Chapter 9 (2/2)

He slowly brought the potion up towards his face . The brute paid as much attention to his hands as he possibly could; he took extra care in order to ensure he didn’t drop his precious lifeline .

「Al…right…!」

And then, after what felt like an eternity, he finally managed to bring the potion close enough to his face for it to actually be visible .

「Annnd cut . It’s a real shame but that’s all the time you’ve got . 」

「Guaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!」

A foot stomped itself on Barkas’ hand and crushed both it and the potion that it’d been holding .

It went without saying that the person that’d stepped on him was none other than myself .

I ground my foot into his hand as if to let out all the frustration I’d been building up . In doing so, I caused the bottle to shatter, and its fragments to pierce his flesh . Blood flowed from within his body and began seeping out of his many newly created cuts .

「So, tell me . How does it feel to suddenly have all your hopes crushed right before they’re realized?」

「Guuahhh… Arggghhh!!」

「Right . I guess you are a little too preoccupied to answer . 」

A few drops of the Potion of Detoxification managed to enter his bloodstream through the cuts on his hands, but it didn’t really matter . He take in enough of it to cure him of his paralysis . In fact, the little bit he did manage to absorb only served to harm him, as it woke up his nerves just enough for him to feel even more pain .

「How inconsiderate of you to steal a march on me and hog all the fun for yourself, Goshujin-sama . 」

「Oh, whoops . My bad . These retards basically set me up perfectly, so I couldn’t really help myself . 」

I lifted my foot off Barkas’ hand and shrugged my shoulders whilst speaking in a patronizing tone . Naturally, I made sure to stand right above him so he could better hear my snarky remark .

「I recognize… that… voice…」

His neck was stuck in its current position . He was unable to move, and therefore probably unable to see anything above our waistlines regardless of how hard he tried . However, as one would expect, he had yet to forget how our voices sounded, especially seeing as how he’d only just heard them a few hours back .

「What the . . hell are… you bastards doing… . ? Guuuahhhh!!」

「Shut up already, trash . You’re hurting my ears . 」

Minnalis stomped on Barkas’ right hand in a manner much more merciless than my own .

「I stopped and listened for one second, only to hear that? Care to repeat yourself? Who were you going to rape in front of who? Shut that mouth of yours, and stop violating everything around you with the garbage that comes out of it, you filthy cockroach . 」

「Guh… Gahh… Argghghhhh!!」

The extent of Minnalis’ anger was made apparent by the fact that she continued to grind Barkas’ fist into the ground with her foot as she spoke; she put so much force into the assault that I could hear his bones crack each time she twisted her sole . And if that wasn’t enough, the expression on her face functioned to more than convince me that she was as irritated as could possibly be .

「And what’s more, you wanted me to betray Goshujin-sama and beg for my life? Just how mad do you plan to make me? Well?」

「T-That was ju—-arghh!」

Barkas tried to say something, but Minnalis decided not to give him a chance to speak, and instead kicked him in the jaw to shut him up .

She then immediately stomped on the man’s left hand, which had coincidentally ended up in her vicinity following her attack .

「I won’t let you bastards get away with this…!」

Barkas was still incapable of movement despite the fact that him bleeding had led to the bit of the potion he’d ingested earlier to start circulating through his bloodstream . He did, however, regain his ability to speak .

「Oh? So what exactly do you piggies think you can actually do to us?」

「Urgghhh! Stop that! God dammiiiiiiiiitttt!!」

「Tell me, how’s your right hand feel? Does it hurt?」

「Stop! Just stop alright!! Guaaahhhhh!!」

Minnalis had moved from stepping on Barkas’ right hand to his left, so I took over the role and gave him a good stomp or two in order to milk a few extra screams out of him .

Only after a few laughs did I finally lift my foot and move on .

「Oh right, who was it that brought up having Minnalis kill me? Was it the third rate mage?」

「Thi…rd… ra… . te…!?」

Terry, like Barkas, was incredibly easy to read, he responded to the scornful way in which I glanced in his direction with a sharp glare .

「Yeah . You’re nothing but third rate . In fact, I’m honestly quite surprised you’ve survived for as long as you have with how weak you are . 」

「If… anything…argghghgh!」

Terry flipped onto his face after I kicked him in the exact manner Minnalis had kicked Barkas earlier .

