6
The day after our survey of the Cursed Forest.
“All right, Alice! I hope you’re ready! You’re going to regret blaspheming against Lord Zenarith!”
“Sure! I’ll pick apart your superstitious garbage so badly you’ll beg for mercy.”
Why does this always happen?
“Hey, uh, why do I have to go, too? Can’t you do this test without me…?”
“Don’t be absurd, Commander! This is a challenge against Lord Zenarith himself! We need as many people as possible to witness a miracle by the gods to prevent more children like Alice coming into this world!”
“That’s right, Six. This sort of thing requires irrefutable evidence. Otherwise they try to muddy the waters afterward.”
……
“The nerve! You impudent little brat! You’re going straight to hell after you die!”
“An android going to hell? That’s a new one.”
Ugh, seriously? I should’ve taken a page out of Rose and Snow’s book and ditched.
“Let’s be off! Luckily the moon is full tonight. I’ll conduct the ritual on the ridge. It’ll give us that much more magic to work with.”
“Ah, I see. So you went and set up your props on that ridge last night? Interesting.”
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”
The sooner this is over, the better. I need a drink!
We arrive at a ridge a short distance from the city. If nothing else, the view from here is pretty sweet.
Grimm stands barefoot on the ground, spreading a sheet with a magic circle written on it. A creepy smile plays on her lips as she places a basket atop the magic circle. The basket’s covered with a cloth, obscuring the contents.
“Ah, tonight will be a special night indeed! I’ll make your shriveled little heart quake with fear! Ordinarily, the offering is food, but tonight, we’ll be using a live sacrifice! Behold! Within the basket is the poor, defenseless sacrifice I bought at the butcher’s shop…!”
Grimm calls out grandly, drawing back the cloth and revealing the basket’s contents…!
“…That’s adorable.”
“So fuzzy! Hey, Grimm, are you actually going to sacrifice this rabbit?”
Inside the basket is a single rabbit. Its ears are a little bigger than the ones on Earth have.
Apparently, she ordered a critter from the butcher, but forgot to check exactly what she bought until now.
“Kyuu…”
The rabbit has its legs tied together inside the basket. It looks up at Grimm and me and squeaks softly.
Seeing it, Grimm swallows, then softly puts down the club in her hand…
“…C-Commander, tonight is a special night indeed! You’ll be assisting this ritual! When I give the signal, send that bunny to Lord Zenarith…”
“What?! No way! You’re the archbishop of a dark god! You can handle this yourself!”
I have no shortage of blood on my hands, but killing this adorable bunny over such a ridiculous spat is a bit further than I’m willing to go.
“Coward! Was all that boasting about belonging to an evil organization just empty bravado? Also, for your information, Lord Zenarith is not a dark god!”
“Sh-shut up! Don’t mock Kisaragi! Evil minions have a conscience, too! Besides, if I could be that ruthless, I’d have been promoted ages ago!”
Just as Grimm and I are busily trying to shove responsibility for the rabbit onto each other…
“Kyu!”
With a small cry, the bunny collapses, lying there limply.
Alice holds the murder weapon in her hand, the club that Grimm had set down earlier…
“There, happy? Let’s get on with it.”
“You heartless…”
“Have you no conscience?!”
Grimm and I lecture Alice, who stands there coolly resting the club against her shoulder.
“Nope, not equipped with that. I’m an android, remember? Come on. Let’s get started.”
“S-stop! I’ll do it! Just don’t shove that into my face!” Although tears well up in her eyes, Grimm takes the rabbit Alice pushes toward her, softly setting it on the ground. Then she places a candle in front of the magic circle and lights it. “I’ve had enough mockery from this brat. It’s time to show what an archbishop can really do…”
Grimm begins chanting. The magic circle begins to glow, and Grimm’s expression lights up with joy.
“Hey, Alice? Are you sure this isn’t a problem? Um, I’m actually pretty superstitious, and I have a bad feeling about this!”
“Calm down; it’s just a glowing circle. She’s probably just got LEDs embedded into the sheet.”
Alice seems unfazed by all this, and she even tries to pick up the sheet to look for any lighting underneath. Meanwhile the magic circle’s light grows in intensity—
“O Lord Zenarith, God of Undeath and Disaster! Upon thy name bring forth thy servant!”
With Grimm’s elated cry, the magic circle shines even brighter…
Standing there is a monster that looks a lot like Gadalkand, one of the Demon Lord’s Elite Four…
No, not a monster. A demon. A single, giant demon.
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