement.
Blood.
Blood was spilled everywhere.
On his clothes, on his body, on his face, and around his lips.
The stabs—the first ones—were sloppy, so sloppy, he really didn’t know what he was doing. But he learned.
Sometimes their flesh was as hard as bones, but other times it was as smooth as butter.
His little symbiotic friend grew quite hungry for a fresh teenager. A delicacy, ’it’ called it.
He agreed with such a notion.
While he wasn’t a fan of cannibalism before ’it’ and its Corruption took over, he grew to enjoy certain body types more than others.
Fresh meat tasted better; it chewed less, so the younger the better.
Girls usually had a different flavor compared to the boys; maybe it related to their biology, but wow, the... clean ones certainly were a treat.
A treat for both his stomach and his eyes, for their blood dripped beautifully off their bones.
Anyways, what was he just thinking about?
’Oh right, some might call me a villain, but I’m not.’
He wasn’t doing this of his own will.
Their deaths were not his to bear, but ’its.’
At the very beginning, before his first kill, he used to scour the slums and find the occasional dead kid.
They’d usually be buried under leaking trash, causing the smell of the meal to turn even more rancid than it already was.
Dead bodies, almost rotting ones, tasted like spoiled milk-infused steak. Where the steak had expired a decade ago and was cooked for ten hours on high heat, burning it to a crisp while keeping the chewiness due to the milk.
His first meal marked the beginning of my unending journey through such grim circumstances.
Now, some might wonder, when was he introduced to such a taste, such a texture, such a smell?
Well... It was on the same day he fell under its control, two months ago, out of nowhere.
He once thought it to be a coincidence, but not for long, as being hungry for flesh wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
Since then, he’d been doing the Demons’ bidding, slowly leaking information and testing the waters.
Yesterday was his and his owner’s first major operation, which he’d been given a fresh body for.
She looked like a normal kid, and she wasn’t like the rest, which he got used to. It was obvious that a knife of steel had recently found its way to her heart.
That was a good thing.
She didn’t die of malnutrition, dehydration, some sort of drug overdose, or even the occasional rape gone wrong.
She, in fact, had retained some meat on her bones before death. Even better, she had a Rune! A Runebearer! Yes, that was what she was!
’Hmhm...’
It truly was a good meal.
’Ah... I was thinking of them as meals again.’
A bad habit, he’d say... He’d better get rid of that habit before the Demon took complete control. But he might not even live that long to fix such an issue.
A problem that he didn’t know how to solve had just come up.
Thanks to the somewhat successful operation, achieving their goal of introducing chaos to the Third, a wide search had been done by the higher-ups of the Academy, putting further and further pressure on him.
A meeting was now being held between all Academy staff and a... single student.
That student was Ignotus.
The scary kid who had killed the spade-eyed Demon by himself.
It wasn’t just Ignotus that scared him, however.
No, no it wasn’t...
Headmaster Dante was here, too.
Although he showed no signs of it, the cannibal couldn’t help but wonder...
Did they figure him out? How?
He didn’t do anything suspicious.
He never killed in the Academy.
Never.
’Gods damn it all!’
If they wanted to dig their own graves, then why in Hell were they bringing me along with them?!
’Hoh... Calm down.’
’Yes, calm down, Dominic.’
’You are the son of Maximus...’
’Right, that’s who I am.’
A child of a Death Vassal House.
’I shall survive.’
’I will not back down.
’My existence will not be threatened.’
...
Dominic’s trembling feet weren’t noticeable as he stood behind a round dining table. Yet the bright chandeliers of gold that hung above him threatened to highlight the forming sweat on his forehead.
Thankfully for him, the room was grand and wide, so unless one focused on him alone, his nervousness would be hard to spot.
But that student, Ignotus...
He was staring right at Dominic.
The half-Demon felt Ignotus’s gray eyes pierce his skin like the fangs of a snake, injecting poison into his veins. Then, slowly, and only subtly at first, Dominic felt his body twist as if he were being squeezed to death.
Ignotus smiled an unnaturally wide smile upon noticing Dominic’s growing reaction.
A man capable of making such a face was supposed to be a student here?
How?!
"Dominic? Are you alright?"
Ah... he didn’t notice his friend getting close.
"I-I’m fine, I’m just a little nervous with all that’s going on."
’Shit, he definitely noticed that something’s wrong.’
"Right? Even if there’s a supposed mole, having an Academy-wide meeting is unusual."
Those words sent Dominic into dread.
’They must know.’
’I’m so fucking dead...’
’I-I have to escape—’
"Did anyone here kill someone before? Please raise your hand if you did."
Dante’s words rang out as he floated above them all, killing Dominic’s thoughts.
"Don’t worry about anything said in this hall in getting out, nor about the law. I guarantee that no harm will come to you."
His dark eyes turned to a group.
"Oh, someone..."
Dominic’s ears stopped listening to what was going on.
He closed his eyes shut.
They came here to lock him up.
Nothing here mattered anymore.
’Should I escape?’
’Should I not?’
’Should I escape?’
’Should I not?’
’Should I escape?’
’Should I not?’
’Should I...’
Was that even possible?
He didn’t think so.
But he had to try.
’I must.’
His life wouldn’t be lost rotting in a cell, being a subject of experimentation.
He’d jump out the windows—
Swish!
Wait...
Dominic’s eyes fluttered open as pain invaded his neck.
He saw the world spin as his mouth let out a bloodcurdling scream.
No... he heard nothing.
He wasn’t screaming.
Actually, he couldn’t scream even if he wanted to.
His head had left his shoulders.
It flew in the air, leaving a trail of blood that sprinkled all over the ground, nearing a man’s feet.
The last thing he saw was just that.
His plain black boots.