Chapter 39 - The Revival of the Witch
Right next to Ritsu who was hugging Pomkichi, Lars was bleeding heavily.
Then, a sound similar to an earthquake reverberated outside the castle.
“Dad?”
There, Ria appeared with a dumbfounded expression.
She approached where Lars lay collapsed, her eyes welling up with tears.
Already unable to move, Ritsu kept hugging Pomkichi and looked at Ria in the corner of his eye.
“Dad! Dad! Wake up!”
Even though Lars wouldn’t have been able to hear her if he was alive, she raised her voice.
However, only a cruel silence replied to her.
“Ritsu… Did you kill dad?”
Ria looked at Ritsu full of distrust, tears running down her cheeks.
Ritsu who was crying, too, gave a slight nod.
“Why!? Even if he chased after you, you didn’t need to kill him! Murderer!”
Although he was being shouted at by the crying girl, Ritsu was strangely calm.
“Ria, your dad is called Lars in the outside world. Lars kidnaps people and bring them here where devils live. To everyone else, your dad is a demon.”
“Liar! Don’t try to fool me! Apologize properly!”
“I won’t apologize. Because I’m not lying.”
Ritsu knew that she was a 7-year-old, but still told her the harsh truth.
He believed that it was for the best for her to confront reality.
“Dad wouldn’t do something like that! He’s too kind to do something horrible! There’s also no reason for him to kidnap people! So, Ritsu… you’re lying…”
Ria turned to Ritsu with a sorrowful face.
Ritsu felt heartache when he saw her expression, but he still wouldn’t give her any kind lies.
“It’s not a lie. The reason behind the kidnappings… I’ve been wondering about that since I saw you and Lars. Most likely, Lars made a contract with the Sanctuary.”
“...A contract?”
“You can make contracts here in the Sanctuary. The one who breaks the contract will die. I saw it in the basement… Lars’ real name… Lars’ name is—”
Just when Ritsu was about to say the name, the castle shook violently, and the ceiling was pierced with a hole.
“No way…”
Looking up through the ceiling, he saw devils in the sky.
A devil looking like a snake and another looking like a spider were looking down at them.
Shadows indicated the presence of other devils too.
“A-are those… devils?”
Ria’s knees buckled as she laid eyes on a devil for the first time.
“Ria! Hurry! Let’s open the doors and run out of here!”
Ritsu said as he unlocked the door with the key.
The door opened, revealing the ominous walls of the Sanctuary, emitting a light that called out to Ritsu.
“Ria! What are you doing! Hurry and come!”
Seeing Ria who wasn’t leaving Lars’ side, Ritsu hesitated as he looked at the walls of the Sanctuary for a moment.
However, he soon walked over to Ria, picked up Pomkichi and his sword, and pulled Ria forcibly after him.
“Let me go! Don’t touch me! I won’t leave Dad!”
“Calm down! If you want to think of your dad, then come with me!”
Ritsu picked up Ria who was struggling against him.
He might be a young boy, but he still mustered up all of his strength to hold her up.
“Finally… we can leave.”
Just as Ritsu was walking to the walls of the Sanctuary, the ground shook violently again.
“Dad!”
Ria kicked away from Ritsu and chose Lars instead of him.
“Idiot!”
Ritsu lost his balance and reached for Ria.
However, he couldn’t reach her, and Ria went deeper into the room.
On top of that, Pomkichi rolled off after her.
It was like it detached itself from Ritsu to chase after Ria.
“Ria! Come back!”
Ritsu was separated from the two, and passed through the walls.
***
Inside the crumbling Sanctuary, Ria nestled closer to Lars.
“Dad… I’m scared.”
Ria was terribly afraid of the devils who were watching her.
Then, the third floor collapsed, and she fell all the way down to the basement.
“Ahhh!!!”
She fainted from the impact of dropping down all of the floors.
Blood dripped down her head, falling to the ground near Lars.
Nearby, a glass box had been broken by the debris.
A girl frozen in ice fell out of it.
One of the devil broke the ice and brought her out of it.
However, she was sleeping as if she was dead.
One of the devils tore off Lars’ wings.
The wings moved on their own accord and fastened themselves on the girl’s back.
As they did, the girl slowly opened her eyes and gave a slight smile.
“I remember everything. From before I came to the Sanctuary… Of bringing Mizuki to the Sanctuary.”
The girl said and looked at the devils surrounding her.
She didn’t seem afraid, but at least bewildered.
“συμφωνία1”
A devil said.
“Sure. About… what?”
“ο άνθρωπος Πιάσ'τους2”
“Alright. Rather than that… Do you know about the boy who was with me?”
Facing her lovely smile, the devils pointed at Lars.
Lars was lying near the girl, unnoticed, like a fallen leaf.
“He seems to have grown, Mizuki. So that much time has passed, huh?”
The girl hugged Lars without caring about the blood seeping into her skin.
Smiling, she shed tears.
“Devil, is there no way to revive Mizuki like I was?”
“αίμα Σύνδεση καρδιά3”
A devil said, and looked at Ria who was regaining consciousness.
“I see. Thank you for telling me.”
The girl said and drew near Ria.
Having just woken up, Ria noticed the girl.
“Who are you?”
“I’m… Yua Yumeno… your mother.”
The girl—Yua—said and picked up a syringe that had fallen to the floor.
Then, she inserted it into Ria’s neck.
“Wait a little, Mizuki. Until we meet again.”
Yua said, and Ria fell unconscious.
Hell had yet to be over.