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A hard, clicking sound echoed as solid things scraped against each other. Then came a brittle sound, like dry branches breaking underfoot. The air of the forest stirred as something foul and heavy moved unseen.

Though deep within the forest, it was a blighted land where no living plant dared grow—a vast stretch of exposed rock and soil. There, countless abominable shapes writhed across the earth, lifeless yet animate, covering the ground.

High above that unholy expanse towered a jagged black mountain. Carved into its side was a cavern.

And at the farthest depth of that cavern stood a single seat, a throne. It was impossible to tell if the chair was made of living flesh or dead matter. Its form was grotesque, like bone and guts fused, glistening with a dark, oily sheen.

Upon that throne sat a man. His skin shared the same sinister hue. Long dreadlocks framed a sharp, bearded face. His mouth curved in a sardonic smile, and his crimson eyes glowed faintly in the dark. His body was unclothed, covered only by pulsating veins like creeping vines, binding him to the throne as if the two were one.

Beside him were three women, their figures both alluring and inhuman.

On the right, a pale woman with golden hair veiled in a faint web of light,
draped in a black gown slit high at the thigh. Her thigh, showing underneath, was entangled by the veins protruding from the throne.

On the left, a woman of bronze skin and long black hair was pressing her body against the throne. She was clad in fragments of armor and string, a truly revealing bikini armor. She had shoulder pads and gauntlets, but it was clear that the armor was more ornamental than practical. As the bronze-skinned girl pressed herself closer to the man on the throne, her gaze moved towards his chest.

And the last one, at his feet, was a woman with pale blue skin, slightly pointed ears, and silver hair, her attire made of black leather straps. The leather straps barely covered her precious parts, as if she were punishing herself, and the rustic chains around her neck and limbs that clinked with every motion were slightly covered in rust. Her body had been thrown at the bottom of the throne, and she was clinging to the man’s feet.

All three had voluptuous bodies, crimson eyes, and lips the color of blood.

They stayed close to the man on the throne, touching, licking, and kissing the living veins, while making faces of pure ecstasy.

The cavern filled with the sound of their indecent moans.

Before those four figures stood another figure, wrapped in deep red.

Her long platinum-blonde hair shimmered, cascading over her shoulders. Cold blue eyes reflected the gloom, and her lips, the color of dark wine, remained composed and unreadable. She wore a dress the color of garnet. Its reddish sheen accentuated the white of her bare shoulders and neckline.

At last, those crimson lips parted, and a soft, measured voice emerged.

“Lord Halbert, how goes your work?”
“Ah, Clarimonde. The numbers you asked for are ready,” the man on the throne replied casually.

The three women around him turned sharp, wary gazes toward Clarimonde.

“Impressive. To have gathered this many in just 10 short months is truly remarkable. Master Rodolphe will be most pleased.”
“Found plenty of dens of pigs and goblins along the way,” Halbert said with a crooked smile. “Made the work faster than expected. Still, I wouldn’t have minded taking a bit longer. Maybe a year.”

Clarimonde inclined her head in polite acknowledgment. The motion caused the red fabric at her chest to sway slightly. Halbert’s grin widened as his gaze lingered.

“It’s only thanks to your unmatched power, my lord.”
“Heh, I wouldn’t mind if it took five, ten, or even a hundred years. It doesn’t matter to me, Clarimonde! Kuhaha!”

He laughed darkly, showing he had clearly wanted to take more time. It felt like the more time he spent, the more he enjoyed himself.

However, the three women, upon hearing what Halbert said, narrowed their eyes at Clarimonde, but she remained composed, her gaze cool and unmoving.

“Well, perhaps he wouldn’t be alive in a hundred years, kuhaha! Still, if it’s him, he might just not change at all, even if 100, or 200 years pass… Kuhahaha!”
“In any case, the time has come. Please begin your preparations.”

Clarimonde said quietly, turning her gaze toward the strange ornament behind the throne. It rose upward from the backboard of the throne.

It was a grotesque object formed of multiple intertwined heads, their mouths open as if trying to devour everything with their needle-like fangs. A few of the mouths shuddered faintly, opening and closing as if wanting something. Clarimonde looked at the object with her eyes slightly narrowed.

“Ordinary bone constructs, I can create about a hundred a day. And if it’s higher-ranked ones, then perhaps 1 or 2 a day.”

Halbert said, stretching his bound right arm. The veins binding him to the throne cracked and tore as he moved.

“But when I link myself to the miasma beneath the ground, the efficiency nearly doubles. Still, thanks to you b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲, I have to stay connected to this freaking miasma until I stop creating. I was bored out of my mind, not being able to move at all! Kuhaha! Still, you came sooner than I expected! Didn’t you?!”

He tore free his left arm and used the throne’s armrests to push his upper body away from the back plate. The sound of breaking veins echoed like snapping wood. His skin gradually returned to a dark bronze tone as the connection faded. The women around him looked on with admiration, their eyes gleaming as he stood.

“This year’s thaw came early.”
“So I’ve heard. I don’t really know how the climate is in this area!”
“We’re assuming that they will reach close here in about a week.”
“Kuhaha, great, wonderful! I’ll finally get to stretch this body of mine!”

Halbert said, stretching his arms to pull the girls to his left and right closer, and petting their heads. Then he broke the veins holding his feet. Tearing off what remaining veins on his body, Halbert stood up fully.

“I’m leaving the preparations to you, Lord Halbert.”
“Don’t worry! Kuhahaha! Marina, come! Let’s have some fun! I’ll be using you! Make sure to pleasure me! Kuhaha!!!”
“O-Of course! Thank you, Lord Halbert. Ah!”

The woman called Marina knelt at his feet, her silver hair bound in an intricate braid. He seized a handful of it and lifted her face toward his, and stole a kiss. The chains dangling from her body tangled together, clanking violently as the woman let out agonized, heart-wrenching sighs.

“You’re looking forward to it too, aren’t you, Clarimonde?”

His voice echoed, mocking yet full of amusement. Clarimonde, standing below the throne, looked up at him without expression. He tore the straps around Marina’s body, revealing her two ample breasts.

Halbert’s long, sharp fingernails dug even deeper into Marina’s blue hair. Marina let out a cry that was neither a scream nor a moan. Halbert tore the straps around her body piece by piece, leaving only remnants.

Marina, embraced from behind by Halbert, let out a weeping sound.

Halbert then plunged his fangs deep into Marina’s neck. Her shrill scream echoed through the rocks.

“I wonder what kind of cry I’ll get for my reward? What do you think? I’m so looking forward to it, Clarimonde! Kuhahaha!”

Halbert continued to toy with and ravage Marina’s body while cheerfully addressing Clarimonde.

Clarimonde murmured, her expression unchanged and her gaze serene, “…As you wish.”

The two women beside the throne glared at Clarimonde with hatred.

“Good! Wonderful! Kuha! Kuhaha! Kuhahahahaha!”

Marina’s intermittent screams and cries of pleasure rose, intertwined with the rhythmic clanging of chains, all drowned out by Halbert’s booming laughter echoing through the cavern.

In response, the air outside the cavern vibrated. Like a wail, it rose from the depths of the earth. All beings that had long lost their lives gathered in that land were raising their wailing voices.

Both those clad in flesh and those without, their eyes blazing with vengeful fire, illuminating the surroundings with a crimson flame devoid of warmth.

The lamentations of countless immortal vanguards shook the lifeless earth and made the air tremble. That day, the depths of the Great Iroshio Forest were drowned beneath the curse of the dead.