Jinx yelped. He was slapped by Salem's colorful paper fan as soon as they were seen entering the house. Instead of being upset about it or questioning it, a snot dribbled from his nose. He fell on his knees, hugging Salem around his waist.
"Master, forgive me!"
Karma cringed from how hideous Jinx looked when crying. He was already grotesque without the snot and tears and now he somehow improved for the worst.
"It isn't me who you should be apologizing to, Jinx," Salem lectured. He glanced at Kou who immediately waved his hand.
"He seems very remorseful already…"
"Don't be so sure." Karma scoffed at Kou's gullibility.
Fools were not only fools when it came to intellect, but sometimes they also lacked human decency much like this moron kneeling and weeping like a child who got lost in the market.
Salem told Jinx to clean himself and right after the teenager obeyed his command, he instantly fell asleep once he fell face flat on the bed.
Kou stayed at the rooftop, watching the moon with a very nostalgic feeling swirling in his heart. His blue eyes reflected the bright sire of the night while the stars twinkled around it.
The tree leaves ruffled from the soft breeze blowing past them. An owl was hooting in the background. He was gazing at the same moon from a different place and no Kairon beside him.
He was told by his king to see the moon whenever he felt lonely yet every time he did, his loneliness grew even further.
'Do you like the moon, Kou?'
The two of them were staying at the very top of the castle, lying down on the cold cement with hands intertwined.
'Yes, especially when Kou is looking at it with the king.'
Kairon's gaze dropped to Kou and his lips were graced with a smile.
'I particularly like the moon because it reminds me of your hair.' Kairon gently scooped a few silver locks from his head. 'So if you're away because of the war, I always gaze at the moon, wishing that you'd come home to me.'
The knight leaned his head against his shoulder. 'Kou will always come home because Kou is lonely when he is away from you.'
Kairon took the viel into his arms. 'If fate decides to separate us, look at the moon, I assure you that I am also gazing at it every night.'
"It's late. You had a tiresome battle with your old friend." Salem interrupted his bittersweet recollection of King Kairon.
The man sat beside him and leaned back on his hands.
"You knew?"
"I followed you."
Kou was impressed with the human. He did not notice another presence with them in the forest. Basil would have sensed it as well.
"A demon lord has reentered Canaan. Another war is threatening to arise. Are you ready?"
"Kou was made for war. There is no other purpose for him."
Salem lied down, staring at the moon that had always brought him concern. The moon was full and yellow when he had lost everything. He was more capable of protecting what he had at the moment, but there was never permanency. Life was temporary and death, although preventable, would always come out absolute.
"You can weave your own destiny Kou. No one will force you to fight a battle that you no longer want to partake in. I'm sure that King Kairon would want the same for you —to live a peaceful life."
Was there such a thing as a peaceful life for Kou? Everyday, even after the war, he prepared himself for battle. His guard was consistently up. Even in his sleep, his spear was beside him. It was in his nature to fight. There was no other life for him to live in besides a life of bloodshed and an orchestra in which weapons were played.
Salem left Kou on the roof. The knight didn't want to stay in the same room as Jinx. The boy might still have some animosity left. Kou was used to sleeping anywhere anyway which was all the reason for Salem not to complain about his presence. He was low maintenance despite being pampered by the king.
An unholy feeling awakened Salem. His eyes snapped open and his body instinctively rose. He leaped out from the window. Kou was already kneeling beside a dead body, inspecting it. To another set of eyes, they may accuse Kou as the culprit. Based on how the body was killed, this was a vessel's doing, particularly a Stage 1 vessel: Newborn.
There were several bite marks carved across the body. The man was sucked dry. His jaw was extensively stretched; his tongue was bitten out, his chest was torn open with his eyeballs missing from their eye sockets. In addition to the pile of gruesome displays, his stomach was the same as that of a pregnant lady.
"Do you get such packages from newborns quite often?" The knight queried.
"This is the first time."
"Kou does not recall newborns delivering dead bodies before."
It was not a newborn's behavior to carry their victims to another place. Kou snarled at the dead body, alerting Salem.
