With the Malediction Execution complete, the five mutilated corpses slumped in eerie silence. Their blood pooled beneath them, staining the desecrated ground, their twisted, grotesque remains a masterpiece of suffering.
But the day was far from over.
Lycius still had time. Three hours remained.
He turned, his golden gaze sweeping over the twenty trembling city lords who remained. Their eyes were wide, filled with sheer horror, their bodies shaking as they struggled against the invisible force that held them in place.
Lana stood beside him, her hand idly resting on the hilt of her sword, lips curled into a soft smirk. Elizabeth, however, seemed thoughtful, already contemplating the next performance.
Lycius chuckled. "Shall we continue?"
Elizabeth exhaled in pleasure. "Yes."
Lana tilted her head. "Let's make it… artistic."
Lycius's smirk deepened. "Of course."
Lana stepped forward first, golden eyes gleaming with merciless amusement.
A single gesture, and two of the city lords were yanked from the mass, their feet dragged across the bloodstained ground.
The first— a former warlord incubus—thrashed against his invisible restraints.
"W-Wait! Please! I—I will serve you! I will be loyal!"
Lana scoffed. "Oh, it's too late for that."
She unsheathed her sword, the blade gleaming under the flickering aetherius light. Then, with precise cruelty, she slashed—not to kill, but to carve.
The tip of her sword sliced slowly across the man's chest, not deep enough to be fatal, but just enough to peel the skin away like layers of delicate parchment.
His screams echoed into the bright sky.
With deliberate movements, Lana flayed inch by inch, stripping away flesh in long, curling ribbons. The exposed muscle beneath twitched violently, his body convulsing from the sheer agony.
And she didn't stop.
She moved to the second man, a noble man. Unlike the first, he didn't beg. He only stared at her in silent terror.
"Ah," Lana murmured, tilting her head. "The brave type?"
She drove her sword through his palms, pinning his hands to the ground.
A pained gasp.
Then, with a twist of the blade, she sliced upward—severing fingers one by one, each knuckle popping as his flesh and bone were stripped away.
Only when the noble screamed, finally breaking, did she allow herself a satisfied smile.
As she delivered the final stroke, her blade sang through the air in a whisper of steel, severing flesh and bone with effortless precision.
For a fleeting moment, his body remained frozen in place, as if unwilling to accept its fate—until his head tilted, then toppled, rolling unceremoniously to the bloodstained ground.
She turned back to Lycius. "Two down. Who's next?"
With insatiable hunger in her golden eyes, Elizabeth stepped forward, a cruel smile playing on her lips.
Magic curled around her fingertips—violet and crimson threads of power—as she selected three victims.
She didn't touch them. She didn't need to.
With a simple gesture, she altered their reality.
The first man—an old man––the type who looked like they were arrogant in power—began to scream before the torture even began.
His eyes widened, staring at horrors unseen.
"Tell me," Elizabeth cooed. "What do you see?"
The man clawed at his own face, trying to rip his eyes out. "NO! NO! GET THEM AWAY! PLEASE!"
Elizabeth smirked. "Ah. You see your family?"
His screams worsened.
She had invaded his mind, weaving an illusion so real that his brain believed the suffering was physical.
In his world, his wife and children were being burned alive. He could smell their flesh melting, hear their cries of agony.
But in reality, his own flesh was beginning to blacken and sizzle as Elizabeth made the illusion real.
The second victim—a woman who had once betrayed Lana's name—was lifted into the air by invisible hands.
Elizabeth dislocated every joint in her body, one by one, the wet pops of shifting bone filling the night.
The woman convulsed, unable to scream, her mouth sewn shut by Elizabeth's magic.
And the third?
Elizabeth simply set him on fire from the inside.
He didn't burn normally.
His blood was set alight, boiling inside his veins as he thrashed wildly, his flesh swelling, blistering, then finally bursting apart in a fountain of burning gore.
Elizabeth sighed in pleasure. "A good start."
She turned to Lycius. "Your turn."
Lycius stepped forward, Kiara's borrowed body moving with absolute precision.
His golden eyes flickered as he selected five victims.
A snap of his fingers—their spines twisted at unnatural angles, rendering them paralyzed.
Then, he summoned the dagger.
Unlike Lana's methodical slicing or Elizabeth's reality-warping horror, Lycius preferred a mixture of both.
He started small.
A delicate cut—right along the eyelid. Then another.
He peeled the skin away until the first victim's entire face was nothing but muscle and exposed bone.
Then, he severed their tongues.
Not quickly. Not mercifully.
He took his time.
Each delicate stroke of his dagger was designed to prolong the agony.
One of the victims tried to scream—but only gurgled on their own blood.
Lycius chuckled. "Shhh."
Then, he plunged his fingers into their exposed ribcages, wrapping his hand around their still-beating hearts.
One by one, he crushed them.
Their final moments were filled with horror, agony, and absolute despair.
By the time Lycius stepped back, the ground was drowned in blood.
Only ten remained.
Lana licked a bit of blood off her fingers. "Shall we continue?"
Elizabeth chuckled. "Of course."
Lycius tilted his head. "We have time."
And so they did.
For the next two hours, the three of them worked in perfect harmony, proving once more that cruelty ran deep in their bloodline.
By noon, there was nothing left but silence.
Twenty-five lords, gone.
And not a single one had died quickly.
Lycius stepped back, exhaling as he felt his borrowed time ending.
Kiara's body flickered, and a moment later, her obsidian eyes regained their original emptiness.
She exhaled, adjusting her posture.
Lana rolled her shoulders, satisfied. "That was fun."
Elizabeth turned toward the ruined land, smirking. "Next time, we should do something more creative."
Kiara only smiled.
"Next time, I won't be left out." she echoed.
___________________
---------------------
°°°°°°°°°°°°