「Hey, tell me how you feel . Are you vexed? Mortified? How does it feel to be rolling around face first like a caterpillar after all that shit talk? Well? Say something goddammit . 」

I laughed as I approached him and ripped his staff out of his hands before snapping it it right before his very eyes . He responded by sharpening his gaze even further, but I just ignored him and started kicking him while continuing to laugh and smile .

「Ple…ase… just… st…op…it… . Al…ready… . 」

Terry was surprisingly easy to break . It didn’t take more than just a few kicks to make him cave .

Breaking him had made feel really refreshed, so I turned around in order to check on Minnalis, who turned out to be in the middle of breaking Dot .

「Wow, you sure are useless . Aren’t you supposed to be a scout? What’s the point of you even existing if you can’t do your job and warn your party about an upcoming threat? You’re useless in battle too . You let one of your party members finish the monster off instead of doing the job yourself . You’re useless, a good for nothing . Do you know what people like you are called? Leeches, parasites . Oh wait, sorry . That must’ve been too complicated for you . There’s no way someone as useless as you could even understand the concept of a parasite . 」

「Kh… Stop… that…」

Minnalis giggled as she mercilessly kicked Dot over and over . The aura of irritation around hadn’t waned in the slightest despite the fact that she was repeating the action whilst wearing a smile .

Dot started off with a rebellious look in his eyes, but it soon vanished as he lost to his sense of pain .

The punishment Minnalis had administered was overly harsh, but honestly quite deserved, especially when one took the topic the men had just discussed into consideration . It had literally done nothing but serve to add more fuel to the fire .

「You guys were just talking about how you were going to kill us . That, of course, means you understand that the opposite might happen, right? So, given that, are you ready to die?」

I laced the aura of bloodlust I was giving off with magical energy in order to activate the 『Magical Intimidation』skill . Its effects were immediately made apparent, as all three of their faces paled over in response . All three of the party’s members had still been looking down on us . They’d thought that they would’ve been able to kill us if they hadn’t been paralyzed ahead of time, but that thought was no more; my aura had obliterated it .

The only pillar of support they had remaining, all we still needed to break, was their shoddy sense of pride .

「W-We’re sorry! P-Please… don’t kill us…! Please!」

「No no no, we can’t be having you going there just yet . 」

I interrupted Barkas and prevent him from saying another word .

「This is only just the opening act . We’re going to need a bit of data to reference for everything we do later on, so don’t be begging for your lives till after we’re done with the headliner . Ain’t that right, Minnalis?」

「Right it is, Goshujin-sama . 」

Minaris nodded as she activated her『Phantom Flame Poison Demon』in order to create a poison capable of reproducing an effect similar to that of the anesthetics we had back in my world . It was much more powerful than the paralyzing mist she’d just created, and had the strength to not only immobilize the three men, but also rob them off any senses they had from the neck down . They could still see, hear, and speak even under its influence, but that was all . In other words, the poison was exactly like an anesthetic, save for the fact that it didn’t deprive those it affected of their consciousness .

The fluid took floated above Minnalis’ hand following its synthesis . Its colouration was that of a marbled mix of red and orange .  Conveniently, there just so happened to be exactly three servings worth of the stuff .

「I think it should be about time for us to get started . Would you mind lending me a hand in administering it, Goshujin-sama?」

「Sure . 」

「W-What are you two d—gaaaaahh!」

I forced the men to open their mouths in order to allow Minnalis to pour the poison down each of their throats .

「It should kick in almost right away . It’s much stronger than the mist you inhaled earlier, so it should overwrite the other poison’s effects and allow you to talk again . 」

The poison Minnalis had just created was extremely complex and ate up a lot of MP . As a result, she began suffering from Mana Intoxication, which in turn did the usual and made her start giving a more alluring air .

Her lips twisted up into a wide smile . It was a smile that was not only fearsome and dreadful, but also beautifully captivating .

「Kufufu . Please look forward to what’s to come . I’ll be giving you a glimpse of hell’s very depths . 」

Minnalis’ smile transformed and became even lovelier as she spoke . The impurities within it disappeared, leaving not but an expression of heartfelt joy .