"What is it, Kou?"
"There is something in his stomach."
A beam of light illuminated from the tip of Salem's index finger. He sliced around the corpse's stomach. Kou did the honor of removing the flap of skin, muscle and fat, exposing a curled newborn vessel that awakened from the sunlight.
The newborn's eyes blinked open, black orbs glimmering. Its pale skin was coated with black goo. Two obsidian goat horns were fixated on its scalp. It had a demonic tail that swished back and forth. Once it realized that it was discovered, its saw-like teeth emerged from its gums. The corpse sat up, releasing a dry screech, dueting the vessel. Its voice was loud, thick, and gritty — far from what a normal newborn baby should sound like.
"H...help me...He-help me!" an old lady gurgled out as if she was drowning from something. She was walking in a strange and drunkard manner in the field. Her wrinkled hand was holding her globular stomach. She had bite marks all over her body and her chest was in the same torn condition. A baby's giggle arose from inside of her. The newborn peeped from her chest, climbing and forcing its way up to her throat and mouth. The lady's eyeballs rolled, her agony could not be expressed through a scream.
Salem's amber eyes narrowed. The newborn from the first victim stood, lashing at him. The excom grabbed it by the face, crushing its skull with one hard squeeze. A dark soul escaped from the newborn. Using Salem's other hand, he opened a cleansing portal that sucked the soul inside.
"May the Spirit of the Elysians be with you."
Kou grasped the newborn's head from the old lady's mouth, dragging it out. The vessel screeched and resisted. With haste, Kou drew a cross on its forehead that illuminated and burned the creature completely into ashes. The knight caught the lady before she could fall, lying her gently before saying:
"Kou is sorry for not being able to save you…"
"Karma," Salem called out.
"I'm awake, master," the youngest responded, popping out of the doorway with a cup of hot cocoa.
"Prepare my uniform, we will be taking a stroll in the village."
"Will there be more of those?"
The knight straightened up, still glancing at the ghastly image. He was used to it but was never used to having innocent lives get taken so unfairly, degradingly, and atrociously. "Kou is sure that there will be."
In a castle that was destroyed not long ago, a handsome and dignified young-looking man stood in the midst of newborns. His horns were matured, his broad shoulders carried a tattered black cape and his red ruby eyes watched the ruins of his home with fondness.
"It won't be long now."
Now I don't want babies
The village near their farm was lively and peaceful. No one would suspect that there were two villagers missing and ripped apart by demonic infants that were behaving strangely from what the humans had perceived them to behave.
Salem was already in his full gear with his two subordinates behind him. Kou had climbed on the roof of a fruit stall since humans weren't so welcoming of viels.
"Everything seems...normal," Jinx commented.
"Maybe the newborns haven't reached the village yet. They don't usually work in groups anyway," Karma said.
Salem wasn't convinced with the harmonious atmosphere that the village and the villagers were showing.
"Keep a close eye. A lord has reemerged and that's causing the vessels to take extreme risks."
Kou continued to sniff the air. The village was emitting a very grapey and alcoholic scent. There were trays of bottles lined up behind different stores. He vaguely remembered that the nobles were very fond of drinking that. He wasn't much of a fan of the scent because it hurt his nose and the taste was revolting. His king would drink a bit so as to socialize but he would complain right after. Kairon did trick Kou into taking a sip. His king had a great laugh with how the knight rejected the taste by throwing the golden chalice outside. He thought it was poison.
Salem nearly forgot that Satbury village was holding a winery festival. Different people from different parts of Canaan will be going here to purchase the village's special product—Gravidus. It was named as such to celebrate the joy of life.
"Good day to ye lads!" Mister Dagen, an old man with a cane, greeted them. He was always dressed formally. He was wearing a long black coat and would scroll around the village with a left leg limp, taking in the latest gossip. He outdone the village housewives when it came to rumors.
"Good day Mister Dagen. How do you do?" Salem queried.
"I'm doing well, Mister Salem. I see that you have yer two sons with ya." He tilted his old hip and placed his hands on top of each other on the cane.
