"What's with that angry expression on your face?" he said, his tone dripping with smugness. "Do you want to kill me?"
"…" I didn't answer. My rage was too heavy, too sharp for words.
"Judging by your silence, I assume you want to kill me. But what's the point? Even if you end me, there are more of us, not just one, but hundreds." he said.
"Hundreds?" I asked.
"Yes. Hundreds." He stood up, the plain black mask shining in the moonlight from the big window behind him. "We are the Scarlet Apothecary. As I said, we don't just kill, we torture. We harvest bodies, make some into monsters, and crush others into pills. That's what we do."
"It doesn't matter how many there are. I'll kill every last one of you." I said with uncontrollable anger, my fists clenching my sword tightly, I took a step and lunged at him.
As I lunged at him, my sword aimed at his face, but he swiftly kicked me. Senting me flying, crashing into a bookshelf. Books tumbled down around me, and a shard of glass from the broken shelf stabbed into my chest, leaving a deep, searing wound.
"Well, looks like knowledge hit you hard," he chuckled.
"I'm sorry, is that a joke?" I asked, standing up.
"Yes," he laughed, "I kicked you into the bookshelf, the books fell on you, so you literally got hit by knowledge, get it?"
(….)
"That… wasn't funny at all," I said to him, picking up my sword from the ground.
"Hah? But everybody at work laughs at my jokes," he said to me, looking puzzled.
"Of course they fucking laugh, because you're their boss, dumbass," I said to him.
"Oh, I see. No wonder their laughter was filled with nervousness," He said while scratching his head "Now I just feel angry and stupid."
While he was yapping, I slipped behind him and swung my sword, but he dodged at the last second. He countered with a punch, but I managed to dodge that too.
He kicked my side, forcing me to stumble back. I slashed for his arm, but he caught the sword and hurled it across the room.
Now unarmed, I charged him. My kick was blocked, but my fist still smashed into his face.
He staggered back, and in that instant, but I caught something, something important. To confirm my theory, I drove in harder, continuing the fight.
I punched him, he blocked, so I swept my leg and kicked him in the knee. He went down. I grabbed his head and drove my knee into his skull.
He blocked it and shoved me backwards, but I sprang forward and drove a brutal kick into his stomach.
He curled into himself, knees tucked under his chin, white-knuckled fingers pressing into his abdomen. I drove my boot down again and again; each stomp landed with a wet, sick thud until his hand shot out, fingers clamping around my ankle. With one heaving pull he yanked me off balance and flung me across the room.
He stood up, blood running down his unbroken mask. "It looks like I underestimated you," he said, stepping closer to me, one deliberate step at a time.
𝘉𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 on 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮… 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.
I was on the ground, surrounded by books. I grabbed one and threw it at him, his eyes followed it, and I sprang forward and drove a fist into his stomach.
I kept beating him, again and again. I was winning. I was on top, then I grabbed another book from the floor and hurled it, while he watched it fly, I snatched my sword.
One clean slash and both of his feet went out from under him. He collapsed, scrambling toward the door, but I sliced through one of his hands before he could reach it. For good measure, I grabbed a book off the floor and slammed it down on his skull, over and over again.
"Well, I suppose knowledge hit you hard," I said to him, returning his own phrase.
"Answer four questions, or I'll kill you," I said, showing him four fingers.
"Y-Yes," he stuttered.
With his last remaining hand he ripped off his mask, revealing badly dyed green hair, a thick mustache, and a round, heavy-set face with a big lips.
(….)
I snatched the mask from him and put it back on. "There. Now you can answer my questions without scaring me any further."
"Question one," I stated, my expression grim. "Are all of the prisoners still alive?"
"No — they're not. W‑we were going to get some test subjects next week," he stammered, blood streaming down his face.
"Okay. Question two: where are the other Scarlet Apothecaries?" I questioned.
"I don't know." He replied.
"You don't know?" My sword crept closer to his throat.
"NO, I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW!" he screamed, writhing and trying to pull away.
"Continue explaining," I said.
"O-Ok… you see, there are many of the Scarlet Apothecary spread across the entire continent of Nova," he stammered.
"How do you know each other? How did you meet?" I asked.
"We don't. They sent a letterbird inviting me to a meeting that takes place every two months, and they change the location each time," he replied.
"Letterbird… do you mean a messenger bird?" I asked, confused.
"The fuck is a messenger bird? It's called a Letterbird," he snapped.
"Who are you raising your voice at?... Anyway, question three: What do the pills you make from humans do?" I asked.
"It… gives you a mana boost and a strength boost," he stated.
"Hmm, mana huh," I muttered to myself. "Anyway, what are the side effects of the pills?" I asked.
"Side effects?" He Said perplexed.
"come on, you don't think there are side effects to taking pills that are made from humans." I said.
"…" He stayed silent for a moment, but then he opened his mouth and said, "If you eat more than the limit, your body will deteriorate."
"What's the limit?" I asked.
He took a deep breath before replying, "Ten."
"I see. Now, question number four: why?" I asked.
"What do you mean." He said.
"Why…. Why torture innocent people and children do the scarlet apothecaries find it amusing." I said.
"Children… oh, so you've found out about the Dollhouse, I see," he said, his voice calm, too calm.
I screamed at him, my throat burning, "ANSWER MY QUESTION! WHY?!"
"Why not." He answered with a sick laugh that echoed, all over the office.
I rose and towered over him. Sword clenched on my head, I raised the sword and brought it down, slicing his head clean from his shoulders.
His severed head tumbled across the floor, a dark ribbon of blood tracing its path.
"Sighs, It's finally over. I… I actually won this battle. But now… I just need some thread." I muttered.
I walked over to the desk and opened several drawers, finding a sewing kit and, for some reason, a freshly cleaned towels. I climbed onto the desk and sat down.
First, I washed my hands thoroughly with soap at the sink in the bathroom opposite the office. Then, I filled a bucket with clean water.
Returning to the office, I sat back down on top of the desk, ready to continue.
I dipped the towel into the water. Quickly, I pulled the glass from my chest and carefully draped the towel over it.
While holding it still i went around to find hydrogen peroxide to disinfect my wound.
Then I found a room filled with medical tools and various other items. Among them, I discovered Oleum Vitae Ardens 70%.
I checked the back to see what it was, it turned out to be 70% isopropyl alcohol.
"This could work," I said, holding the bottle in my hand and grabbing a bandage.
I went back, cleaned my wound, and carefully applied the 70% isopropyl alcohol. Then, I wrapped the bandage around it.
"Good… time to go home and take a big nap," I muttered.
I stepped outside, the light of the night sky brushing against my face.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦. 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.
Before leaving, I grabbed a torch, its flames licking the air. I raised it and hurled it at the base. Silence broke as the fire caught, and the entire forest erupted in a blaze of orange and red.
"May all their souls rest," I murmured, driving my sword into the ground. Without looking back, I left the forest, leaving the blade behind.