Salem didn't deny the teasing. The villagers knew that Karma and Jinx were just his subordinates but with how he cared for them, he appeared to be their legitimate father.
"Care for a rumor, Sir Salem?"
"Let's hear what the bird has to say," Salem replied.
Old Dagen grinned from ear to ear. His face turned into a big wrinkle from how his lips spread.
"Rumor has it that everyone who will join the festival will be given a token of gratitude. Give no dime to a tasty wine. Will you stay and play or will you go away?"
There was something about Old Dagen that rubbed Jinx in the wrong way but today he was even creepier.
"So there's free wine?" Salem clarified.
"Yes, but there's another hooray~" Dagen teased.
"Pray tell."
The gaffer snickered— his voice shaky and sharply gritty. "That my friend is a secret to be enjoyed by the village residents."
Karma didn't want to smack the man but he would if only he was alone with him. They watched him amble with his cane lifted from the ground. Each step had a bounce and Salem's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
He wasn't limping anymore.
Kou couldn't sniff anything out. These were normal humans living a normal and bustling life. No vessels nor viels in sight yet they seem to be oblivious to the two deaths.
Were there really just two victims?
The four stayed for the festival. The village knew them and gave them food. Though Salem was excommunicated, the village owed him a debt of gratitude for keeping them safe from vessels and viels. Gradually, Karma and Jinx were relishing the moment that they let their guard down while Salem and Kou continuously watched.
Everything was normal. Everyone was normal. It was a normal day apart from the tormented corpses they saw this morning.
Visitors all over Canaan came over and bought wine. The rumor had the guests stay in the village for a longer time to get the complimentary wine. More wines were shipped out and delivered to other places. Eventide came. They were nearing the most anticipated event of the festival.
Jinx was itching to taste vin de pays. All he had was beer and his taste buds didn't welcome it well. Maybe Satbury's sweet wine would do the trick.
He sneaked out from Salem's watchful eyes. Karma had to roll his eyes from his attempts to be secretive.
"Should I stop him?"
Salem swayed his head. "No, let's see if Jinx's bad luck can attract the bad babies."
At this point, Salem was relying on his subordinate's jinx to discover what was causing the bad feeling in his chest.
The blonde teenager picked up a wine bottle from one of the batches. Everyone had their wine glasses in hand. The residents gathered the visitors in preparation for the "Cheers to Life"— the event where everyone will drink wine together. Salem was offered a glass and a bottle of wine but he poured milk in his.
Jinx popped the bottle open, taking a whiff of the bittersweet aroma. He snickered, wrapping his lips around the cold and glassy rim.
Old Dagen sat beside Salem on the bench, whistling.
"Care for a rumor, Sir Salem?"
He glanced at the old man, nodding.
"Pray tell."
Old Dagen coughed loudly and used his hand to cover his mouth. Right afterwards, he apologized and continued.
"Rumor has it that the wine made today wasn't made from grapes."
Salem's curiosity spiked. "Then what was used?"
The elder grinned again. His body was trashed with a very bad cough. He didn't reply to Salem's query, instead, he let his cane fall; he pushed himself up from the bench, walking crossed-legged.
Jinx took a big gulp. Should wine be this slimy and bitter? Should it even have clumps of meat in it? He ended up choking on something that wriggled nimbly down his throat. The glass bottle crashed on the floor. He grasped his neck tightly, trying to stop the thing from slithering further. His airway was obstructed. He couldn't cough it out.
"Mahhh—maaahhh" His words were converted into a sharp intake of air. The blonde screamed, gurgling accompanied the high pitched cry as his insides were eaten.
Karma couldn't take the mysteries that the old man was giving them. He stood up, without consulting Salem and sauntered in front of the strange man.
"Get to the point you old fart!"
Dagen's neck abruptly twisted 360 degrees. The skin on his neck crumpled and thinned from the twist. The teen stepped back, watching the elderly cry blood as his eyeballs went up. The teenager jolted when he was harshly grabbed by the shoulders. Dagen maliciously chortled. His voice turned from an old person into a giggling baby.
"Rumor has it my boy...that the main ingredient feasts on you alive!"
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